"State of the Union" debate to play out all week in key states

Tuesday night, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will deliver the Republican rebuttal -- but the debate over Mr. Obama's stewardship of the nation doesn't end there.

The Republican party is running ads today in key electoral states slamming the president for failing to revive the economy. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, will embark on Wednesday on a three-day trip to other key states to promote the themes he'll address in his speech.

In his speech tonight, Mr. Obama will discuss "the central mission we have as a country, and my central focus as president," which he describes as "rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded."

The Republican National Committee is running an ad today and tomorrow charging that the president has failed in that mission, and has instead helped political allies through investments in companies like Solyndra. The 30-second spot uses footage of Mr. Obama saying in a 2011 interview that Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago, as well as footage of President Bill Clinton saying, "Things are not going in the right direction, they're going in the wrong direction."

The ad will run on cable stations in Washington, D.C. as well as broadcast in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Norfolk, Va.; and Charlotte, N.C. Virginia and North Carolina are key states in Mr. Obama's path to victory, and he could be vulnerable in Michigan.

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RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told reporters Tuesday that those three states are must-wins for the president, but "they're also places he is unpopular right now and on defense, and our goal is to keep him on defense."

Whether it's offense or defense, the president certainly won't be letting up in those states. This week he travels to five key states, including Michigan, to continue addressing issues that will make up the main pillars of his address: manufacturing, energy, and skills and innovation.

Mr. Obama's first stops will be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Phoenix, Arizona -- two swing states -- to focus on domestic manufacturing. On Thursday, he visits Las Vegas, Nevada and Denver, Colorado (again, swing states) to discuss domestic energy production and alternative energy sources. His last stop Friday will be in Ann Arbor, Michigan to discuss college affordability.

Mr. Obama's trip will be supplemented by online outreach the White House will conduct all week to engage Americans on the issues.

The RNC plans to follow the president as he takes his message across the country, following up with local media outreach and other means of countering his message.

Some of the president's allies are also at work. For instance, to coincide with the GOP rebuttal delivered by Daniels, a coalition of unions and other groups, including the Indiana AFL-CIO, running an ad attacking the governor. The ad, which will run on broadcast in Indiana and on cable nationally, slams Daniels for flip-flopping on controversial right-to-work legislation. Indiana is a typically red state that Mr. Obama turned blue by a narrow margin in 2008.

[wfw3536]

Don't worry Obama will continue his divide our nation with his class warfare assult. Instead of uniting our country, he is determined to divide us. It is such a joke when Obama talks about paying by the rules, he knows if he has to run on his record he will lose the election this fall. This speech will just be more of the same, a lot of promises and no follow through.

[slatep]

I venture to say Obama will be wearing his rose-colored contacts while reading from the teleprompter.

I don't plan on watching tonight, and I have no plans to watch any of the debates in the future.

Since all this bullcrap has been on tv (seems like forever) I have not watched one deate or listened to one ad on television,

The Republicans have no right to criticize anybody else, because John Boehner and his gang of "NO" are largely responsible for the lack of progress in the last three years.

DON'T EVEN TURN THE TV ON UNTIL THE REGULAR SHOWS COME ON.

This is your chance to do yourself a favor.!

[MTATL67]

The Republican party are in crisis. The current Congressional Republican leadership has been a monumental failure 80 bills 10+ to name building and such nonsense. Such failure cannot be excused or blamed away. There will be consequences for Republicans lack of action. If Republican negotiated in good faith as they claim the number would be higher than 80.

[Gasgirl666]

Here is what is really going on behind the cover-ups with the theft of your tax dollars:

See the article AND the comments:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/284679/gop-wh-stop-stonewalling-us-solyndra-docs-andrew-stiles#comment-404040

and

http://corruptiondoe.weebly.com

and

http://news.muckety.com/2011/11/16/goldman-sachs-barack-obama-and-the-doe-loan-program/35101


ANY member of the public can file racketeer charges against any, or all, of the Washington insiders along with a motion to law enforcement and regulatory agencies to produce the evidence in the matter that they now hold. You can file it on behalf of yourself and all other taxpayers in your state or nationally. You can file it in the Superior Court or the U.S. Court of Claims. Don't sit around and think that the people in Washington are going to help you, or do anything about this. Get up and do something about it yourself. File a CASE IN COURT TO PROTECT AND RECOVER your tax money.

[McFrisch]

The worst president ever! This guy makes GWB look like a genius. The best line: "rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded." Is that why entitlements have skyrocketed during your sorry 4 years as czar in chief? Look at the facts, unemployment is higher than when you took office and the number of Americans on foodstamps has skyrocketed!
Go back to Chicago, Barry!

[z00td]

Good logic, McFrisch. Blame the man for things he had no control over. You sir are an informed voter.

[mizRicki]

The president will continue the blame game, he's been in office going on 4 years and has done nothing but blame everyone for his failures. This "campaign" speech will be the same old tired speech. Let's see how many times, he uses the phrases, "I inherited", "shared sacrifice", "pay their fare share", "do nothing congress", "willing to work with Republicans",etc. He'll continue to claim he's got to go around Congress and ask for more power. He'll also continue to claim he wants to help the middle class. The only thing he's done is make it more difficult on the American people by spending like no tomorrow. As far as "jobs bills" go, the House has sent nearly 30 bills to the Senate and the Senate has refused to bring any up for debate. The Senate has refused to put forth a budget, which is a violation of the Constitution. The only thing Democrats can do, which they do every election, is play the class warfare, race card and it is unfortunate that people still allow them to do that.

[z00td]

The policy change that had the largest effect on the budget since it was last balanced is...drumroll please...tax cuts. This is a fact. It is not up for debate. The two year extension of the Bush Tax Cuts costed more than Obama's one time stimulus. This is also a fact. So really, what big spending has Obama done?

[FoolKiller]

z00td - WHAT big spending? Seriously?!? Sorry we woke you up, have some more kool-aid and go back to sleep...