On a night the media playfully called “date night,” where Democrats and Republicans broke tradition and sat intermingled together instead of on opposite ends of the aisle, President Obama declared, “What comes of this moment is not whether we can sit together tonight, but rather if we can work together tomorrow.”
In a speech that political pundits called heavy on rhetoric but light on specifics, the president rallied Americans to put aside partisan differences and unite around a common goal of global competitiveness. He called for a renewed investment in education, medical research and technology, as we look toward the future in a high-tech world. “To win the future, we’ll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the making,” he said, adding “the world…and the rules have changed.”
Although this was Mr. Obama’s first State of the Union Address before a Republican led Congress, the president sought to turn the page toward a more centrist and conciliatory tone with Republicans. In a good faith gesture he embraced policies long championed by the GOP, including a ban on earmarks, a freeze in discretionary spending and additional corporate tax cuts, aiming to show that partisan differences can be overcome and both parties can work together for the greater good.
In a poignant moment at the beginning of his speech, Mr. Obama spoke of the recent tragedy in Tucson, pointing out a seat left empty in the chamber in honor of the absence of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot while hosting a political event earlier this month. “Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate,” Mr. Obama said, “Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater — something more consequential than party or political preference.”
At the end of the speech, more political tradition was broken when 2 rebuttals were presented to the president’s speech: one from the Republicans and one from Tea Party representative, Michele Bachmann.
Joe Klein confesses:I especially hate the day before the State of the Union message because….every last interest group in Christendom, including the Jewish and Islamic ones, sends out e-missions about what the President really should say about everything from junk food to oil subsidies. And the New York Times inevitably collects a dozen of the usual suspects to make modest suggestions about themes the President should strike, which inevitably are their own entirely predictable hobby horses. And people like me talk about what the President has to do in his speech in order to thrive politically; we are almost invariably wrong, so I've pretty much stopped doing it. […]H/T: The Daily DishAdmittedly, I didn't watch the President's SOTU address last night, because (1) SOTU addresses are always overhyped by the media and (2) they bore me. The reviews I've read this morning seem to be mixed, slightly favoring the President so overall he must've done okay.