Frustrated in the waning days of what was supposed to be smooth-sailing Democratic control of Congress, President Barack Obama offered a State of the Union address with several proposals that should have satisfied Republicans. Unfortunately, Congress is likely to face gridlock through the remainder of this election year unless the president and congressional Democrats actively seek bipartisan mending of the nation's broken economy.

“;I thought I'd get some applause on that one,”; Obama grinned as Republicans sat with arms folded in response to his description of an economic program that has cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. They rose to applaud his proposals to build new nuclear power plants and open new offshore oil and gas development, but liberal Democrats may nix those ideas.

“;Democracy in a nation of 300 million people can be noisy and messy and complicated,”; the president grimaced. That explanation will not suffice for those who voted for Obama in 2008 after he promised “;change we can believe in.”;

Hawaii's four members of Congress heaped praise on Obama's speech; all are part of the Democratic Party's liberal base. However, Democrats had problems keeping their own members in line over the past year, resorting to bribes within their ranks to assure that all 60 Democrats, the needed super-majority in the Senate, would vote for health care reform. Following the stunning Republican victory in last week's special Senate election in Massachusetts, 59 will not be enough for the remainder of this year.

GOP senators say Obama will have to start over from scratch in putting together an acceptable health care reform bill, and he may have little choice but to do so. Even then, the cost of health care will continue to rise. Industry lobbyists have convinced lawmakers of both stripes that American health insurance should remain a for-profit commodity, unlike systems in all countries with universal private health care.

Obama proposed several measures that should gain support from Republicans to address what he now calls his top priority: jobs. Those include tax cuts for small businesses hiring new employees, assistance for “;community banks”; to enable them to make more loans, expansion of retirement accounts, increased tax credits for child care and more flexible terms for student-loan repayment. He already has received more support from Republicans than Democrats for his policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president will face huge roadblocks in areas such as clean energy — many Republicans doubt the evidence of global warming and its cause— and allowing gays to serve openly in the military. He should instead work with Republicans and Democrats to reach bipartisan agreement on ways to create jobs and recover from the recession, taking a page from former President Bill Clinton's book in working with a Republican Congress.