State Of The Union: Obama At His Best Or Most Desperate?

I suspect chances are fairly slim that you didn’t manage to see part of President Obama’s first official State of the Union speech last night. It was long (clocking in at 1hr 10 mins and 30 secs it was reminiscent of Clinton’s extended addresses) and it was everywhere. Obama has a lot to talk about! Perhaps most notably he didn’t get around to talking about health care (practically the only thing he talked about for the better part of last year) until more than 30 minutes into the address. Also, he didn’t get heckled this time around…technically speaking. Here’s a look at some of the reactions from across the board.

NYT:

If Mr. Obama thought he could take the rostrum in the House chamber and restore his image as the change agent who came to Washington to end the politics of division, he received another reminder just how hard that will be. Mr. Obama tried to recapture the magic of his yes-we-can campaign after a season of no-we-can’t governing, but conceded little if any ground to critics on either the right or the left. It was a confident performance, more defiant than contrite, more conversational than soaring.

Politico:

In a favorable light, his State of the Union speech may have revealed the mind of a leader who has never cared much about traditional ideological categories and is determined to create his own results-oriented composite of ideas from across the spectrum. Less charitably, the address could be interpreted as the work of a president who is desperately improvising by touching every political erogenous zone he and his advisers can think of.

Under either judgment, however, it was inescapable that his 69-minute speech — for all the rush of words and policy ideas — was a document of downsized ambitions for a downsized moment in his presidency.

Joe Klein:

This was Obama at his best. He wasn’t cuddly, but who cares? He was smart and he was funny–and he was drop-dead serious about the country. The speech should do him some good, but it’s not enough. Now he has to preside, in the true sense of the term. He can’t let himself get caught up in the tawdy doings of the Congress. He has to stand above the muck, leading, jawboning a sense of responsibility–as he did tonight.

538:

Obama is making a lot of arguments tonight that the WH should have been making for months now.

Ed Morrissey:

Impact: No grade, as SOTU speeches rarely have ANY impact except as scorecard later on everything not pursued. Not a game changer…

Andrew Sullivan:

Ending DADT: it’s the right thing to do. But I note that he has committed only to working with Congress and the military to end the ban this year. If he achieves it, I will stand up and cheer. But I have experienced enough crushing disappointments to believe it will actually happen….This was the president I supported and still support and will support because he alone is calling us away from the cynicism, the ideology, the rhetorical poison, and the red-blue divide that keep us from the reform we desperately need.

Sarah Palin:

This is why people are disenchanted and becoming more and more disengaged really from what their government is doing because when we see an issue like this, words spoken that may not be true, coming from our president, and embarrassing our Supreme Court and not respecting the separation of powers, we have a problem and that’s illustrated there by that justice there mouthing those words, ‘not true,’ now one or the other is being disingenuous here, either our president in what he just claimed or the Supreme Court justice…and I think its going to be a huge take away moment from the speech tonight.

Big Government:

I doubt that President Obama helped himself or his party with his State of the Union Address. A year ago, such a speech might have done him some good and would have done him no harm. By now, however, too many people are aware that they are being had. If anything, his decision to continue pushing his signature measures — cap and trade and healthcare reform — is likely to wreak havoc on his party in November.

Alessandra Stanley:

Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address was as much about his state of mind as the nation’s: the president repeatedly asserted that he feels as strongly about the impasse in the capital as ordinary Americans do…The adage says that in a democracy, people get the government they deserve. Mr. Obama used his time before Congress to posit that, actually, the American people deserve a better legislative branch.

The Awl:

Obama has never chanted “USA, USA, USA” before in his life. And it shows. Apart from that? I give that a pretty high marks for an ending. We don’t quit! I don’t quit! It was like a really good car commercial, back when we made cars.

The Sartorialist [In our Liveblog, 9:52 mark]

Obama’s tie = British-style left-to-right “repp stripe”; Biden’s = American-style right-to-left (http://socyberty.com/history/the-rep-tie-and-its-colorful-history/) Who approved those optics!?

