The Hill News

The State of the Union speech last night was one of the most positive, encouraging addresses in a long time. It hit the right tone for the American people, who want progress, who want a vision and who want to see an end to Washington business-as-usual gridlock.

It was also a skillful setup to the Republicans. It didn’t give them much to shoot at and complain about, nor did it provide the Fox News folks with much red meat. The Michele Bachmann response to the Ryan response and the Obama speech was an embarrassment and created confusion among the Republican base. Her off-camera-focused diatribe might have actually angered Republicans more than Democrats â€" the ego-driven effort to rally the new Tea Party members and true believers, in fact, drained attention from Congressman Ryan.

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