Largely due to how closely I follow the world of politics, when it comes to speeches, I find everything to be pretty predictable anymore.
Having said that, I feel that the president did a pretty good job of talking up his resume, of laying out a general outline of what he wants to see get done over the next year or so, and attempting to find some common ground where the two parties can compromise in order to move this country forward.
With all the topics the president covered, however, all seem to fade into the distance due to the end of his speech. The president and/or his speech writer(s) must know a thing or two about psychology and what is known as the recency effect (the tendency for one to remember what happened last in a series of events), as the president saved the best for last. He focused on finding a way to reduce gun violence through voting on gun control legislation and did this in a very emotional manner, where he said these victims deserved a vote. From the kids at Sandy Hook Elementary School to Gabby Giffords to the people at the Aurora movie theater and beyond, they deserved a vote.
I think this was a brilliant move for two reasons: 1) The recency effect, as I stated before - it's what viewers are going to remember most, and more than likely prompt a number of them to insist on action by contacting their state representatives, and 2) It places all the pressure in the world on the Republican Party. Republicans don't want there to be votes on gun control legislation, because they don't want to be the ones to vote such measures down. Over 90% of the U.S. population believes that background checks should be mandatory. A majority support banning assault rifles. A large majority support banning felons from purchasing firearms. Majorities support prohibiting people from purchasing firearms over the internet. A majority of Americans support other gun control legislation as well. This isn't just the far-left talking here. Even a majority of self-described Republicans supports most of these gun control measures, albeit by smaller margins than Democrats or Independents. If votes do occur on such legislation and the Republican Party votes them down, this is going to hurt them down the road. In the coming elections, they'll have to witness commercials depicting the devastation surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and see their party voting down measures to potentially decrease such shooting sprees and gun violence.
All-in-all, I'd give the president a "B+" grade on his speech - a "B" through the majority of it and an "A+" at the very end. Most of it was pretty predictable, but the ending tugged at my heart and wouldn't let go.
Having said that, I feel that the president did a pretty good job of talking up his resume, of laying out a general outline of what he wants to see get done over the next year or so, and attempting to find some common ground where the two parties can compromise in order to move this country forward.
With all the topics the president covered, however, all seem to fade into the distance due to the end of his speech. The president and/or his speech writer(s) must know a thing or two about psychology and what is known as the recency effect (the tendency for one to remember what happened last in a series of events), as the president saved the best for last. He focused on finding a way to reduce gun violence through voting on gun control legislation and did this in a very emotional manner, where he said these victims deserved a vote. From the kids at Sandy Hook Elementary School to Gabby Giffords to the people at the Aurora movie theater and beyond, they deserved a vote.
I think this was a brilliant move for two reasons: 1) The recency effect, as I stated before - it's what viewers are going to remember most, and more than likely prompt a number of them to insist on action by contacting their state representatives, and 2) It places all the pressure in the world on the Republican Party. Republicans don't want there to be votes on gun control legislation, because they don't want to be the ones to vote such measures down. Over 90% of the U.S. population believes that background checks should be mandatory. A majority support banning assault rifles. A large majority support banning felons from purchasing firearms. Majorities support prohibiting people from purchasing firearms over the internet. A majority of Americans support other gun control legislation as well. This isn't just the far-left talking here. Even a majority of self-described Republicans supports most of these gun control measures, albeit by smaller margins than Democrats or Independents. If votes do occur on such legislation and the Republican Party votes them down, this is going to hurt them down the road. In the coming elections, they'll have to witness commercials depicting the devastation surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and see their party voting down measures to potentially decrease such shooting sprees and gun violence.
All-in-all, I'd give the president a "B+" grade on his speech - a "B" through the majority of it and an "A+" at the very end. Most of it was pretty predictable, but the ending tugged at my heart and wouldn't let go.
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