Golden State Today

Former Pacific Research Institute (PRI) speechwriter Lance Izumi said President Biden’s State of the Union Address lacked rhetorical impact and focused more on the president's demeanor than substantive issues like education, ultimately missing an opportunity to address crucial matters. Izumi was a guest on a recent episode of the Next Round Podcast.

"To me, the speech was devoid of anything really rhetorically memorable," said Izumi on the Next Round Podcast hosted by the Pacific Research Institute think tank. "Only thing that people will remember, if they remember anything at all, will be the president's demeanor, which will stick with people and not to his advantage.”

"If you look at my own area of education where he spent just a tiny bit of time talking," Izumi said. “His proposals were not only going ineffective in terms of like universal pre-K and raising teacher salaries, but you know, really did nothing to discuss the real dire state of American education, the achievement of our children."

This full episode is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Izumi served as chief speechwriter to Gov. Deukmejian and Attorney General Ed Meese before assuming roles as president of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and as a commissioner on the California Postsecondary Education Commission. He is now the senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute.

Next Round is a weekly podcast put on by the nonpartisan think tank Pacific Research Institute. Topics explored on the podcast revolve around California politics and free market ideas in the state. Guests include elected officials, members of the media, and policy leaders. 

Pasadena, California-based Pacific Research Institute, founded in 1979, is an advocacy organization whose goal is to “champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions,” according to the group’s website. Its president is Sally Pipes.