Obama's words in State of the Union don't match his actions

If you watched closely, Obama was morphing into Bill Clinton. Rather than the grand visions the president once elucidated, Obama outlined a series of small steps that he thinks will help average Americans.

The speech was expected to be a core 2012 campaign address. But it was less partisan than the pundits expected. If you're keeping score, Obama made “only” seven references to the mess he inherited. That must also be a new low.

Obama's recent and belated interest in jobs creation dominated the early part of the speech. Energy policy was also a key theme, but the energy industry can be forgiven if it takes Obama's remarks with a grain of salt.

Among the props he used were Steve Jobs' widow and Warren Buffett's secretary, the latter on display to illustrate Obama's specious claim that she has a higher effective tax rate than Buffett.

While the president's remarks were notable for the “narrowness” of his vision (as columnist Charles Krauthammer put it), the Republican response from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was sweeping and inspiring — rising to a level that the GOP candidates seeking to oust Obama have yet to reach.