Format Change for SOTU?

"He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."-Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution.

Tomorrow night President Obama delivers the annual State of the Union address, which will be referred to as SOTU moving on. It's the ultimate bully pulpit and used very well by Presidents from both parties over the years. What it really has become is predictable. At this time of a Presidency it's essentially a re-election speech. Again, both parties equally guilty.

After the speech, which is interrupted way too many times by scripted pauses and applause lines, a representative of the "Loyal Opposition" delivers the "Response" from some room, somewhere.

I think we'd all be better served if at the very least, the opposing party delivered its remarks right there in the House, simply taking the podium after the President speaks. Following that, the President would then be offered the opportunity for a rebuttal. Not a debate, but an exchange of thoughts and ideas.

Better yet would be something akin to "Question Time" in the British Parliament. Members of Parliament ask questions directly of the Prime Minister and it can get quite raucous. But it's a great and very entertaining exchange of political thought.

Better yet, why not questions submitted via Twitter and Facebook from, gasp, real citizens?

Who knows, SOTU could end up with better ratings than the Super Bowl. Just a thought.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"