State of the Union Address Program

C-SPAN programming for President George Bush’s fifth State of the Union Address included:

Approximately one hour featuring brief interviews about the event, open telephone lines for questions and comments, and preparations inside the U.S. Capitol. Guests included journalists Nancy Oganovich, James Pinkerton, and Mike Allen. Footage of events inside the Capitol such as the Senate convening and moving to the House chambers, as well as arrival of various dignitaries was shown in a split screen.

Just after 9 p.m. the joint session of Congress convened and the president was announced. President Bush then delivered his State of the Union address in which he focused on both his foreign and domestic policy agenda. In his remarks President Bush focused on renewing America’s strength and promoting democracy abroad, called for increased use of alternative energy sources, and defended his policies on surveillance programs in efforts to combat terrorism.

Following the speech telephone lines were open for reactions to the remarks and the official Democratic response to the president’s speech by Governor Kaine of Virginia was shown. Additionally, reactions from members of Congress and journalist’s first impressions from various web logs (blogs) were featured. In this portion Representative Slaughter and Senator Specter were interviewed from Statuary Hall, and journalists James Gibbons and Jim Strang spoke via telephone. close