There have been numerous diaries today grading the President's speech, and all these diaries that I have seen fail in their attempt to grade the speech. You see, dear Kossacks, nothing important is going to be accomplished negotiating with the likes of Boehner and McConnell. So since he didn't give the store on Social Security, and since nothing any President proposes in the SOTU is ever specific enough to turn into legislation, grading this speech as a roadmap to specific policies for 2011 is FAIL.
What this speech should be evaluated on is the first salvo of President Obama's 2012 campaign. Ask not what the State of the Union did for the country; ask rather what the State of the Union did for Barack Hussein Obama.
And by that metric this speech deserves a good grade, perhaps even an "A". Why? For that, follow below the fold.
First, Obama's tone was optimistic, and optimism sells. Those of us old enough to remember a certain "Gipper" know just how well it sells. As Anthony Weiner quipped, After Paul Ryan's speech I needed a drink.
And First Read notes that Obama's optimistic tone puts GOP Presidential candidates in a tough spot.
"We are at a moment, where if government’s growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America’s best century will be considered our past century," Ryan said. "This is a future in which we will transform our social safety net into a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency." This will ultimately be a challenge for the Republicans competing against Obama in 2012. How do you both criticize his policies and chart a new course, but also remain optimistic?
Obama was polite, conciliatory, offering to work with the Republicans, obviously a smart guy - and while that combination won't win over the Tea Brained, nor satisfy the Deep Orange progressive, it's pretty appealing to independents. Ask an independent voter what they want in a President, and I'll guess many will say "smart guy who works with both sides to get things done".
That's why an unexceptional speech got an exceptional response.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey gave Obama's speech an 84% positive response, while CBS' online poll pegged the positive response at 91%. Perhaps most encouraging for the White House, a survey of swing voters in Colorado by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner found a jump in the President's approval rating from 30% pre-speech to 56% post-speech.
Why the disconnect between an overwhelming response and a relatively unexceptional speech? The answer doesn't have much to do with what happened inside the Capitol building last night. Simply put, Americans are ready to like their president again. The pendulum is swinging back in his favor.
And Smart Politics notes that every single personal touch story told in the SOTU was located in a swing state - Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
This speech was not about what Congress will or won't pass in 2011. It was about who independents will vote for in 2012. And by that measure it deserves a B or B+, IMNHO.