The annual tradition returns: Mouse over the text of Obama's speech for commentary and analysis.
Lo and behold, some of the smartest minds in the field find plenty to disagree on.
There's no clear path to a minimum-wage hike in today's Congress. So why did the president surprise members of his own party and bring it up in the State of the Union?
Or who might lose their job?
The president's message about helping the middle class resonated broadly with voters -- but they wonder if he can get it done.
A higher minimum wage and universal pre-K might sound like hackneyed liberal goals. But they're supported by broad economic research -- and common sense.
His smoothly delivered State of the Union response showed his major weakness as a speaker: the staleness of his rhetoric.
Human moments from the ridiculous to the heart-rending lept from the boilerplate at the State of the Union address and the GOP response to it.
The president heartened environmentalists with the strongest presidential statement on warming in history. All that's left to see is how he follows through.
After a first term marked by major policy pushes, the president's State of the Union suggests a pragmatic, small-ball approach going forward.
The following is the complete text of the president's address as prepared for delivery.
The Florida Republican's efforts to situate himself within his immigrant community make him sound both more regional and more grounded than the average U.S. Senator.
As the president delivers his fourth State of the Union address, here are up-to-the-minute updates and the best analysis from around the web.
Tidbits from the prepared for delivery version of Obama's speech.
Nobody loves workmanlike laundry lists, but four former presidential speechwriters say there's little hope for shorter speeches any time soon.
The only way to close the budget deficit is to close the jobs deficit
Can any of us imagine a time when we aren't stripping down to our socks for travel, or sending security agents into mosques? Welcome to the age of perpetual conflict.
The pariah state's latest nuclear test is an embarrassment for the administration's non-proliferation strategy.
Prisoner abuses, DNA testing, and changes to marijuana rules—a review of what tonight's State of the Union speech should call for, but probably won't
He's posed as a pirate and toiled on the funerals beat. Now he's taking over the task of writing the president's major addresses.
As America braces for an address that tends to be uneventful, here's what Washington's major constituencies would like Obama to talk about.
