i m dave briggs, it s wednesday, january 31st. it stands out because it s her birthday. happy birthday, my friend. that was sweet. it 3:00 on the east, we start with the state of the union. president trump walking a fine line in the first state of the union speech last night. he held fast to the tough talking populism he embodied in year one and made efforts. the hour and 20 minute speech, the third longest in the union ever. the president out thing the economy. putting the america first approach and he is taking a jab at nfl players for not standing during the national anthem. on immigration the president pushed for the bipartisan deal that includes a border wall and a path to citizenship for dreamers. as president of the united states, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, my constant concern is for america s children, america s struggling workers and america s forgotten communities. so, tonight, i am extending an
the people dreamed this country, the people built this country. and it s the people who are making america great again. new american moment the president says. the president mixing a devicive agenda that calls for unity in the state of the union. he touted his accomplishments and warned the country about threats foreign and domestic. it s 30 past the hour, the morning after the state of the union. the president walked a fine line in the first state of the union speech last night. he held fast to the tough talking populism that he embodied in year one and made an effort to reach across the aisle. the third longest state of the union ever. he touted the economy and defended his america first approach and took a jab at nfl players for not standing during the national anthem. he pushed for a bipartisan deal that includes a border wall
this game is not over. this battle is not over. so let s hear it one more time. together. clear eyes, full hearts. let s go! that s the mirky know. that s the america i know. that s the country we love. clear-eyed, big-hearted, undaunted by challenge. optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. president obama may have had somewhat of a friday night lightsesque moment during his state of the union speech last night. but going from the president s address to the republican response, nikki haley, a rising star, future running mate or enemy of the republican right?
are trying to talk to that mindset of the american people, if you put something like this mortgage thing in your state of the union address, it is the sort of thing that has resonance. 42% of swing voters said they thought president obama was for the middle class. after the speech, the number who thought president obama was for the middle class shot up to 66%, from 42 to 66. before the speech, also 42% of those swing voters said the president understood issues important to them. after the speech it jumped to 62%. so for a president heading in a reelection year, those were exactly the kind of numbers you want to see. now, of course everybody knows it s hard for a president to get reelected when the economy is bad.
look at the numbers from the new nbc wall street journal poll released tonight. in terms of when the polling was done, these don t take in account the state of the union address. over the course of the last month not including the state of the union, percent age of people who think the country is on the right track has gone up by eight points. percent age of people who approve of president obama s handling of the economy has gone up by six points. percentage of people who think the nation s economy will get better over the next year, that is up seven points over the last month. the white house in planning a reelection strategy for president obama obvious hi hoped the economy would be getting better by now, which it is. they probably could not have anticipated at this point people would be feeling more optimistic and feeling like things in the economy overall were getting better. but the thing they truly could never have dreamed of the country where the economy was getting better, the p