Above: State of the Union Address, White House Enhanced Version.

- State of the Union: Restoring the American dream - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

The defining issue of the 2012 presidential campaign is the American dream. For Americans who are unemployed or underemployed, it is dead or on life support. President Obama spent his State of the Union speech Tuesday night trying to convince Americans that he can revive the dream if given a second term.
Obama’s problem is that he promised change for the better in his first campaign and, in many voters’ eyes, he has failed to deliver. At least, that’s the view of many liberals. Conservatives, by contrast, believe he delivered the wrong kind of change, that is, change for the worse. His speech, then, was an appeal to the American people of the political left and center to stick with him.
FDR promised the New Deal. JFK promised the New Frontier. Obama promised the Fair Shot, that everyone will get a fair shot to succeed. His message is that everyone does not have that now, and it plays on the theme of inequality of incomes and opportunity, crony capitalism, a system stacked against the little guy. A Republican Party system, in other words. ...

- Election year kickoff - Deseret News Editorial

... Today we have a much clearer sense of where the battle lines lie between the Republicans and Democrats going into the 2012 election.

- Obama delivers a ridiculous speech - Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial

... Once again, Obama suggested that more government is the way to improve every element of American life. ...

- Economic justice vs. class warfare - Denver Post Editorial

... And so the lines have been drawn — economic justice vs. the "class warfare" we hear in GOP debates. That's how Obama hoped they'd be drawn. We'll find out in November if the voters agree. ...

- Saturated with politics - Oregonian Editorial

Watching President Barack Obama's address, which Republican leaders panned as "pathetic" before hearing a single word, it seems that the nation's politics are past the point of return -- unless it's Mitt Romney's tax return. ...

- Obama lays campaign groundwork - and why not? - San Jose Mercury News Editorial

President Barack Obama's 2012 State of the Union address was his most political, clearly a set-up for this year's re-election campaign. But in some ways, it also was his most effective. ...

- Keeping the promise alive - Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial

... Obama, in his speech, began pushing for tax reform -- a move not about soaking the rich or playing off the politics of envy, but about what the president rightly calls "tax fairness." What [Mitt] Romney is doing is perfectly legal, and more power to him. It's not fair, though, and it's not right. ...

- Divisive, deceptive account of U.S. woes - San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial

For three years, fears about higher taxes, added regulations, the overhaul of the health-care system and federal energy mandates have created vast uncertainty among the people running America’s businesses. This has led them to sit on billions in cash reserves, helping create the most anemic rebound from a recession in memory.
So how did President Barack Obama respond to this lack of trust Tuesday night in his State of the Union address? By ignoring it and calling for more of the same policies that have left job creators on edge – huge new government “investments,” more government intrusions in the private sector and continued faith in our elected leaders’ sagacity. ...

- Speech aimed at November - Arizona Republic Editorial

... The Osawatomie speech is widely considered the start of Obama's re-election campaign. It's fair to say the State of the Union address was its second act. ...

- Obama hones his message - Eugene Register-Guard Editorial

... Though he inherited an economy in free-fall, he can’t win by asking voters whether they’re better off than they were four years ago. Instead, Obama must present himself as a leader who has set the course for progress, and who offers a better choice than the alternative offered by the Republicans. Thus on Tuesday he spoke of “an America where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules.” ...

- We need true teamwork in Washington - Des Moines Register Editorial

- Obama's blueprint for a new economy: No bailouts, no handouts no cop-outs - Seattle Times Editorial

- State of the Union: Mixing politics and policy - Los Angeles Times Editorial

... Finally, he urged fractious members of Congress to emulate American troops who "don't obsess over their differences [and] focus on the mission at hand." Good advice — and good politics too.