The old Obama gave Tuesday night’s speech

“Do we respond to these changes with fear and do we turn on each other, or do we face the future with confidence in who we are and what we stand for?” he said, offering a condensed version of the almost hourlong speech he delivered to a joint session of Congress and the nation Tuesday night. We must work together, walk together, win together.

“The future we want – opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids – all that is within our reach”, Obama said. “Changes in our political process – in not just who gets elected but how they get elected – that will only happen when the American people demand it. It will depend on you”.

“Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn’t deny Sputnik was up there”. By that standard, Obama’s speeches are among the simplest yet. “We must resist that temptation”, she said, likely referring to Mr Trump but not mentioning him by name. President Barack Obama has changed quite a bit since he was first inaugurated in 2009. “It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong”, Obama said.

Most of Ryan’s words and gestures were toward Vice President Joe Biden, the man he debated on national television in 2012 when Ryan was Mitt Romney’s choice as the Republican vice presidential candidate. We’ve already reduced student loan payments to 10 percent of a borrower’s income. The president’s Clean Power Plan is also under assault in Congress. Rather, the president made the case for clean energy based on the advantage American industry will gain by investing in it. While bashing on dirty energy, he was vague on which fuels he includes in the category of dirty energy.

It was an apparent reference to the heated rhetoric about immigrants and minorities from Republican front-runner Donald Trump that has unnerved some Republican leaders. Michael Gerson writes that a Trump win would “rip the heart” out of the party.

Obama said “one of the few regrets of my presidency” is “that the rancour and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better”. He even added, in a rare show of humility, that maybe Lincoln or FDR would have done better. “No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin”.

But I think Obama lets himself off too easily. We’ll pick somebody, but we’ll pick somebody who’s very good. That, of course, hasn’t always worked out so well. “Period. It’s not even close”, Obama said, repeating the sentence.