Apparently a Millionaire's Tax Will Bring Us Utopia

That's how Jim Geraghty analyzes Obama's SOTU speech:

Okay, not really, but man, was that a long speech. Sixty-five minutes of speaking, and he started late. And it felt even longer for being terrible. I mean, terrible in the sense that you and I kept rolling our eyes at the insinuation of blame, the proclaiming of fantastic results, the grandiose promises, and everything else from this president that grows ever more tiresome. I figure Obama might see a bump in his numbers from this speech, because he basically said he can deliver utopia in exchange for some tax hikes on millionaires.

In the same Morning Jolt email Geraghty gives us Mona Charen's reaction to the response from Mitch Daniels and she points out a major problem in today's politics:

Jefferson "trembled for" our country when he reflected that "God is just." We must do the same when confronted with the contrasting speeches tonight of Barack Obama and Mitch Daniels. That our best leaders, such as Mitch Daniels, who tonight delivered the finest response to a State of the Union ever, have chosen not to serve, leaves the country to the second-raters. And if we are led by second rate people, we will become a second rate country.

Exactly. How can a party that's claimed by nearly half of other voters come up with Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as our BEST alternatives to Obama? It's disgusting, but given the anal exam the media is sure to give an Republican, why would anyone want to run and subject themselves to that? Democrats don't have the same issues with media bias - they can run just about anybody and get away with it.

The State of our Politics is ugly.