Obama to reintroduce himself during State of the Union
abcnews ^
Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 11:29:23 AM by traumer
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Populist or professor? Contrite or uncompromising?
President Obama will have a chance Wednesday to reintroduce himself to the nation when he delivers his first official State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
The prime-time speech, which will be aired on all major TV networks and cable stations, could hardly come at a more critical time for a president grappling with double-digit unemployment, sinking poll numbers and the possible collapse of his top domestic policy priority, an overhaul of the nation's health-care system.
"As often as the president has spoken over the past year, critics on the right and left have largely defined him," says University of Notre Dame American studies professor Robert Schmuhl. "For the State of the Union, he needs to redefine himself, who he is politically and what his core principles and policies are."
In Ohio on Friday, just three days after Democrats lost the 60th Senate vote that gave them an edge in pushing their agenda through Congress, Obama struck a decidedly populist tone.
Shunning a necktie for a midday town hall-style meeting in Elyria, Obama told the crowd again and again that he'll "never stop fighting" for them on issues from health care and jobs to education and accountability.
On Wednesday, however, the setting will be decidedly different: formal and steeped in history and tradition.
When he speaks to the nation from the House of Representatives' chamber, he will take "the biggest stage the president has" to speak to the people, says Michael Gerson, White House speechwriter for George W. Bush.
How he responds to last week's message from Massachusetts voters, who gave Republican Scott Brown the seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy for nearly five decades, could set the political course for the next year and beyond.
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Hysterical.
