2/5/2020

ELECTION/NANCY PELOSI/SOTU/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If elections are won by defiant showmanship alone, Donald Trump, the grand political illusionist, will waltz to a second term in November. In the most politicized State of the Union address in modern times, the President took the choreography of an annual America ritual to new levels on Tuesday night at a fraught moment in the nation’s history. And he spelled out a daunting warning to a band of Democrats who couldn’t even cobble together a winner in the Iowa caucuses on Monday that he’s an effective, relentless political communicator who will stop at nothing to win. In two stunning moments that book-ended the evening, Trump, as he began his speech, turned his back on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s outstretched hand in a snub that encapsulated their boiling bad blood. Then, after he wrapped up, Pelosi, channeling her disgusted and outraged Democratic members, ostentatiously tore up the speech in full view of the cameras, in a sure-to-go viral moment that showed she can do theatrics, too.”

Stephen Collinson, “Trump makes dazzling, divisive reelection pitch in State of the Union,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, February 5, 2020 7:11 am