it s really encouraging to be able to come in here and hear an upbeat tone at the state of the union. this will be my 20th of these that i ve sat in. to be able to hear a state of the union as bright as it is right now is something that s very encouraging. sth something that s very encoura encouraging. that house speaker paul ryan, we re expecting the president and take a bipartisan and optimistic tone compared to speeches we heard in the past, of course if he stays on script. i want to bring in mel sni baa n barnes. senior fellow at the university of virginia s miller center. also with me, msnbc political analyst hugh hewitt. a nationally syndicated radio host and host of hugh hewitt on msnbc. melody, let me start with you, you heard paul ryan talk about this optimistic note. i really want us in the media to stay away from the bar being so low that we ll be happy if the president just sticks to his script. this is the president s history of these big speeches has not been great.