(photo from MSNBC)
10:06 PM"We are not quitters," he says, quoting the girl from a poor S.C. school, Tyosheoma Bethea, who wrote Congress and POTUS for help. "We are not quitters," he repeats. Very smart, Mr. Obama/Mr. Obama's speechwriter.
Yep, he uses it here, at the end: We must "summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit."
9:58 PMNancy Pelosi continues to impress me with her youthful sprightliness.
We've closed Guantantamo, he says. "Living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer, and it makes us stronger," and "That is why I can stand here and say, without exception or equivocation -
the United States of America does not torture."
9:55 PMOn fiscal responsibility. Hooting and cheering and booing. This Congress is starting to sound like some the gymnasium at a college basketball game.
He wants to end tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas.... and Pelosi is giddy.
The stimulus provides "a tax cut - that's right, a tax cut" for every family making under $250,000. He is sounding a little too much like a salesman here. "But wait... there's more!"
9:50 PMNice reference to Ted Kennedy - talking about bipartisan cooperation in the legislature, Obama refers to Sen. Kennedy, "who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country."
"I speak to you not as your president, but as a father... responsibility for our children's education begins at home," he says emphatically. People like that one.
9:46 PMHe will begin convening meetings on health care next week. "Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."
On to education reform. Nancy Pelosi once again appears to be getting a workout from that Speaker chair. But I think he's starting to lose people a little bit with the standard litany of promises. Just now Biden and Pelosi seem to be staring into the middle distance and a couple of times clapped absently at some education initiative.
9:43 PMTrying to be cheesily hopeful and also starkly realistic: "This is America! We don't do what's easy, we do what's necessary" to "Every 30 seconds another company goes into bankruptcy."
Now, on to health care. He mentions the new S-CHIP legislation, and Pelosi SHOOTS up out of her chair, clapping! For a second there, I thought we had ignition.
9:37 PMThis country has always reacted with bold action when we've had crises, he says. Government never supplanted private enterprise, it catalyzed private enterprise. We're a nation that has "claimed promise from peril; opportunity from ordeal."
Energy, health care, and education are the three pillars to our future economy.
9:35 PMFox News hed: "Obama hits hope theme." Definitely true. He's talking about the bad stuff but he's definitely upbeat. I haven't seen him move and gesticulate this much in the last couple of years - it's somewhat reminiscent of his 2004 DNC speech.
9:30 PM"I intend to hold banks fully accountable." Something else that he had to hammer home. Lots of people are upset about the bank bailouts, and he has to sell them on it. He says "those days are over" of fancy drapes and excessive private jets.
He knows how tough it is to see banks getting bailed out after all this bad behavior. "I get it," he says. But, "we can not afford to govern out of anger" and "it's not about helping banks; it's about helping people."
9:28 PMExplainer in chief. Credit crisis. I wonder how this is working? I understand it all, and I think he needs to do this, but does it confuse or muddle the matter?
He's coming off as confident and almost aggressive. That's the right body language, I think - too much of this serious, somber stuff is no good for the country's mood.
9:25 PMMcCain - he looks amused, almost thinking, "Man, I'm glad I'm not in his position."
Introducing Biden as the man in charge of the domestic recovery: "Because nobody messes with Joe! Am I right?" That's some casual flair I've never seen in this setting before.
9:23 PMHe's into this stimulus thing "Not because I believe in bigger government – I don’t. Not because I’m not mindful of the massive debt we’ve inherited – I am. I called for action because the failure to do so would have cost more jobs and caused more hardships." That's something people want to hear.
"There are 57 police officers still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight" because of the stimulus plan. Great detail.
9:19 PMWe will rebuild and emerge stronger than before. This is the first time Obama has used his campaign-rally voice in Washington DC.
Funny. Pelosi and Biden are reading the speech in the background. They're probably preparing themselves to stand for the applause lines.
9:15 PMPOTUS continues to hobnob with the Capitol elite. He finally arrives to the VP and Speaker. He says "thank you" or "thank you very much" 15 or 20 times before everyone settles, then it all happens again after Speaker Pelosi formally introduces him.
9:10 PMMadame Speaker: The POTUS. Lots of applause. (Side note: Pretty amazing -
Madame Speaker, I introduce to you the (first black) President of the US.)
9:05 PMAll the pomp at circumstance is funny, yet fun. The cabinet is introduced. Hillary in her shocking magenta pantsuit, Tim Geithner, and Robert Gates come out first. Lots of power right there.
We see Gary Locke, the new commerce secretary-designate. He was the first Asian American governor, heading Washington State from 1997-2005.
9:00 PMAG Eric Holder has sat out this round. Really though... if the Capitol dome blows up, can Eric Holder run a functioning government? Maybe more of the cabinet should sit it out.
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