Interesting analysis but I think it really fails for being made through such a partisan lens. Obviously, I agree more with the Presidents strategy and ideology than I do with the Republicans, but watching the political theater of it, objectively, I think that the GOP won the SOTU. Rep. McMorris Rodgers was pitch perfect for the demographic: she made the conversation very personal and identified with the average American much better, in my opinion, than did the President. Being a woman, she was on stage to deflect the war on women narrative coming from the left. Her personal background was apple pie and 4th of July, sprinkled with a bit of patriotism (marrying a military man), a bit of working class (working her way through college at a McDonalds), a bit of 1950s WASP values (her parents raised her to work hard, help people, etc., and may God guide us all), lots of Republican talking points (but without being abrasive/loony like Michele Bachmann), and lots of ambiguity about any detailed GOP policies to accomplish what she adroitly identified as what Americans truly want (while masking the fact that ACTUAL GOP policies being moved through state and federal legislatures are not accomplishing those things very much at all, and the other fact that the Democrats are pursuing in many instances exactly the same outcomes). And talking about her son, well... that was more touching than the Presidents heroic wounded Ranger. Or maybe it was a tie...
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 07:59:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015