The merits of the president's State of the Union address are, like so much of politics these days, in the eyes of the beholder. Democrats praised President Barack Obama's vision. Republicans, especially in their official response, criticized that vision as more big government.
San Diego is a long way from Washington D.C. -- does what the president had to say during his speech resonate in our region?
Ron Nehring, a Republican strategist and former chairman of the California Republican Party, told KPBS he heard a lot about more investment in government-directed industrial policy.
"But what we don't hear from the president are the types of things that really improve America's competitiveness," he said. "He said nothing about the job-dampening effects that his Obamacare health care legislation is doing."
Nehring also said Obama's continued push for higher taxes on those who create jobs is a dangerous signal for the economy.
Francine Busby, chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, said Obama spoke very clearly about rebuilding the middle class.
"There were three particular points he made. One is education. You know, some schools in San Diego do very well, and others struggle," she said. "And having a pre-K age group going to school would certainly give a head start to those kids. We know it's the biggest bang for the buck. We need a highly educated population here."
One of the biggest announcements in the speech for San Diego is that 34,000 troops will be coming home from Afghanistan in the next 12 months and the war in Afghanistan will be over at the end of 2014.
Nehring said Republicans support a policy that "our troops should come back at a time the mission is accomplished."
"The timetable shouldn't be a particular year," he said. "We don't want our troops in Afghanistan. I was in Pakistan a year and a half ago. It's not a region we want our folks to be. But the mission has to be accomplished."
