What Needs To Happen In The SOTU

I absolutely hate when people value style over substance. The worst offenders of this are the Giuliani lovers who think that saying “9/11″ and declaring “War on Terrorism” as loudly as possible while beating your chest is an effective foreign policy. Because terrorists who are willing to take their own lives while killing innocent Americans clearly would think twice about doing so if they only knew that they were going to get in trouble.

So, as much as it pains me to say it, tonight’s State of the Union Address has got to be about style. Yes, Obama’s got to reestablish the reasons for health care reform. He’s got to explain his new agenda concerning bank regulation. And then there’s that spending freeze bullshit, which I don’t even want to talk about. But the biggest problem facing Democrats and Obama is the enthusiasm gap between their base and the GOP base.

Teabaggers think their freedom is at stake while they fight Communists, Muslims, and Nazis all at the same time. As deluded and idiotic as they are, they’re enthusiastic and sure to vote. Democratic voters are sitting on the couch wondering who ate all the pretzels.

This is what Obama needs to address. Not directly, but he needs to restore the enthusiasm among Democrats. It’s certainly possible. We all remember 2008.

So, tonight, Obama doesn’t need to hit a homerun. Well, he can, but he doesn’t have to, at least not a walk-off homerun. A walk-off homerun isn’t even possible, since he can’t win the game all in one night. What he needs to do is get on base. He’s got to get a rally going and get everyone else in dugout on their feet, feeling some “hope”, as cheesy as that sounds. It’s going to take a lot base hits, doubles, triples, and a few homers to win this thing. The SOTU just needs to be the first in that long line of hits.