COVERITLIVE.COM

7:50

Matt Zeitlin - Hey everyone, I know it hasn't started, but CNN just said that Eric Holder, the attorney general, won't be attending the speech because he's the one cabinent member who's stored away in a safe location "should disastrer strike." I like the way the Obama people are thinking. One thing that sets Obama apart from every other president is his...affinity for the game of basketball. It just so happens that Holder is also a baller. Gotta keep the continuity and history going.

7:51	Matt Zeitlin - Roland Burris! Gaaa! With John McCain! Contrast!

7:54	Matt Zeitlin - Fun fact: Jon Favreau, the guy who wrote the speech, is 27. He also directed Iron Man...oh wait, that's the other Jon Favreau

7:57	Ben Armstrong - Fun Fact II: Arne Duncan, the newest Secretary of Education, is also quite the athlete. Obama's cabinet may be the most athletic, if not the most averse to taxes, in history.

7:58	Matt Zeitlin - Yeah, he was a professional basketball player in Australia. Not sure why I know that, but it's cool

7:59	Matt Zeitlin - Woo hoo, Jan Schakowsky got a shout out. She's part of Obama's crew escorting him into Congress

8:00	Ben Armstrong - Brian Williams is sobering.

8:02	Matt Zeitlin - I'm watching on CNN, where they were doing this bizarre thing of reading people's facebook statuses about the speech. I was really mystified as to why I should care or why anyone else would

8:03	Ben Armstrong - Will Obama mention anything about foreign policy? Will it be Iran, poverty or something more general?

8:03	Matt Zeitlin - I don't think so

8:03	Ben Armstrong - You should be the expert on ordinary people caring...

8:03	Matt Zeitlin - yeah

8:04	Matt Zeitlin - even though why the economy is important seems pretty self explanatory, but that's just me

8:05	Ben Armstrong - I am not sure whether there will be the ovations of a state of the union...I am guessing that it will not be too partisan i.e. the standing ovations will include the whole audience, not just the right or the left.

8:06	Matt Zeitlin - For now anyway, but when he says that we need long term public investments and stuff, I don't exactly expect Thaddeus McCotter to be applauding

8:07	Matt Connolly - I bet some of it will be bipartisan applause. I can't see the Republicans getting excited for some of the economic points he's going to make, though.

8:08	Ben Armstrong - I think there will be less applause than usual during the speech. I assume that he will call for some pretty tough sacrifices, which is not likely to pump pols up.

8:09	Matt Zeitlin - I mean, sorta, it's hard to see what the tough sacrifices are behind shelling out 787 billion

8:09	Matt Connolly - Right now it seems to be all about lowering expectations

8:09	Matt Connolly - Obama will make the point that the stimulus won't magically fix everything, that it's going to take time

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