Obama May Bump Lost Premiere

President Obama schedules speech with health reform still up in the air

(NEWSER) - President Obama has scheduled his first State of the Union address for Wednesday, Jan. 27. The White House had hoped health care reform would be passed before the speech, but the tight timeline makes that unlikely, CBS News reports. The date confirms White House spokesman Robert Gibbs' assurances that the address won't conflict with the eagerly awaited premiere of the final season of Lost, scheduled for Feb. 2. More»

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."

Maybe not, writes Linton Weeks

(NEWSER) - The State of the Union used to be "a monumental moment—surrounded on each side by a few days of national reflection," a time when the president could address important topics in "a relatively quiet and slowly whirring world," writes Linton Weeks at NPR . Not so anymore. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, Twitter, and the like, "Everybody knows all the time what President Obama thinks about everything … And everyone knows what everyone else thinks about the president—and the state of the union." In this day and age, "has the State of the Union address become obsolete?" More»

Debbie Bosanek will sit in Michelle Obama's box

(NEWSER) - At tonight's State of the Union address, Warren Buffett's secretary will have a seat in Michelle Obama's box, the Washington Post reports. Debbie Bosanek is the inspiration for President Obama's "Buffett rule," a call for the rich to pay a higher tax rate; Buffett famously claimed that he pays a lower tax rate than Bosanek , despite his wealth. Bosanek's presence will help the president make a case for the rule, which he says will in turn boost spending and create jobs. Also attending tonight's address: Gabrielle Giffords, in one of her last acts as a congresswoman, CBS News reports. More»

Krauthammer, Noonan: His State of the Union was a 'mushy' unserious mess

(NEWSER) - With the rhetorical dust settled from President Obama's State of the Union speech, two pundits on the right—Charles Krauthammer and Peggy Noonan—declare that the president blew it. Among other things, both seize on the fact that he took more than a half-hour to get to the biggest issue of the day—the federal debt—and then offered what they see as a token gesture to fix it.

• Krauthammer: The president's proposed spending freeze amounts to a mere "rounding error," he writes in the Washington Post . "It's as if Obama is daring the voters—and the Republicans—to prove they really want smaller government." And the Sputnik moment? Obama cut NASA's manned missions, remember, and instead prefers "small-ball" green energy projects. "From the moon landing to solar shingles. Is there a better example of American decline?"