Barack Obama's State of the Union address live!
President Obama delivers his second State of the Union address to Congress - follow all tonight's action here live
8.28pm ET: The Guardian has now posted the full text of Obama's SOTU address on its site. Enjoy.
8.21pm ET: Sensible Republican person Liz Mair tweets her top 10 SOTU drinking-game rules:
10) If Joe Wilson says or yells anything, down the rest of the bottle.
9) If Prez mentions "bipartisan,""work across the aisle," "sensible/commonsense regulation" (or similar) take a small sip.
8) If John McCain looks like he might possibly have fallen asleep at any point, do a shot.
7) For each mention of "jobs," "Sputnik," "investment," "innovation" take a small sip, preferably not of vodka.
6) If an obvious teleprompter #FAIL occurs, finish your drink.
5) If John Boehner prominently displays an expression that suggests he wants to yell "hell no, you didn't!" slam two shots.
4) If Boehner cries, slam two shots.
3) If Michele Bachmann grabs anyone on the way in and looks way to excited about it, finish your drink.
2) Every time the Prez says "change is not easy," take a big gulp.
1) Every time the Prez says "let me be clear," take a shot (and expect while doing it to be trashed by the end).
8.15pm ET: So now we have the full text, we can all go home, right? Not so fast.
Anyway, the text explains what the "Sputnik moment" revealed earlier is supposed to mean: green jobs.
This is our generation's Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven't seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We'll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology an investment that will strengthen our security, ! protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.
8.05pm ET: With just under an hour to go the White House has released the full text of Obama's address and now it's all over the internet like a rash, since there's no embargo on it. Mistake or some cunning plan? I say: mistake.
7.56pm: In a poignant reminder, the Arizona Republic newspaper reports:
Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Ral Grijalva, D-Ariz., have spearheaded an effort to encourage members of the Arizona delegation to sit together for Obama's speech and save an empty seat to represent [Gabrielle] Giffords.
7.48pm ET: David Plouffe fans! (The man who masterminded Obama's 2008 primary and general election victories.) America's very own political Napoleon gives his State of the Union preview here from 8pm ET.
7.36pm ET: Oh dear. With Obama using the catchphrase "to win the future" tonight, the redoubtable politics blogger Taegan Goddard notices an possible boon for Newt Gingrich, author of a book entitled, yes, you guessed it, Winning The Future.
So if Newt wins the 2012 presidential election, it's all Obama's fault.
7.19pm ET: In the wake of the attack on Gabrielle Giffords earlier this month, members of Congress have enthusiastically embraced a proposal for a show of bipartisanship for the State of the Union, with members from both parties sitting alongside each other, as opposed to sitting divided by parties.
A worthy aim, of course, but the tittering about "dates" and "prom night" that has been going on is mildly sick-making. Here's The Hill's coverage:
Dozens of lawmakers have dates for President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night.
And they don't mean spouses or significant others they're talking about their colleagues from the other side of the political aisle.
The theme reached a nadir when Nancy Pelosi revealed in a tweet: "I thank @GOPLeader for his #SOTU offer, but I invited my friend Rep. Bartlett from MD yesterday & am pleased he accepted".
Cue gags about Eric Cantor, the Republican leader, being dumped. Hilarious!
Hats off then to Ron Paul. "I think it's a load of fluff," said Ron to Wolf Blitzer on CNN. "I sit with Dennis Kucinich when we want to talk about civil liberties and foreign policy," says Ron, although he allowed: "I'm not against it and I hope it does some good."
7.09pm ET: Another SOTU-sceptical piece, this time from John Sides in the Wall Street Journal.
SOTU addresses rarely have any effect on approval of the president himself, Sides writes:
Why? For one, the audience for presidential speeches and press conferences is shrinking, due in part to the proliferation of entertainment options on cable television. Those who do watch the SOTU address tend to pay close attention to politics and have strong opinions that are difficult to change.
In other words, only politics junkies watch and they have already made their minds up.
7pm ET: CNN has the news that Obama will mention the tragic events in Tucson earlier this month and make an appeal for a more civilised tone in politics.
6.43pm ET: Much speculation on the cables teevee and the Twitter about what Obama's "Sputnik moment" might refer to.
Not to be outd! one, the unlucky Republican tasked with making the party's official response to the SOTU, Paul Ryan, has released excerpts of his address, and it's mainly an attack on government spending and indeed on the role of government.
Here's the choicest remark by Ryan:
We are at a moment, where if government's growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America's best century will be considered our past century. This is a future in which we will transform our social safety net into a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.
Not exactly Reaganesque, unless Reagan once said "Mr President, tear down this hammock!"
The most interesting Republican reply will come whenever Sarah Palin can be bothered to post to Facebook. And the sane and rational Michelle Bachman will also be giving her response, for some reason.
6.32pm ET: Here's the second set of quotes released by the White House from Obama's address tonight. Without context these excerpts are more cryptic, and they may refer to green jobs, possibly:
Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. Nasa didn't even exist.
But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.
This is our generation's Sputnik moment.
6.25pm ET: The White House has just released some key excerpts from Obama's speech tonight.
