With the eyes of the political world currently focused on the Space Coast in the great state of Florida, Obama will have to bring the eyes of the world away from the campaign trail and to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as he delivers the State of the Union tonight. It won't be easy (Mitt Romney is already planning both a prebuttal and a rebuttal) but Obama has to try to get things done in Washington with the cloud of a tight election later in 2012. So, what is to be expected from Obama tonight?
1. Lots of big, grandiose rhetoric. This is a hallmark of most presidential speeches but the man who won the hearts of millions of Americans with five words ("Yes we can," "Hope," and "Change") seems to have brought it to a whole new level.
2. Big Ideas, without overloading on the specifics. Obama doesn't want to bore the whole country to death, but he also has to prove that he actually has a plan. Finding the right balance of idea vs. specifics can be difficult sometimes.
3. Watch the aisle divide. Okay, not technically something that Obama is expected to do, but it's always fun to watch which party stands up to clap for which parts of the speech. I wouldn't expect to see a lot of standing ovations from the GOP side, but hey, anything's possible.
That said, don't get too worked up about what is said in the State of the Union. There is a lot of legislative battling to be done yet...