Overall, I thought the President’s speech was fine. Like Jim, I have a certain inherrent boredom with State of the Union speeches. It struck me that, as usual, the President’s argument’s were best when he was talking about protecting our security by advancing freedom and democracy. “Retreat will not bring peace,” I believe he said. And, for me, that ends the argument. We simply can’t sit back and wait for terror to come find us — and it will if we sit back and let it.

Rhetorically, I also thought the President’s call for courage and continued patience were strong. Perhaps the best line of the whole speech came on this subject, near the end… “Before history is written down in books, it’s written in courage.” And, again, that’s another argument winner. Whether it’s Iraq or Afghanistan, we’re there — we’ve got to finish the job.

I thought the President seemed most comfortable talking about his domestic agenda, but rhetorically, it was the weakest part of the speech.

Overall, it was a solid speech and a solid performance. But, like most State of the Union speeches, it wasn’t one for the history books.

Cam: I concur. Last night I gave it a “B” grade, but I’d probably downgrade that to a “B-” or a “C+” this morning. Not much of it stuck with me, unfortunately.

Jim: It will be interesting to see if there’s any lasting political effect on the preisdent’s polls. I’m one of those folks who thinks Bush does better when he’s out on the hustings, making the case for his policies to the American people. He loses ground when he does no public events and lets Scott McClellan take the heat. Last night wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen Bush, but it was solid overall, and Bush probably contrasts well with his opponents.

I think Instapundit and/or Mickey Kaus observed that Bush always polls pretty blah (post 9/11 excepted) when the spotlight is entirely on him. But as soon as he’s contrasted with a Daschle, Gephardt, Dean, Kerry, Pelosi or a Murtha, the public prefers him.