O gets standing “O”, but not always from Sen. Reid

President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday night showed improved leadership in moving closer to the middle.

Tonight the president struck a more middle-of-the-road tone, which I suspect will serve him well going into his re-election bid. He sounded like the president of us all tonight, instead of the far-left crusader he's been for the last 24 months.

In particular, his promise to veto any legislation with so-called earmarks plays well with most Americans. Sen. Harry Reid, however, had earlier called such rhetoric fanciful. Bad moment in the speech for Harry. One reporter said that Sen. Reid and Sen. Durbin "hated the line about medical malpractice" and "sat stone faced while (Sen.) McConnell stood and cheered."

Also, when President Obama talked about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan he told our enemies that "We will defeat you." The president received a standing "O" from most of the chamber, but it looked like Sen. Reid was not one of them. I can't be sure since I'm at the mercy of the television cameras. Hope someone will ask him about it. Could it be that he still thinks "this war is lost"?

All in all, I give the president a solid 7.5 on a scale of 1-10. If you'd like to see my running commentary (as well as pertinent re-tweets) during the speech, you can follow me at www.twitter.com/shermfrederick.