How one San Bernardino couple’s opinions clashed over Obama’s speech

On a tidy cul-de-sac in San Bernardino, Robert Garcia and Trish Hughes took their seats in their living room Sunday evening and fixed their eyes and ears on the flat-screen television above their fireplace.

The husband and wife, both 44, have been residents of the city for 16 years and say they grieve with their neighbors over Wednesday’s tragedy. Hughes works only a few blocks from the scene of Wednesday’s massacre. They have an American flag hanging at half-mast in their front yard.

But they could not be further apart on their views of President Obama.

Hughes, a Democrat, is a self-proclaimed “fan” of the president. Garcia, a Republican, not so much.

“Who would ever have dreamed that the president of the United States would ever utter the words, ‘San Bernardino?’” Hughes said seconds before Obama began speaking. “It is astounding. San Bernardino has always taken a lot of heat for being rough around the edges.”

Their sharp differences of opinion played out throughout the president’s 13-minute speech.

When Obama offered a strategy to destroy ISIS, Hughes nodded in approval and said, “Thank God, he’s going to tell us how to deal with this problem.”

Garcia countered: “We need action. Not wordy plans.”

When the president spoke about tightening gun laws, Robert said, “There he goes, taking away our constitutional rights.”

And when the president warned against allowing the tragedy to pit American against Islam, Garcia shook his head and said, “I think it should be harder for [extremists] to get into this country.”

The president’s speech had just come to an end when Hughes presented her verdict.

“I liked it a lot,” she said. “The president did not pat us on the head and say, ‘Things will be alright.’ He’s got a strategy.”

But not all of Garcia’s concerns were resolved.

“Unfortunately, we may need some troops on the ground,” he said, “And that’s not an easy thing for me to say. I have a 25-year-old son in the Navy.”

Overall, Garcia added, “I don’t think the president made that much of a difference when it comes to making people feel less anxious.”

But after Wednesday’s events, Trish said, she believed it was unfair to suggest that one person -- even the president of the United States -- would be able to “quell our anxiety.”

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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