Big Speech for Obama Tonight

It's not really the State of the Union speech (newly elected presidents don't deliver them). But it's pretty much the same thing. And it is important -- for the reason we said the inauguration address wasn't that important a little over a month ago. It's in prime time, meaning the audience will be huge.

Obama's goal is to reassure the nation both that his economic plan will work and (related) that the future for the country is still bright. Everything else is superfluous, meaning the usual laundry list speech that presidents give on this occasion really isn't appropriate. There will be plenty of time to talk about foreign policy, health care, and all the rest. Tonight belongs to the economy. Or should.