The Obama focus-grouped paint-by-poll-numbers State of the Union address

I don't often agree with Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, but I agree with her analysis of the Presidents State of the Union address.

The president, we were told, spent a good deal of time in the days leading up to his State of the Union address, going over it with a fine-toothed comb, making changes and additions in longhand.

But judging from the speech, he also spent a lot of time going over the results of focus groups and polls. Indeed, the speech, despite its charm, humor, and occasionally impassioned rhetoric, had the feel of being focus-grouped within an inch of its life. There was a decidedly paint-by-poll-numbers air about it. (link)