Obama Wins Over Gates, People and The Press

President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) address — originally meant only for the United States Congress and now increasingly to the citizens of the United States of America — drew more applause than criticism, at least for now.

The first among those supporting Obama was Bill Gates, who used the social networking site Twitter (@BillGates) to say: “@barackobama Completely agree that government support of low-carbon energy innovation is vital. America can and should lead the way.” #SOTU

The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) posted emotion-inducing quotes from Obama’s speech, such as “This nation is great because we get each other’s backs. If we hold fast to that truth…there is no challenge too great.” #SOTU and then exhorted followers to “Stand with President Obama for an America built to last: OFA.BO/3Bfuox “

Not to be left behind, the Republicans shot back immediately with a series of “Fact Check” tweets with a view to stymie the impact of the speech as well as to identify flaws in the address. Under @Senate_GOPs, the Republicans posted tweets, including: “Fact Check: Fewer Americans Are Working Today Than When President Obama Took Office bit.ly/xwvzT2 “; ” Fact Check: Manufacturers Are Skeptical, Mr. President bit.ly/wvu8wP ” and ” Despite His Rhetoric About An ‘All Of The Above Strategy’ For Energy, Pres. Obama Rejected The Keystone XL Pipeline bit.ly/y2KhZe “.

Mitt Romney

Former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, seen as the most potential rival to Obama in the 2012 elections unleashed a few scathing remarks, tweeting: “This President’s agenda made these troubled times last longer. He made it harder for the economy to recover obamaisntworking.com” and “What is critical is that we make today Barack Obama’s last State of the Union mi.tt/xcL10Q ” #1000Days.

Incidentally, Tuesday’s SOTU coincided with Romney’s revelation that he had paid 14 percent in taxes against his $21 million income in 2010, a vexing issue Obama addressed in his speech, with the backing of billionaire Warren Buffet, that “Tax reform should follow the Buffett Rule.  If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.  And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right:  Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires.  In fact, if you’re earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn’t get special tax subsidies or deductions. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.  You’re the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. You’re the ones who need relief.” (See  ”Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address” http://1.usa.gov/zkyabp ).

Obama also received praise from the media. In a bold appraisal, the Time magazine titled its writeup “Obama’s State of the Union: An Optimistic President Talks to a Pessimistic Nation” and began by using glowing phrases such as “bristling with optimism” and “can-do pep” to back Obama’s approach in announcing his policy initiatives and national priorities to “his pessimistic nation’s attention”. (See: http://ti.me/yLyHbi )

The magazine also ran another article in which it graded the State of the Union address with a B after having analysed it on various parameters such as style, substance, his worst moment, his best moment and the main thing. (See: Grading the State of the Union : http://ti.me/yUafd4 ).

CBS News published an analysis with the headline “Obama speech puts him in campaign arena”. The Associated Press report cited how Obama, who has been at the receiving end of his Republican rivals for weeks, got his moment under the sun by using the State of the Union address to land counterpunches on his opponents in front of millions of people and to the envy of the GOP presidential contenders. (See: http://bit.ly/wL0Wwz ).