Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: We deserve a vote

One of the best parts of the speech was in the beginning when Obama turned to Biden behind him and said, "This is a big effing deal, Joe. ... Hey, who's your friend?"

WaPo:

'Hadiya's parents, Nat and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence,' Obama said, referring to the couple, who had sat stoically through the speech. 'They deserve a vote.'

The lawmakers turned toward where they sat, paying respect, and Democrats began chant of 'vote, vote!'

Obama also singled out former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was sitting among the First Lady's guests. 'Gabby Giffords deserves a vote,' he thundered. The chant spread.

I'm from Newtown. We deserve a vote.
' @DemFromCT via Twitter for iPhone
Greg Sargent:

The broader point is that there really is something approaching a consensus on what to do about our short term fiscal problems. For all the suggestions that the two parties are far from reaching that elusive compromise position that lies in the ideological center, the truth is that Democrats already inhabit the ideological middle ground in this debate ' as Scarborough himself defines it. You can argue over whether Dems will support large enough entitlement cuts, but the broad strokes are that Dems are far more in sync with this general consensus position than House Republicans are. The explicit, public position held by Republicans continues to be that we must not avert the sequester with any sort of compromise that includes any GOP concessions in the way of new revenues. By contrast, the Dem position is roughly in line with the mix of concessions by both sides that Scarborough and many other members of the D.C. elite themselves keep insisting is required. What's mystifying is why they're often so reluctant to admit this.

"@DemFromCT: I'm from Newtown. We deserve a vote."|Yes, you do. I'm from Tucson. We stand with you.
' @Sheri_Hill via Twitter for Android
Jonathan Weisman/NY Times:

In the wake of their electoral drubbing in November, Republicans were seeking an image reboot at President Obama's State of the Union address, a new face that would be both more positive and less strident, youthful and multicultural but also quietly constructive and respectful.

Then there was Ted Nugent, the 64-year-old rocker who once told the president to 'suck on my machine gun.'

Did Marco Rubio change the face of the GOP? No, he did not.
I don't always drink water. But when I do, it's in the middle of the biggest moment of my career. #staythirsty
' @KagroX via TweetDeck
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