The Scorecard Wrap-UP

Well, I didn't get it all right in my guess of how the State of the Union Address would go.  It was far more low-key than I expected, though I think got a few things correct.  But it was largely done is far more subtle way.  The president did go into his achievements during his seven years, as I expected, but didn't trumpet them with klieg lights.  Tossed off mentions of the Affordable Care Act, the nuclear deal with Iran, the Climate Change Accord, a brief word about tracking down Osama bin Laden, and more.  But all largely interwoven into other points.  His subtlest work was in discussing his vision for the next five year.  It was statesmanlike, but really was setting the agenda for the next president -- all of which was a very pointed, but understated dig at Donald Trump.

What I thought he'd do more of, but he didn't, was lay out his plans for the coming year.  And I thought he'd be more aggressively blunt.  But in the end, that isn't who he is.  And the next presidency was clearly much more important to him than making specific proposals tonight, which would get in the way of his larger, more substantive message.