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I don't put a lot of faith in focus groups. If I was in one, you can be sure that I would thoroughly research the subject, come into the evening with a point of view, and pay very little attention to the actual content of the speech. Their response sounds exactly like what happened.
Obama getting reelected will be a game of balancing. He needs to appeal to independents/moderates while at the same time not end up isolating his liberal base. I think he'll stay toward the center, though. Lefties may not be happy, but come 2012 he will more than likely be their only choice in the matter.
Wow. One of his worst speeches. Just recycled pap from last year and the year before. Didn't he make that veto pledge on earmarks before?
Totally flat, not to mention he is tone-deaf on spending, deficits and debt.
Tone-deaf on spending? Is that why house republicans selected the king of pork to chair the appropriations committee? To show their keen listening skills when it comes to debt.
People won't get behind Obama until what he says in his speeches actually becomes reality. People are skeptical and no speech is ever going to save him, the man needs to show some progress.
His numbers will probably rise after this speech but it won't mean anything in the long run.
Looking forward to Bachman's rebuttal. Will it be on the Comedy Channel??
You mean Ryan, whose speech was excellent, btw. He laid it all out, everything the American people already know, which is why they gave control of the House to the GOP.
You mean Ryan, whose speech was excellent, btw. He laid it all out, everything the American people already know, which is why they gave control of the House to the GOP.
So when is Ryan going to get around to privatizing social security and medicare? I bet that will go over about as well as when Bush tried it.
I was heartened to see that at least 3/4 of the time the members stood to applaud, they did so in unison over an issue both sides found commonality on.
I was also glad there was WAY less standing this time around.
John Boehner had 2 looks; "yeah, right " and "Oh G-d, how are we going to rebut this and not look like partisan idiots?"
I think the President is right that, by G-d, we need to start focusing on fixing our education system or we will soon be unable to compete in a world market. And that includes investing in R&D!
I love that he's going to be sending Congress a proposal for streamlining government departments. It will mean losing a lot of federal jobs, which will both have the conservatives around here screaming about "job losses under Obama", and the conservatives in the real world unable to lay claim to the "smaller government" line they've been lying to the public about for decades (they've grown the government every single time they've controlled it).
Did Paul Ryan even listen to the President's speech? He repeatedly called on him to do things he had clearly said he was going to do. Speaker Boehner was right to look worried about the rebuttal coming off as idiotic.
I laughed my butt off over the smoked salmon line!
Quote:
Originally Posted by frazl
That he is willing to make some cuts to Medicare.
Great post. I'd like to point out that the President and his Administration and Cabinet Departments have already been making HUGE strides in getting a grip on Medicare. There was an article on CNN about it yesterday, but sadly, it's not the kind of thing folks around here like to talk about.
"The federal government returned a record total of more than $2.5 billion to the Medicare program from settlements and court judgments surrounding health care fraud cases last year, according to a government report issued Monday.
An overall total of $4 billion was collected, including hundreds of millions in funds recovered for other federal agencies and payments to whistleblowers, the Justice Department said."
There is a lot to be proud about with this presidency. We're definitely on the right path.
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" and "Oh G-d, how are we going to rebut this and not look like partisan idiots?"