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8 comments

MartiniShark says:

January 28, 2010 at 12:41 pm

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I would like State of the Union speeches if, like the Oscars, an orchestra would play softly and get louder to play them off the podium.
“They’re giving me the wrap-it-up sign. I have so many to thank. Let me quickly send thanks to Harry, to Nancy, to Barney; Rahm, you’re my pit bull! um, CNN; everyone at MSNBC, Keith, Rachael,Chris — I still have a tingle too! And of course, my Dearest Michelle. Love your garden honey! Thank You EVERYONE!!!”

tjl says:

January 28, 2010 at 2:35 pm

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Ugh. Not one funny conservative. I still can’t find one. MartiniShark with the “why’d the chicken cross the road” joke… Awesome bro/lady, that tingle joke…the pit bull….the garden… hilarious!! In a “why aren’t conservatives funny” kind of way. I know why you’re not funny. I’m sure you do as well. Humor, intellect, art, culture, friends, relationships… those things aren’t for YOU PEOPLE. So you get lost when trying to insert yourself. It’s simple. You can have FoxNews and your little Internet bubble. And we’ll have meaningful lives and relationships. Jokes like the one above, proves my point. You are telling a knock-knock joke we’ve all heard too many times before. But you’re not like us, so I understand why you would think that’s funny. I would love to know more about you Martini, but I’m afraid I already know you too well.

tjl says:

January 28, 2010 at 2:38 pm

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Oh, and Sarah Palin is an idiot. Just reading that statement above made me ill. Here’s one for you Martini — I’m not sure whether or not she knows whether SOTU is the “state of the union” or a country in Africa…. I’m trying your brand of humor…. Naaaiiiiiiled IT!

MartiniShark says:

January 28, 2010 at 5:13 pm

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Wow, what happened today tj, drop the iPhone in the urinal and you had to lash out at something?!
I wasn’t trying to be uproarious, I was making a comment on how long the SOTU speech went on and on last night. So you didn’t enjoy it, fine — but I’m at a loss why you thought it warranted this kind of response. I also am not sure how you were able to extrapolate all my personality tics/flaws from this but you do have a talent. (As for the Sarah Palin injection — not a clue where that came from, nor do I care.)

Your measure of the humor is subjective, and also of no import, especially given I am being measured by a sour and judgemental sort, full of venom (YOU PEOPLE, really?! Thought you open-minded types opposed the use of phrases like that?). Since we are measuring character I will dispute your claim at having meaningful lives and relationships however, because, let’s face, if you were so centered I doubt you would be this enervated over a post not even directed at, or about you, and feeling the need to respond twice at that.
Know what is funny? You display condescension and unprovoked blind rage to explain how you are so much more humorous. Stop it, I’m out of breath from all the mirth. But I am grateful that I am not like you, as described. Maybe someday I’ll be lucky enough to achieve your bitter-cur-level of jocularity, but for now I’ll have to settle with being happy.

pyrope says:

January 28, 2010 at 10:20 pm

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It sounded a great deal more like a campaign speech than a State of the Union address. The use of the personal pronoun “I” wore thin after we heard it the first 89 times. The “pie in the sky” programs were way off mark and misleading. It was good to see the “cocoanut with teeth” looking comfortable, and I actually thought I saw Dingy Harry smile. Or was that a grimace? Who knows anymore; I think he knows he’s toast. One good thing–Mr. -Obama only lied when his lips were moving.

Tater Salad says:

January 29, 2010 at 12:58 pm

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Joe Klein is a complete loon. What a lost soul he is. Obama is a pure Progressive and wants to change the way America is. We do not agree and the Democrats will pay as soon as 2010 and again in 2012. That is a fact and it is a promise.

disgusted says:

January 29, 2010 at 9:40 pm

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Fearless Leader (Bullwinkle) with Boris & Natacha – were more “effective” – besides – “other” news was more REALISTIC!

shootfromthehip says:

January 31, 2010 at 3:00 pm

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Sorry Tater Salad, but you failed the test. Obama is not a progressive but a corporatist. Next time pay attention.

This class won’t be accepting any “promises” from a D student who gets his “facts” from Fox news and evidently can’t even glean basic and obvious information from Obama’s main policies over the past year that refute your “progressive” assertion.

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