Finally got a chance to see the State of the Union Address - and I was absolutely terrified. I mean, when did the President change from Obama to this guy McDonnell?
I accidentally tuned into the Republican Response and was astonished at the theater that was playing out - Governor McDonnell looks scarily like Vice Presidential Candidate Raymond Shaw's Presidential candidate.
Are the Repubs are trying to show an alternative version of reality? The new Governor of Virgina looks like he is trying to create his own version of the Manchurian Candidate - an incredibly scary presentation of who might be President.
And, on top of this, I completely appreciated the framing of the photo ops - who needs screens with words on it - when the Repubs can place a black woman, an Asian man, a suburban white woman and Army officer. It was a perfect framing of "the middle of the country". And the joke about his twin sons and SportsCenter, was that a coded message on "I'm a blue-collar Dad"?
His cadence is all about his reading speed - not very effective - only somewhat.
And a complete play on the State of the Union - right down to the scripted applause lines. Is this not perfect fodder for making this gentleman a front-runner for the 2012 or 2016 running?