G12

Substance: The POTUS had a lot to say tonight. Among those things, I felt he mostly stressed 3 things: Medicare, creating new jobs and climate change. He emphasized that he would accept reforms for medicare but would not take away the right of the elderly receiving proper and fair care. Although Medicare focuses on the elderly, Obama was able to connect it to "the children" (which is always a crowed favorite), and recognize that if we create a strong, stable system now then children now will have a promising future when it comes to health care. The POTUS also put emphasis on new jobs. Not only did he announce that big companies such as Ford and Apple were bringing jobs back to the US from foreign nations but also that he wants to create new jobs. He discussed climate change and brought up the fact that recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy and the many wild fires, are not coincidences  There is hard evidence that there is a cause and we can either ignore it or make it stop. He went on to press that in becoming a more climate-aware nation we could create many, many jobs in the clean energy sector. Benefiting our economy and earth.
Style: Obama is famous for his hand gestures, which were of no lack tonight. He uses his hands to animate conflicting subjects and stress the importance of change but also to recognize progress. I noticed he used the word "our" when describing the nation and government, making him seem more approachable and show that he does not think everything is about him. He used long pauses to create a dramatic effect and leave an impression. He phrased things in ways that didn't show bipartisanship, like when he talked about climate change he never said "global warming", a term disliked by many republicans.
Response: The POTUS received many standing ovations and it was interesting to see the way Joe Biden and John Boehner reacted to what he was saying because they were both directly behind him. There were many times when Biden would be on his feet applauding and Boehner just sat there, emotionless. The camera focused in on many different Congress people, a lot of whom were Republicans and most of their faces, not surprisingly  were also emotionless, like Boehner's. The camera also showed Harry Reed, Senate Majority Leader and the FLOTUS with her guest, the mother of a teenager who had been a victim of gun violence in Chicago. The camera also showed Guests like Tim Cooke, the CEO of Apple, who was all smiles after Obama said Apple would be making Macs in the U.S. once again.