Brooks Kraft has won “Political Photo of the Year” from the The White House News Photographers Association for this image of President Barack Obama speaking in the pouring rain during a campaign rally in Glen Allen, Va. (See here)
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Thursday:
9:35: President Obama departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
11:30: Arrives in Decatur, Ga.
12:10: Visits a pre-kindergarten classroom at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center
1:20: Delivers remarks at Decatur Community Recreation Center
2:40: Departs Decatur
4:25: Arrives at the White House
4:50: Participates in a “Fireside Hangout” with Google+ to discuss his State of the Union Address
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WH: On Thursday, President Obama will join the latest in a series of “Fireside Hangouts” – a 21st century take on FDR’s famous radio addresses – to talk about his State of the Union Address.
During a completely virtual conversation hosted by Google, the President will answer questions from Americans across the country about the issues and policies laid out in the speech. Anyone can submit a question for the President and vote on your favorites on the White House YouTube channel
President Obama talks with Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel Pendleton Sr., following the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2013. Mr.and Mrs. Pendleton, whose 15-year-old daughter Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed last month in Chicago, were guests in the First Lady’s box at the speech
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President Obama signs two copies of his State of the Union address in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House before departing for the U.S. Capitol, D.C., Feb. 12
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President Obama waits with Sergeants at Arms and Members of Congress before entering the House Chamber to deliver the State of the Union address. Standing with the President are, from left: Paul Irving, House Sergeant at Arms: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif; and Terrance Gainer, Senate Sergeant at Arms
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President Obama and Vice President Biden look toward the guests in the First Lay’s box at the State of the Union
Sun Times: President Barack Obama will speak at the Hyde Park Academy on Friday, returning home to push his second-term economic agenda and curbs on gun violence just a few blocks from his Kenwood home – and not far from where 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was gunned down on Jan. 29.
Obama makes the afternoon trip at the school, 6220 S. Stony Island Ave., as the last of a three-city swing to bolster the plans he discussed in his Tuesday night State of the Union Address. Today Obama is in Asheville, N.C. and tomorrow he is in the Atlanta area.
Boston.com: This image provided by Vogue shows former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., left, with her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, during a photo shoot at their home in Tucson, Ariz. The image and accompanying article by John Powers will be published in the March 2013 issue of Vogue
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President Obama arrives to speak at the Linamar factory in Asheville, N.C., Feb 13
President Barack Obama listens to Jeffrey Brower and Dwayne Moore explain the machining of the axle components made for Caterpillar’s large mining trucks during a tour of the Linamar Corporation auto-parts plant in Arden, North Carolina, Feb. 13 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Steve Benen: The available research shows that no cabinet nominee has ever faced a filibuster. This week, however, as Chuck Hagel’s Defense Secretary nomination reaches the Senate floor, a new level of Republican obstructionism may very well be reached.
“We’re going to require a 60-vote threshold,” [Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma] told [Josh Rogin] …. [Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas] told The Cable, “There is a 60-vote threshold for every nomination.”
Well, no, actually there isn’t. Cornyn has been in the Senate for 11 years, and I have a strong hunch he knows that “every nomination” doesn’t have to clear a “60-vote threshold,” and many haven’t. Why Cornyn is comfortable saying the opposite is anyone’s guess.
According to GOPolitico, President Obama will ‘vacation’ over the weekend in West Palm Beach – The White House says he will leave Friday and he has no public events scheduled during the trip.
Excellent!
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Still catching up with the news, was out the last couple of hours – what did I miss?!
9:35: The President departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
11:0: First Lady Michelle Obama Hosts an Interactive Student Workshop with the Cast and Crew of the Film Beasts of the Southern Wild
11:10: The President arrives Asheville, North Carolina
11:35: Tours Linamar North Carolina Factory
12:0: Delivers remarks
1:25: Departs Asheville
2:55: Arrives the White House
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Steve Benen: Every State of the Union address carries its own contextual significance. President Obama’s 2011 speech was the first after his party lost the House, and observers were eager to see how he’d adapt to a changed landscape. His 2012 address came against a backdrop of his re-election campaign.
But last night was the first SOTU of Obama’s second term, and it offered the president an opportunity to present a new way forward. The address also served as something of a book-end speech – Obama delivered an ambitious inaugural address just three weeks ago, articulating a broad vision of collective action, and last night was a chance to start filling in the principled gaps with policy specifics.
So what did we learn? That the president with arguably the most consequential first term in generations doesn’t intend to rest on his laurels….
Greg Sargent: Obama’s Inaugural Address laid out an expansive progressive agenda that was focused heavily on civil rights and rooted in the founding values of the country. His State of the Union speech was Chapter Two of this story. It laid out a progressive economic blueprint that was focused heavily on nuts-and-bolts policy ideas and rooted in a much more basic call for economic fairness, shared sacrifice in bringing down the deficit, and aggressive government action to help struggling Americans gain access to the middle class.
Obama — having been lifted to reelection by an ascendant majority coalition of minorities, young voters, and college educated whites, mostly women — gave very little ideological ground to his opponents. His speech built on the Inaugural address in the sense that it continued to reshape the conversation around the priorities of these core groups — only with a more direct focus on the economy.
After watching that fascinating State of the Union Address last night I am more inspired than ever to help push President Obama’s agenda through this Congress.
Our very own superstar TODer CollegeKay had the honor of being at the White House last night for the WH Chat. How incredible is that???
There is so much talent on display here at TOD each and everyday. You have no idea how far your reach is to people who never post but they watch and they learn. PBO has decided with great confidence to put his faith in us. He is counting on the coalition that was built in the 2012 election to make it happen. It’s going to be up to us to pressure this congress into “having a vote” on his policies. And not just in making a phone call to Congress (although it starts with that) but by also using the social skills that each of you exhibit here everyday to spread the word and to get our friends, family and Internet associates engaged in doing the same.
Do you remember the excitement and passion you felt about voting for PBO? You couldn’t wait to share with family and friends that you were being a part of history. That same excitement will be needed in order to pass his policies. It does no good for the public to complain about the economy, jobs, climate change, gun control and immigration if they plan to sit on their hands and just “hope” that PBO and Congress get it done.
Consider picking a topic that you feel passionate about and drive it home. Beat us over the head with it each and everyday. Your leadership on the topic will influence others to become engaged and before you know it you will have an army of supporters out there helping you to push the topic. You have more power than you can imagine. Join OFA and then take it to twitter, facebook and the blogs and Lets. Get. It. Done!
Washington Post: When she set out to her local library in North Miami to cast her vote in the presidential election last year, Desiline Victor had no way of knowing the journey would lead all the way to the White House.
On Tuesday night, Victor, a 102-year-old Haitian immigrant, will sit in the ornate House chamber as a guest of first lady Michelle Obama to listen to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Victor voted for the president, but it was not easy. On her first visit to the polls on the morning of Oct. 28, the first day of early voting, she waited in line for three hours. Poll workers eventually advised her to come back later, and she did.
….. The whirlwind trip has taken Victor out of her element. She had to buy a coat, since a heavy winter jacket isn’t usually needed in balmy Miami. And here, she’s “Ms. Victor” instead of “Granny”….
But when she meets the president, perhaps the address may be less formal. Victor already feels a kinship with the commander in chief.
“I call him ‘my son,’ ” she says. “I feel like he is my son.”
The Obama Diary 
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