The first set of quotes are on the state of the economy and the need for political cooperation:
With their votes, the American people determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all for the challenge! s we fac e are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.
At stake right now is not who wins the next election after all, we just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It's whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded. It's whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world. We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.
But we have never measured progress by these yardsticks alone. We measure progress by the success of our people. By the jobs they can find and the quality of life those jobs offer. By the prospects of a small business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving enterprise. By the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to our children. That's the project the American people want us to work on. Together.
6.16pm ET: The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler has a useful fact-check of last year's State of the Union address, and a run-down of what Obama promised and what was actually delivered.
The final tally is mildly surprising: more hits than misses.
6pm ET: With three hours to go until Obama actually starts speaking, there's more action going on in Egypt tonight of global importance as police clash with protesters in Cairo and my Guardian colleagues are live-blogging it all right here.
5.45pm ET: The White House releases a behind-the-scenes video on the speechwriting and so forth behind the State of the Union:
Ever wanted to know how President Obama tackles his State of the Union address? Our latest Inside the White House feature takes you into the West Wing offices of Jon Fa! vreau, a longtime speechwriting aide to the President, and Senior Advisor David Axelrod to get a rare glimpse at how the process works and how the President is approaching tonight's speech.
Spoiler alert: It involves people sitting at computers.
5.25pm ET: Given what's happened today in Egypt (and Lebanon and Tunisia), is there any chance of a shout-out by the president tonight? Everybody I ask says "no" for Serious Foreign Policy reasons. We'll see.
5.07pm ET: CNN's SOTU coverage is including a very large number of promos for Piers Morgan's show on Thursday. Quite why CNN thinks political wonks would be interested in Piers interviewing the Kardashian sisters is a good question. But top marks for trying.
Speaking of which: the ratings for Piers Morgan's show continue to wane: on Monday night he was in distant third place behind Fox News and MSNBC.
4.58pm ET: The White House supplies a handy infographic of all the people who will be attending the address tonight as guests of Michelle Obama.
4.53pm ET: Another hallowed State of the Union tradition that isn't actually very hallowed is the practice of the First Lady inviting guests to sit near her, who the president then mentions in glowing terms.
In fact it was started by St Ronald Reagan back in 1982. The Washington Post has a photo gallery featuring that historic moment involving Lenny Skutnik (yes, the Lenny Skutnik) sitting next to Nancy Reagan.
4.29pm ET: For an alternative view, here's Time's Joe Klein (yes, he's still going) in a blo! gpost en titled I Hate SOTU, for the following reasons:
1. The President will say that the state of the union is strong, even though it isn't quite.
2. The post-speech pundits will say the speech was a laundry list that went on too long; the public will react favorably, nonetheless, in the snap polls.
3. The Republican response will be underwhelming (as the Democratic response is, when there's a Republican President).
4. The speech won't be as important as everyone claims it will be.
And so on. Except that Klein spoils the effect with his underwhelming conclusion: "But it's valuable nonetheless. It's a progress report."
4.15pm ET: Here are some of the highlights of the pre-State of the Union analysis currently available:
The Guardian's Chris McGreal in Washington rounds up the hints the White House is throwing out today about the content of the address:
Barack Obama is expected to call for a five year partial freeze on spending in his State of the Union address today as he gears up for a battle with Republicans over budget cuts and maps out a path to re-election.
The Council on Foreign Relations has an excellent guide to tonight's likely themes, with a focus on the economic issues that Obama is poised to address:
President Barack Obama's 2011 State of the Union address is expected to largely focus on the challenge of job creation and improving US competitiveness potentially building on last week's promise of regulatory reform. Another likely topic is balancing government spending priorities with the need to tackle ever-mounting US debt, an issue increasingly tied to the country's national security.
The New York Times based its major preview of the speech around Obama's theme of "Winning the future":
President Obama will outline an agenda for "winning the future" in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, striking a theme of national unity and renewal as he stresses the need for government spending in key areas and an attack on the budget deficit.
The Guardian's Mike Tomasky gives his initial thoughts on Obama's performance, and says the White House is winning the PR tug of war with Republicans:
It seems to me that the White House people are clearly winning this public relations battle. They managed to get the speech framed as Obama reaching out to the middle with various non-controversial proposals on popular issues such as education, research and innovation. The president's recent (or current) comeback in the polls among independent voters helps to drive this narrative.
And of course there's plenty more where that came from.
Good evening and welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of Barack Obama's 2011 State of the Union address to Congress a hallowed tradition that like most hallowed traditions doesn't go back very far.
George Washington gave personal addresses to the joint houses of Congress but Thomas Jefferson decided to send Facebook updates instead (much like Sarah Palin, America's 45th president). So the SOTU as it's known (and not to be confused with STFU) remained epistolatory until Woodrow Wilson decided to deliver it in person in 1913. In 1947 Harry Truman let the TV cameras in, and it was all down hill from there.
Tonight's address will be Obama's second official State of the Union address, and we will not only be liveblogging the build-up, speech and reactions right here but will also be carrying live streaming video of the speech itself, starting at 9pm ET (2am GMT for! our ins omniac European readers).
The Guardian's crack team will be covering Obama's address itself and there will be plenty of opinion over on Cif America.
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