Gibbs: If Dems Lose Senate, 2015 SOTU ‘Will Be an Exceedingly Minimal Affair’
In an interview on Tuesday with MSNBC contributor and former White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs, MSNBC host Alex Wagner said she felt that President Barack Obama’s administration has made some recent moves to shore up support among his left-of-center base. Gibbs agreed with Wagner when she said that this reflected a sense of urgency from the White House about the 2014 midterms and conceded that, if the GOP wins the Senate and keeps the House, the State of the Union address in 2015 will be a “minimal affair.”
“I think what we’re seeing, and to the happiness of some on the left, is a renewed tenacity from the White House,” Wagner observed. “It has felt a lot like they have had to play defense over the course of the last year.”
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“It feels like for the first time in a long time, this White House understands stakes are high for 2014,” she added.
Gibbs conceded that the political landscape for Democrats moving into the 2014 midterm election cycle will be difficult and that the race for control over that chamber is “extremely competitive.”
“If he loses the Senate, you know, the State of the Union this time next year is going to be an exceedingly minimal affair,” Gibbs added.
He said that the race for the White House in 2016 will have begun in earnest, and with Congress controlled by Republicans it will be difficult for Obama to pass elements of his agenda.
Watch the clip below via MSNBC:
[Photo via screen grab ]
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