State of the Union: The Morning After

Response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address varied widely across the media and political spectrums. (We’ve compiled several after the jump.)

You can see your own here and here, the analysis of Mark Shields and David Brooks here, a roundup of lawmakers’ reactions here and our speech analyzer here.

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NPR’s Political Junkie has several short, quick analyses on several topics — bipartisanship, energy, gays in the military. From David Welna on transparency:

“The president himself was a bit less than candid when he proclaimed that lobbyists would not have a place in his administration….In fact, eight former lobbyists now work for the Obama White House, all having obtained waivers, according to Politifact.org.”

And NPR’s Kevin Whitelaw searches for any clues on the next steps for health care reform:

“Anyone who was looking for specifics in President Obama’s State of the Union address last night about a way forward for the health care overhaul effort likely went away disappointed.”

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The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein liked what he heard, calling it a “good speech”:

“All in all, it was a good speech. But it was a good speech because it told the story of a good presidency and an able president. I expect Obama’s poll numbers will be up for a few days, but if he wants them to remain there, he needs events to bear out his narrative. And that starts with passing the health-care reform bill.”

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From bank fees and a jobs bill to deficits and election reform, USA Today breaks down the promises President Obama made last night.

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National Review’s Mark Steyn criticizes the president’s rhetorical style, posture and upturned chin:

“It sounds like an all-purpose speech for President Anyone: We’ve met here in good times and bad, war and peace, prosperity and depression, Shrove Tuesday and Super Bowl Sunday, riding high in April, shot down in May. We’ve been up and down and over and out and I know one thing. Each time we find ourselves flat on our face, we pick ourselves up and get back in the race. That’s life, pause for applause…”

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The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza breaks the speech into five basic themes — humility on health care, focus on domestic issues, blame for the previous administration, a challenge to politicians to do better and the importance of shared American values:

“From the start of the speech to its ends, the common thread was an appeal to the country’s shared values of what it means to be an American….Time and again he appealed to both the members of Congress in the House chamber and the American people to dig deep to find the values that unite rather than divide.”

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Time’s Joe Klein has hearty praise for the president’s style, if not his substance:

“This was Obama at his best. He wasn’t cuddly, but who cares? He was smart and he was funny–and he was drop-dead serious about the country.”

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The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib points out President Obama would like Republicans to share some of the burden:

“The president’s message to the opposition party was this: You have taken back enough power to block me, but in turn you will have to share the blame if nothing happens in Washington this year.”

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Politico’s Ben Smith follows the interesting exchange between President Obama and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito here, here and here, while John Harris says the president was searching for a strategy:

“[It] was inescapable that his 69-minute speech — for all the rush of words and policy ideas — was a document of downsized ambitions for a downsized moment in his presidency.”

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We’ll have more here throughout the day, as well as on Thursday’s PBS NewsHour, about President Obama’s speech.