Ok speech, foreign policy much better than domestic. Didn't propose a lot of new stuff (costing billions of dollars) which some hit him on but I'm happy he's wasn't throwing money around. Tony Snow at Fox mentioned Reagan's 1984 campaign didn't have big ideas behind it so the 2nd term was blah and said Bush might fall into the same fate (OJ has made this point). Hopefully Bush has some big ideas (social security reform) that he just didn't want to put in the speech.

I loved the repeated shots (on NBC, anyway) of Ted Kennedy repeatedly shaking his head in disgust. Also, at one point Hillary had a big frown and then she realized the camera was on her and she broke into the phoniest smile I've ever seen.

I laughed outloud when Hillary was caught with that fake smile. And Ted shaking his head was so funny.

I have to admit I did like the brief bit about personal savings accounts for retirement and the medical savings accounts. Whether they happen is another matter I suppose.

I think the more challenging a contender Bush gets in the general election, the more the election will actually be about something. While there definitely would be a difference between the two parties if Dean manages to rebound from his Captian Queeg moment last night, his chances of actually winning would be so slim that Bush and Rove would likely decide the best option would be just to put the campaign into cruise control, the way Reagan did with his "Morning in America" theme when running against Mondale.

If Edwards campaign does turn into somthing more than a "Vote for John -- He's not nuts" effort that is his biggest strength in the Democratic primary, or if Kerry actually decides not to disavow his own Senate voting record on the war on terror, Bush might have to run a more proactive campaign on big issues in order to be comfortable about re-election. But given the current uncertainty about the eventual outcome of the Democratic primary, I can see where the laundry list speech would be the safest strategy for now.

I heard a vision that encompassed the next 5 years which is really all I want from a president whose potential time frame is prescribed for him by law. His successors will carry the responsiblity for judging its continuance or revision. I'm certainly not interested in some kind of 1,000 year Reich or ideology. If I were I'd be a left wing progressive Socialist Democrat.

The address to me was as good as it gets; especially enhanced by shots of Charlie Wrangel sleeping and Ted Kennedy's Dickensonian reactions. Do they transport him in and out with a fork lift?

Best line was when Bush named most of the countries with the US, making those claiming unilateral action sound foolish.
And what was Tom Brady (Patriot's quarterback) doing there? this had better not be the beginning of a SOTU jinx.

Am I the only person who thought Daschle's speech showed signs of re-election fear? He made three conspicuous references to South Dakota and called for country-of-origin food labeling... Not a very national message.

Pelosi reminded me of nights when it was obvious that Johnny Carson had been tippling the sauce before the show.

Did anyone else see the frightening twitch Pelosi did during her talk? It reminded me a bit of the part where Bilbo went psycho for a second in Fellowship of the Ring (the movie). It was downright scary.

Decent speech but, as OJ suggests, the most remarkable thing about it was the President's manner. He was comfortable at the podium. He was the master of congress. He was confident. This is not your father's George Bush. When the Dems clapped about the expiration of the Patriot Act and tax cuts, he handled it perfectly.

Somewhere early in the Clinton administration, I stopped watching the response. It is always painful and I'm convinced does more harm than good. Although this is obviously illogical and wrong, there is something of a whiff of treason about it. Besides, a talking head or two will always look small and self-interested after an hour of watching the President address Congress.

Who in the DNC said, "After Bush gets up there and gloats about Iraq and capturing Hussein, let's send up an old, whiney, wooden woman from the most liberal district in America to lay out our vision for foreign affairs."?