First thoughts on President Obama's state of the union address

President Barack Obama delivers his state of the union address.

President Obama's first state of the union address is in the books. But, the analysis has only just begun.

Below you'll find our first thoughts from the speech. Have some of your own? Feel free to offer them in the comments section.

• Values matter: From the start of the speech to its ends, the common thread was an appeal to the country's shared values of what it means to be an American. Obama began by placing this moment in a historical context, an attempt to show that we've faced tough times before and always managed to persevere. Time and again he appealed to both the members of Congress in the House chamber and the American people to dig deep to find the values that unite rather than divide. "We don't quit," he said at one point in a direct appeal to the can-do nature of Americans. "I don't quit." At another he implored: "These aren't Republican values or Democratic values, business values or labor values, they're American values."

• Health care humility: Obama waited more than thirty minutes before raising the touchy topic of health care. But, when he did, he talked about it a self-deprecating tone aimed at defusing some of the vitriol surrounding the issue. "By now it should be fairly obvious I didn't take on health care because it was good politics," Obama said in a line that drew chuckles in the chamber. Later, he acknowledged -- for the first time publicly -- that he deserved blame for "not explaining it more clearly to the American people." While Obama took a cue from former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton by eating a slice of humble pie after a legislative (or political) setback, he was adamant that health care could not simply fade away in the wake of the Massachusetts special election and challenged Republicans (and Democrats) to bring forward better ideas -- if they had them -- on health care. Left unsaid, of course, is that health care was the President's number one legislative priority and the burden of proof, therefore, rests with him.

• Blaming Bush: On at least three occasions, Obama referenced the previous administration to explain the problems left to him and the country. After rattling off a list of spending and tax cuts by former president George W. Bush, Obama exclaimed: "All of this is before I walked in the door." The line drew some catcalls -- none of the "you lie" variety though -- from Republicans but likely resonated with voters. A new NPR national poll showed that 58 percent blame President Bush for the current state of the economy while just 33 percent blame Obama. Of course, the blame game is a dangerous one to play as it can always boomerang back at you. Whether it's later this year, 2011 or even 2012, a majority of the American people will view this as Obama's economy. He has to hope that when that happens, optimism has returned to the American people about the financial future of the country. It if doesn't, it could be a very tough reelection race.

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