Tweets of the Union

by Kate Childs Graham  |  January 25, 2012

President Obama delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. He talked about jobs and education. He talked about Wall Street. He talked about fairness. And while he was talking about all that, Americans across the country were at home, tweeting their responses, hundreds by the second.

On jobs:

@CurlyKamiJami: #presidentobama #SOTU lets put our unemployment system into a re-employment system! PREACH!

@JBucknoff: @cspan #SOTU LOL. #Romney just told NBC News the programs and policies that create jobs don't create jobs. #GOP

On education:

@lizzylynngarcia: Dear @BarackObama I really want to see these education provisions go into effect. #sotu

@KeithOlbermann: Wait! High school until you're 18! But how does Gingrich recruit his Child Slave Labor Janitorial Force? #SOTU

On the payroll tax cut:

@ReneJSL: Pass the Payroll Cut. No one deserves to get #40DOLLARS off their hard-earned money. #sotu

@DavidCornDC: Was that Cantor clapping like Queen Elizabeth for extending the payroll tax cut? #SOTU

On equal pay:

@worleygirl: Equal pay for equal work! Amen! #SOTU

@JillFilipovic: Also sad that it's 2012 and our president still has to say, in the #SOTU, "Women should earn equal pay for equal work." #DUH

On Wall Street:

@lhugle: Best #SOTU development -- finally investigating Wall Street crooks.

@LuArguet: Deficit of trust between main street and wall street. Seems to get worse every year. #sotu

On fairness:

@SenatorReid: W/millions of middle-class families sacrificing daily, Ds r united behind the principle that millionaires should pay their fair share #SOTU

@MothTwiceborn: RT Obama: "We want a country where everyone gets a fair shot!" Not a single Republican applauded. There's your two Americas. #SOTU

Of course, the tweets weren’t confined to the substance of the speech. People had much to tweet about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ emotional greeting with President Obama, Sen. John Kerry’s black eyes (hockey accident), applauses, ovations, Speaker John Boehner’s lack of poker face and the spilled milk jokes.

If Twitter is any indicator, though, the people overwhelmingly agreed with the President. The state of our union is indeed “getting stronger.”

Follow AFSCME on Twitter at twitter.com/AFSCME.