The president's speech ad libs hit the mark

As moving, values-rich, and cautiously optimistic as President Obama's State of the Union speech was on Tuesday night, it was his reactive ad libs that stole the show.

Near the beginning, he said "I have no more campaigns to run."    When the applause from the Republican side of the chamber seemed a little more robust than polite, Obama looked out over the group and, with a slightly amused smile, said:   "I know . . . 'cause I won them both."

Which then prompted really robust applause from the Democratic side.

Later, he ticked off the major economic indicators of the success of his policies:

"At every step, we were told out goals were misguided or too ambitious . . . that we would crush jobs and explode deficits.

"Instead, we've seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in 50 years."

Democrats responded with enthusiasm, but the applause from the Republican side was tepid.   Obama gave it the perfect timing of a great comedian . . . looking out over their side he gently chided:

"That's good news, folks."

In both remarks, he was reminding the Republicans that, although the 2014 election had put them in charge of Congress, it did not nullify his own decisive re-election as president in 2012, running on these policies they said would kill jobs.     But he did it with the light touch of the ad lib aside that delivered the eye-poke with just the right combination of irony and humor.

Worthy of Bill Clinton at his best.

Ralph