By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Sarah Palin did her best to try to channel Ronald Reagan in her speech to the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville this weekend. She may believe that adopting his conservative rhetoric and following his example will take her to the White House, but let’s face it--she’s no Reagan.

She began her speech by wishing Reagan a “Happy Birthday”--it would have been his 99th--and one can’t help wondering what he would have made of the speech. She hit all of Reagan’s favorite issues and combined them with the populist anger manifested by the tea party movement. She derided the bank bailout and conveniently forgot to mention it happened during the Bush administration. She warned of the attempted government takeover of healthcare, out-of-control spending and huge national debt, and of course, called for lower taxes.

By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

President Barack Obama’s meeting with Senate Democrats Wednesday didn’t have quite the same zing as did his encounter session with House Republicans last week. His meeting with Republicans featured Obama protesting that he is not an “ideologue” and accusing the Republicans of characterizing the Democratic healthcare reform plan as “some Bolshevik plot.”

Obama also chided the Republicans for name calling rather than showing a genuine interest in working together. “You’ve given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you’ve been telling your constituents is ‘This guy’s doing all kinds of crazy stuff that’s going to destroy America.’… This is part of what happens in our politics where we demonize the other side so much that when it comes to actually getting things done, it becomes tough to do.”

Obama promised the Republicans “I am absolutely committed to working with you on these issues” and it looks like he plans to make good on that promise. The White House announced Wednesday that the president will host a bipartisan meeting of congressional leaders on February 9 and that session will be just the first in a series of monthly bipartisan leadership meetings the president will hold. In the wake of Obama’s visit with the Republicans, there has been a call for more televised Q&As between the president and members of Congress like the British parliament’s prime minister question time. But next week’s closed door session at the White House will undoubtedly accomplish much more than half a dozen televised meetings where both sides are performing for the camera.

And if the president is serious about actually getting congressional Republicans and Democrats to work together he had best have a private chat first with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has done everything she can to freeze out the Republicans, and who was called on that several times at the Baltimore meeting.

By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

As with the rest of President Obama's State of the Union speech, people heard what they wanted to hear and saw what they wanted to see. They will praise the parts they agree with and criticize those they don't, because it was a performance that had something for everyone. Those who agreed with the Supreme Court's recent decision on campaign spending will find the president's confrontation of the court's conservative justices and their decision inappropriate. Those who disagreed with the decision were delighted the president was willing to take the court on directly.

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York, who isn't shy about speaking his mind and respects that quality in others, told me after the speech he found it refreshing to see "the president call the Supreme Court out to their face."

"You have to give the president credit" for taking them on directly, he said.

By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The obvious question following President Barack Obama's bravura State of the Union performance is what happens now. As so many have said and written, it was a good speech. And Obama delivered it in the same smooth, effortless way he might perform if he were playing a basketball pick-up game with members of Congress--a little humor, a little self-deprecation, some spine-stiffening encouragement for his teammates, and some taunting of his opponents thrown in for good measure.

The speech hit all the bases. There was something for everyone. There was talk of a jobs bill and concern over the economic plight of anxious middle-class families. There was a call for a spending freeze and acknowledgement of the importance of reducing the deficit for independents and blue dog Democrats. There was a proposal for a small-business tax credit, elimination of capital gains taxes on small-business investment, and tax incentives for businesses investment, which elicited a tremendous cheer from Republicans in the House chamber. And for his liberal base, he made sure to blame George W. Bush and the Republican Congress for the deficit he inherited, called for gays to be permitted to serve openly in the military, and vowed to fight on and not abandon healthcare reform.

There were optimistic Reaganesque references to the American spirit and greatness, such as, "I have never been more hopeful about America's future than I am tonight."

The speech had everything and yet in a way it had nothing. People could hear in it what they wanted to hear and take from it what they wanted to take. What it didn't have were details about a path forward on actually passing healthcare reform or forging bipartisan solutions to the problems and issues the speech raised.

By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

With Democrats in shock and disarray over how to respond to the Massachusetts Senate election, they should listen closely to what a Republican consultant learned from GOP winner Scott Brown's polling of Bay State voters. The Obama White House and Democratic leaders can talk all they want about Martha Coakley not being a good candidate and not running a good campaign but, "If they don't take this as a fork in the road to change directions then we're going to kill them in November," predicts the GOP consultant.

The vote for Brown was fueled by populist anger. Voters there and around the country believe Democrats in Washington have done more for Wall Street than Main Street and according to the GOP polling they wanted to "send a message to Washington" that the country is on "the wrong track."

People are concerned about jobs and the economy and they don't see the Democrats focusing enough on those issues.

Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Harold Ford Jr., who has never held political office in New York state and has lived there only part-time for about three years, is considering a U.S. Senate run from the Empire State. With a 1,600-word, front-page profile in Wednesday's New York Times and stories about his possible candidacy in the Washington Post and other major news outlets, he's getting the kind of attention any politician would pay good money for, and not a few of them are wondering why. In considering his possible bid for the Senate, Ford has not courted party leaders or the state's congressional delegation, who along with the White House have indicated they do not support his effort. Instead, he has gone out of his way to dis them, telling the New York Times, "If I am elected senator from New York, Harry Reid will not instruct me how to vote."

Referring to Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the Senate seat after Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, Ford said in the Times interview, "We have a fundamental difference on independence. We have a difference on the level, the kind and the stature of advocacy New Yorkers deserve. And we have some honest differences on issues."

By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Since performance is what Fox News and most of cable television news is all about, especially in the evening programming hours, I'm sure that Sarah Palin will do extremely well there. Talking and performing is what she is good at, as opposed to governing, which she obviously found either too challenging, boring or not lucrative enough to hold her attention long enough to finish out her term as governor of Alaska.

She is colorful, provocative and attractive and she certainly appeals to the Fox demographic. An interesting question--will she continue to fund raise and campaign for Republican congressional candidates this year? Undoubtedly a great many GOP challengers were hoping for a visit from Palin to boost their profiles and raise some money for their campaigns. If she continues these activities it will only accentuate the partisanship of Fox News.