Video- Chris Matthews On Obama: 'I Forgot He Was Black'

Speech Boosted Obama's Approval

Time to rethink that "Great Communicator" title.

A new Gallup Poll found President Obama's nationally-televised address this week boosted his approval rating to 67% from 59%. This is just two points shy of his highest recorded approval rate.

Key finding: Obama's support among Republicans rose to 42% from 27%.

Obama’s Speech: 52 Million-Plus TV Viewers

Much more importantly, 53 million plus understood his speech. I'm guessing that Jindal's response wouldn't have gotten as many hits if it hadn't been for the train wreck factor.

More than 52 million people watched President Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress in prime time on Tuesday, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The TV audience, pegged at 52.4 million by Nielsen, does not include out-of-home or online viewers. Nielsen said the address, which was broadcast roughly between 9 and 10:30 p.m., averaged a 49 share across 10 networks, which means that almost half of the people watching TV at the time were watching Mr. Obama’s speech.

(snip)

George W. Bush’s first address before Congress, in Feb. 2001, reached an average audience of 39.8 million viewers.

Online, a C-SPAN video of Mr. Obama’s address has been viewed more than 150,000 times on YouTube. The Republican response, delivered by Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, has been viewed more than 75,000 times.

Obama Soars In CBS Insta Poll After Speech

How do those sporty types say? Oh yes, "Nothing But Net".

Obama's Speech Gets High Marks

My take on the speech? Good shit. There's supposed to be a CBS poll out there that's just as good, but I can't find it.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll indicates that two-thirds of those who watched President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night had a very positive reaction to his speech.

In addition, 85% of those polled said the president's speech made them more optimistic about the direction of the country over the next few years, with 11% indicating the speech made them more pessimistic.

David Brooks opines on Bobby Jindal's calamitous response to Obama speech

Oopsy. More reactions here. Video via FDL.

JIM LEHRER: Now that, of course, was Gov. Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, making the Republican response. David, how well do you think he did?

DAVID BROOKS: Uh, not so well. You know, I think Bobby Jindal is a very promising politician, and I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted. But to come up at this moment in history with a stale "government is the problem," "we can't trust the federal government" - it's just a disaster for the Republican Party. The country is in a panic right now. They may not like the way the Democrats have passed the stimulus bill, but that idea that we're just gonna - that government is going to have no role, the federal government has no role in this, that - In a moment when only the federal government is actually big enough to do stuff, to just ignore all that and just say "government is the problem, corruption, earmarks, wasteful spending," it's just a form of nihilism. It's just not where the country is, it's not where the future of the country is. There's an intra-Republican debate. Some people say the Republican Party lost its way because they got too moderate. Some people say they got too weird or too conservative. He thinks they got too moderate, and so he's making that case. I think it's insane, and I just think it's a disaster for the party. I just think it's unfortunate right now.