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Early ratings (just from me and out of 10)

Substance

There were a LOT of things hit on tonight. Quite a bit of substance. Of course, towards the end of the speech there were a few junktime things thrown out there. I'll give him an 8/10, simply because the Iran, Iraq, World policy, defense and economic parts were very very strong.

Style

The style of this speech was very much like most on FR have wanted for a while. He took on his critics head on, meanwhile he indirectly went after some within his own party that have been waffling from time to time. I'll give him an 8/10 here as well....

Flow

This speech had a flow to it. Sometimes the theme tended to wander, but that's what comes with the terroritory with SOTU speeches. 7/10

Focus

the Focus of this was wide-ranging and forward-looking. He hit his critics, came on strong in the cases of Iraq, Iran and terrorism, went after the tax cuts, and still hit on Social Security. 9/10

Relevance

The world is a dangerous place. It is made so by despotic regimes like those in Iran. Energy independence would help. A strong line with Iran will help as well. to make this short I will stop here. 8/10

Talking Points

This speech will give a tone to the ENTIRE 2006 Congressional elections. This speech gave a ton of ammo for the Republicans and the Conservatives to use this Fall. 10/10

Momentum

The President was on a roll, even at the end of his speech. 10/10

Principles

This will be an interesting speech with concerns of illegal immigration. The President said NO to illegal immigration. Will he follow through? That is the crux of any argument from here to the fall elections. Making the tax cuts permanent would be nice, cutting spending would be great and the strong line on defense is always a good line to use. However, some things will need to be ironed out. I hope they go the way of security with the border, but you never know. 7/10 overall, mainly because of the first 2/3rds of the speech.

That gives me 67/80 possible on this speech. Very Very good. Probably not the best ever, but still the message was there, it was given in a clear concise way, and the Democrats will enter meltdown mode over this speech, well, as I am watching this a$$clown of a governor screw up the response, they already have. OUT.