State of the President: 'Tough, Undaunted'

Pundits see president's speech as a populist offensive

(NEWSER) - President Obama delivered a feisty, populist State of the Union address last night ( excerpts here , pictures here ), and naturally pundits are dissecting and grading it today. Here's what they're saying:

• "Obama had a simple message for Republicans: Game on," writes Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post . What on the surface was a typical post-partisan Obama speech was actually full of populist challenges to Republicans. "This is Obama version 2.0: Harder, more cynical but perhaps also more effective."

Obama puts up his dukes in feisty speech

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s first State of the Union Address naturally has all the pundits talking. Here’s what they’re saying:

• “It was a terrific performance,” writes Joe Klein of Time . “He seemed to be having fun up there,” ad-libbing and needling the “recalcitrant elephants in the room.” There wasn’t a ton of substance, but “the eloquence and sense of purpose was riveting. … He wasn’t cuddly, but who cares?”

Address light on foreign policy as Obama focuses on 'wounded' US

(NEWSER) - President Obama spent just 9 minutes of last night's speech on the subject of America's relations with the rest of the world. He warned Iran over its nuclear program and spoke of China as an economic threat, but made no mention of Middle East peace talks or the row with China over Internet freedom, Helene Cooper notes in the New York Times . More»

'Educator-in-chief's' address worked sometimes

(NEWSER) - President Obama delivered some highly effective moments and some fizzles in his uneven State of the Union address, writes Tom Schaller. His pledge to mend Washington works is fine if it's merely rhetoric to put Republicans on their heels, but he should know by now that "making nice" won't get things done, Schaller writes at FiveThirtyEight. More»

He needs another speech on par with the one about Rev. Wright

(NEWSER) - If President Obama hopes to pull off a winning speech tonight, he might look back to candidate Obama for guidance, writes Johnathan Cohn. Remember the Jeremiah Wright controversy, when Obama faced the first "speech of his life"? Most candidates would have taken the politically easy route of disavowing Wright for his charged racial comments. Instead, Obama gave a nuanced speech on race relations and won the day. More»