The vast majority of the viewing public gave the State of the Union high marks — 91 percent approved of Obama’s proposals in a CBS News poll, and 84 percent had a very positive or somewhat positive reaction to the speech, according to CNN. These polls will always be skewed because people who like Obama to begin with are more likely to watch the speech. In a better example of the speech’s effectiveness, though, Obama’s approval rating shot up 26 points among a focus group of 50 Denver swing voters, half of whom are registered Republicans. But there were flaws, of course, and who better to point them out than the critical punditocracy. Herewith, a compendium of gripes from the nation’s leading political commentators.
Michael Tomasky, Guardian:
Joshua Green, Atlantic:
Charles Krauthammer, via Daily Caller:
Matt Miller, PostPartisan/WP:
Jackson Diehl, PostPartisan/WP:
Clive Crook, Atlantic:
Daniel Drezner, Foreign Policy:
David Frum, Frum Forum:
David Corn, Mother Jones:
Jennifer Rubin, Right Turn/WP:
Howard Kurtz, Daily Beast:
Rich Lowry, New York Post:
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones:
Yuval Levin, Corner/National Review:
Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress:
Jay Nordliger, Corner/National Review:
Ezra Klein, WP:
Michelle Malkin, New York Post:
Ross Douthat, New York Times:
Paul Krugman, New York Times:
Mark McKinnon, Daily Beast:
