I liked Obama's speech last night. But are we overestimating the positive reactions to it?

[Irish_shark]

I've heard quite a few people on our side say that this is Obama's "best speech ever." I really liked it. I have liked all of his speeches so far. But few us have noted the observation made by CNN yesterday regarding their "flash poll" about President Obama's SOTU speech:

"The 48 percent who indicated they had a very positive response is down 20 points from the 68 percent of speech watchers who felt the same way a year ago about the president's February 24 prime time address to a joint session of Congress.

"Wednesday night's State of the Union audience is more Democratic than the nation as a whole, but speech-watchers were less Democratic this year than they were last year," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That may be one reason why the number who gave his speech a 'very positive' rating is lower this year. But part of the reason also may be that speech-watchers didn't necessarily hear a new agenda and aren't confident that the president can improve health care or lower the deficit."

So again, the American people in general terms may not share the view that this was Obama's "greatest speech ever."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/27/cnn-poll-half-of-speech-watchers-have-very-positive-reaction/

[spin]

1. While there is no doubt that Obama is a great orator ...

we need to see some results in the next year before the mid term elections.

The recession should be receding at that point. If so, Obama will be seen as a leader as well as a eloquent speaker. In three more years the country should be on a roll, guaranteeing Obama's reelection.

If not, the shit will hit the fan.

However, a major terrorist attack could change the equation.