Fox Focus Group Response to SOTU

In his last State of the Union speech President Bush seemed to be a confident man, hardly the broken, failed president that he critics imagine.

And you could tell that from the reactions of the focus group assembled by Frank Luntz for Fox News.  Few in the focus group had a positive opinion of the president coming into the speech, but nearly all had a good impression after the speech.  Now how could that be? 

Could it be that the media (including the presidential candidates) combine to render a negative verdict on the president?

Luntz highlighted the group reaction to two presidential proposals.  Everyone in his group approved when the president proposed to end 151 failing and wasteful federal programs.  But when the president proposed to make his tax cuts permanent only the Republican-leaning participants strongly approved.  The Democrat-leaning participants strongly disapproved.

There’s a lesson in that.