Obama may well be hedging his bets. But as a believer in taxpayer-funded preschool for all (I prefer the term "public good," thank you), I like to think that the president's paving the way for the whole nine yards. How about that legacy, on which he seems to be working so diligently?

Immediately after Obama's State of the Union speech, pundits offered clashing descriptions: prosaic, bread-and-butter, Clinton-like, an extension of the liberal agenda outlined in the inaugural address, uplifting, aggressive and so on. What I heard was something really unusual.

This week, we found out that the State of the Union -- or at least the rhetoric about it -- is strong. To no one's surprise, President Obama delivered another good speech. Highlights included his call for an increase in the minimum wage, the announcement of steps towards fixing our broken voting system, and a promise to step up on climate change. The president also vowed that "by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over" -- though he didn't explain why we need to wait until then. The speech's most powerful moment was Obama's passionate call for gun control. His overarching message was: I welcome bipartisanship, but if I don't get it, I'll do it myself. As the shameful GOP filibuster of Chuck Hagel showed, the odds are the president will be spending his second term in DIY mode.

There is a tradition in the black church named "call and response." It's simply the experience of the preacher "calling" and the congregation "responding." Obama is ready to issue "calls" to the American people, over the heads of the Washington politicians and pundits. It's time for our response.

That is how the president has changed public discourse. He has changed it at the level that counts, the deepest level, the moral level. What can make that change persist? What will allow such an ideal citizenry to come into existence?

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama was wrapping up his post-State of the Union tour by talking about...

WASHINGTON -- National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Thursday renewed his call for armed guards in every school and said President Barack Ob...

While the president's speech was ambitious and not short on specifics, it was resoundingly consistent in this one theme alone, that of owning up to the working poor and indigent in America, and taking a seismic step in advancing towards economic justice.

Sure, Democrats got their water cooler moment with Marco Rubio's struggle with dry mouth, but it's all one big cycle. With that, and since one of D.C.'s biggest nights plays out like Bravo programming, here's my take on D.C.: Mean Girls edition.

Activism works. To the extent that the president's words and deeds have become more progressive, it's because people took to the streets and spoke to our leaders with votes, emails, and phone calls. But there's more to be done. Much more.

WASHINGTON -- Despite Republican criticism of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, some GOP lawmakers offered rare praise for some asp...

Just one day after President Barack Obama unveiled hisbig promise to America's smallest children, both advocates and allies are raising major question...

State lawmakers' reactions to President Barack Obama's announcement Tuesday night of a new bipartisan voting commission split along party lines. Th...

Despite saying he "really liked" parts of President Barack Obama's 2013 State of the Union address, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh criticized w...

President Barack Obama challenged Congress in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night to reform how college financial aid is distributed, and onc...

Movements begin in our own homes -- they don't come from the White House. If we want to see real substantive change in our lives and in society, then each and every one of us has to make it happen, period.

President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union in front of a joint session of congress and honored guests as the world watched from home on T...

A few weeks into his second term, the Obama many of us expected in 2009 appears to finally have shown up. An assertive president prepared to get in the faces of his Republican opponents and force them to back down so he can move his agenda.