Obama State of the Union Address 2011

I was in and out, driving my son to lacrosse practice, etc., so I have no big takeaway. I'll post the full White House YouTube tomorrow, with additional commentary. I'm especially interested in his "Sputnik" comments, so we'll see.

Meanwhile, at LAT, "State of the Union: Obama Calls for Unity, Yet Challenges GOP":

The president's State of the Union message focuses on bipartisanship and offers proposals sure to please conservatives. But the broad outlines of his expected reelection run are clearly visible.

The moment was tailor-made for President Obama, who rose to national fame seven years ago on a call for unifying America's blue and red states.

Standing before a divided Congress on Tuesday, with Democrats and Republicans seated side-by-side in a nod to comity, he delivered the appeal for unity many were expecting him to give.

"Governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties," he said. "We will move forward together, or not at all."

But the political reality behind his rhetoric was light-years removed from his lofty 2004 Democratic convention debut, when the then-Senate candidate from Illinois declared that "there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America."

Now, a president at midterm, he's wiser and battle-scarred, and appears to have bounced back from the November election that delivered what he had described as a "shellacking."

With a much-discussed, and thus far successful, turn toward the center, he has strengthened his hand as he prepares to battle Republicans in Congress and launch his reelection campaign.

More at the link.

RELATED: From Jennifer Rubin, "Where was Obama the centrist in his State of the Union?" (via Memeorandum):

After the Giffords memorial service, this effort seemed like Obama had phoned it in.

Wince.

More coverage at Althouse and Instapundit.