Barack Obama

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sent out a message marking the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Gay men and lesbians in the military no longer have to hide who they are, and the service members who were discharged under this policy can re-enlist.

This is one of the administration's signature achievements. Countless Americans fought hard to end this law over the course of nearly two decades, and President Obama is proud to have signed the repeal.

But today's news isn't just a policy promise kept -- it's a personal promise kept to the thousands of people who needed and deserved this change.

The campaign also sent out a video highlighting members of the armed forces who can now live openly under this change in policy.

A chart breaking down the analysis of President Obama's jobs plan by Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.  

h/t MoveOn.org

From the Associated Press:

"Payroll tax cuts are very powerful," said Allen Sinai, chief economist of Decision Economics. "They provide a boost to direct income and, in turn, spending, which is important to growth."

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimated that the president's plan would boost economic growth by 2 percentage points, add 2 million jobs and reduce unemployment by a full percentage point next year compared with existing law...

Susan Wachter, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, figures that the Social Security tax cuts alone would add 1 percentage point to economic growth and create 1 million jobs next year...

Via New York Times 

Great stuff.

The funniest part of the whole evening may have been The Donald's scowls, not the jokes.

Via The Turner Report, here's Barry Soetoro's full speech outlining his budget proposal "to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years and to ensure America's future wealth and prosperity."

Barry Soetoro launched his campaign for a second illegitimate term of Islamic socialist tyranny this morning with a video of and to supporters this morning.

"It Begins With Us:"

PoliticMo's Eli Yokley put together a Wordle word cloud from last night's SOTU address. I always find these neat, so here's Eli's cloud of the prepared remarks:

And here is a word cloud of the responses of more than 4,000 NPR listeners/readers to the SOTU speech:

From Political Wire: "A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds 53% of Americans approve of how President Obama is doing his job -- his best numbers since the vote on health care reform 10 months ago. Also interesting: 'Democrats generally are back to being viewed in a positive light by most Americans -- 53% favorable to 45% unfavorable. That's better than at any point during the height of the 2010 campaign. Views of the Republican Party are evenly split at 48%.'" 

Yesterday's Public Policy Polling survey shows that Barry Soetoro trails all leading Republican contenders in Missouri in hypothetical 2012 matchups except Sarah Palin. Respondents were also asked about Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.  According to the pollsters' analysis, "Huckabee is the only one of the Republicans Missouri voters are particularly fond of."  From their release:

Huckabee is by far the best liked of the four Republicans, with a 51-29 favorability rating to Romney’s 30-42, Gingrich’s 33-48, and Palin’s 39-53. Huckabee performs better across the board. 25% of Democrats like him, with Romney’s 13% a distant second across the aisle. He also has a 46-27 mark with independents, with Romney’s 26-39 way behind. Romney’s problem is Republicans, who give him only a 49-24, last by far, with Huckabee’s 79-11 the best grade with the GOP.

“These results continue the trend seen nationally and in North Carolina, Virginia, and Montana: Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are right now the president’s strongest potential opponents, with Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich placing no better or even sometimes far worse than John McCain did in Obama’s decisive 2008 victory,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.

Other notes:

• Only 39% of respondents had a favorable opinion of Palin, and 53% have an unfavorable opinion.   Huckabee is at 51/29, Gingrich is at 33/48, Romney is at 30/42, and Obama is at 43-52. 
• "Obama gets 86-88% of the Democratic vote in all four match ups. He definitely doesn't have a base problem."
• One third of Missourians like Newt Gingrich? Newt Freaking Gingrich, people.

The Star's Steve Kraske has in interesting column today comparing the approval ratings of Barack Obama and Jay Nixon, and wondering whether their different standings is tied to their respective approaches to governing.  I think there's a danger in overemphasizing their governing and policy philosophies in trying to explain the differences in their approval ratings, but I won't quibble with the numbers.  From the column: 

Nixon, meanwhile, continues to tread on hallowed political ground, especially considering the tough economic times. Some 55 percent of Missouri voters approve of his job performance, Rasmussen found. Some 41 percent disapprove.

That’s regarded as one of the best sets of numbers for a sitting governor anywhere in the country.

Video from last night's rally in Madison.

A new web vid from Organizing for America: "Voter have choice this November -- between Democrats who are moving America forward, and Republicans who want to take us back to the failed policies of the past."

The New York Times summarizes the speech: "Unveiling his economic agenda for the fall campaign in a lengthy and sharply populist speech that sought to appeal to the middle class, Mr. Obama also urged voters not to allow Republicans to “ride” fears about the economy into the election booths in the midterm elections in November. Mr. Obama acknowledged that “people are frustrated and angry and anxious about the future.” But he argued that a Republican return to power would lead to a repeat of failed policies of the past.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" – Statute of Liberty

For the past two years the Republicans, the tea-partiers, and the other wing-nuts have been waging war, but despite the prognosticators on cable and the talking heads they are not at war with President Obama, the Muslims, or the Latinos. These folks are not upset about health-care reform, deficits, or bail-outs. This war is not about secret Muslim terrorist’s plots, socialist takeovers, or gangster governments. What we are witnessing is the historic battle between those who cling to a false sense of history against what they see as an uncertain and frightening future. A future that is frightening because it is looking darker and more foreign.

Kit Bond will vote against Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court because Barack Obama nominated her.

UPDATE: Peter Kinder is challenging Bond's manhood, calling for an pointless filibuster of Kagan's nomination.