First thoughts: I listened from beginning to end, which I can't ever recall doing when listening to a president address congress–not Clinton, not Bush I, not Reagan. I didn't find my self cringing or rolling my eyes after listening to the expected cheesy, patently false formulaic, political bloviation. Even if you disagree with everything he said, it was a non-b.s. political speech. He treated his audience as adults with common sense, not as children who must trust that Daddy knows best.
That being said, while I want to believe that his confidence and can-do spirit is well-founded–I would have been disappointed if he gave us anything less–I really don't believe it. I see him making the most credible case for his activist program that he could possibly make–and I hope he succeeds and that he delivers the results he's hoping for–but my gut tells me that it's not happening. We're in for some very rough weather, but I wouldn't want anyone else at the helm.
P.S. I forgot that I did roll my eyes when he said that America invented the automobile–that surprised me. I'm not saying that Obama wasn't being political–he was, but in a refreshing way. He was trying to push buttons in the American psyche that seek to unite us and galvanize us for meeting some tough times to come.
Leave a Reply