Posted on 01/28/2010 4:22:19 AM PST by kingattax
Okay, I never wrote this in advance, but I had thought it was a bad idea to have Gov. McDonnell give the SOTU response. Well, I was wrong.
That was by far the most effective SOTU response I have EVER heard in 30 years of listening to these things. I am too tired right now to break down that analysis into more specifics, but I really thought that McDonnell did an incredibly hard job (ALL SOTU responses are incredibly difficult) in a very, very impressive manner.
The substance was solid, and the delivery was quite good. He seemed approachable, likeable, serious, upbeat, affable, thoughtful.... and, on substance, very much in tune with the general leanings of the majority of the American public.
I entered tonight a moderate fan of McDonnell's. Now count me a solid fan, and very interested in watching him serve in office.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Agreed
I just watched it this morning. I thought he hit on a lot of great topics, although I could see where others might feel he didn’t focus more on breaking down Obozo’s comments. To me though, the topics he touched on were good ones. I especially liked his comments on helping businesses thrive instead of “overregulating” them. This is an important key to economic recovery, and right out of the RReagan playbook.
“He seemed approachable, likeable, serious, upbeat, affable, thoughtful”
I met him in person last fall, and I agree with that description. He even got down on a knee to speak with my daughter, which really impressed her. She was awestruck when he shook her hand. LOL
He was one of the few politicians I’ve met who seemed real. There was no plastic coat.
I really enjoyed the live audience. It was SO much better than watching the dour face of George Mitchell talking about how ‘concerned’ he was and how much he wants to ‘help’ the president.
Agree, that was a great speach.
All that was missing was the speech from ‘Braveheart.’ FREEDOM!
I thought it was a solid response speech. It wasn’t Reagan 1980, but it didn’t need to be. McDonnell laid out the GOP position effectively and concisely and with a positive feel to it. It felt much more substantive that Obama’s speech.
The choice of setting was interesting. I don’t remember ever seeing an opposition speaker to a SotU having a stage and audience of his own before, but I think it worked well. It avoided the “abandoned hallway” look and feel a lot of those rebuttals have. And (IMHO) it also took a bit of the “pomp and ceremony advantage” a President normally has on the SotU.
Struck me as a very decent man, etc., etc...
...but his speech left me cold. Passionless. He had so many things he could have pounced on and let slide....I got very frustrated.
Just my two-cents.
My only complaint would be that it was so much like a campaign speech. I want to see someone talk to me in plain and simple terms, not the campaign mode.
Loved the format for the rebuttal.
Have the DUmmies complained yet that it wasn’t fair to have an audience?
We are very lucky here, because our Lt. Governor Bill Bolling is also a down-home, approachable guy, as is our Attorny General Ken Cuccinelli.
He was only allowed 10 minutes on TV, so he had to keep it short.
And we’ve learned from the past that while the faithful love to see a speech tear down the President’s speech, the undecideds don’t like it at all. It reaches a lot more people to pretty much ignore the president’s specifics, and instead simply provide positive ideas of our own.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.