Ya
know that old saying… “Never let ‘em see you sweat.” Well, President Obama was a shining example
of that in his State of the Union speech.
With
a gazillion dollar deficit, 10% (or more) unemployment and a healthcare bill
that’s not yet reality, the Pres had to hit a home run…and he did.
After
the formality of shaking everyone in the place’s hand (guess they stock the
aisle seats with dems), Obama strode up to the lectern looking every inch the
president in his dark suit and red rep tie.
From
the moment he began, it didn’t take him long to let everyone know this mess is not
his doing, he inherited it. Up front, he mentioned from the minute he came into
office we were on the brink of financial disaster and thanks to the stimulus
package, he was able to steer the ship around. Just goes to show you what a
combination of leadership and a good Public Relations
strategy can do.
In
addition, he addressed unemployment with a jobs program, small biz tax and loan
program, college loan program and even repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” All without a drop of sweat.
This
is one cool cucumber. Don’t know who does his media training (or if he ever needed
it), but the President is terrific at reading the Teleprompt-r. And whoever wrote his speech gets an “A” in
my book.
And
not only did Obama blithely and almost flawlessly read his script in a
deliberate and calm manner, he also even cracked a few jokes and called out the
Republicans and the Supreme Court for their partisanship (repubs) and bad
decisions (court).
This
guy is a PR pro’s dream. He’s polished, conversational, fluent and drives
home his messages.
Here’s
the $64 trillion dollar question – can the polished guy who speaks so well get
healthcare passed and start fueling and funding millions of jobs all without
sending our grandkids into debt? He’s
got the poise and the noise. If he would just take a play out of “Shrub’s”
playbook and ram a few things through Congress that Americans so desperately
need and deserve, we’d be a lot better off.