During live coverage after the State of the Union, ABC's George Stephanopoulos informed, "...Vice President Biden just before the speech gave a call to Democrats. And he summed up the speech with this phrase, Bin Laden is dead, General Motors is alive." MP3 audio here [1].]
On the same day's Nightline, with no explanation that he was plagiarizing Biden's line, co-anchor Terry Moran parroted, "Osama bin Laden is dead. General Motors is alive. Those points folded neatly into another of the President's goals, to wrap himself in the American flag."
Spouting similar pro-Obama talking points, Moran recounted how running against Congress might be a good strategy for Obama. He helpfully spun, "Just 13 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. Things that are more popular than Congress - Paris Hilton, the IRS, even OJ Simpson."
Most of Moran's segment repeated lined or themes directly from the President. The reporter closed, "In the end, President Obama tried again, to sound that old theme of bringing the country together."
Earlier, he summarized, "But the great theme and thrust of this speech boiled down to one word, fairness. The President is seeking to tap into a deep sense in the American public that from Wall Street to Washington, the game is rigged."
A transcript of the January 24th Nightline can be bound below:
11:35
TERRY MORAN: Well, tonight, facing a country that is hungry for jobs and preparing to hold a referendum on his leadership, President Obama ought to make the case that America is coming back in his fourth State of the Union address. It was a stirring election year speech. He struck themes of patriotism and American unity, calling for a renewed commitment to economic fairness, as well as growth. And it was all pegged to the President's signal foreign policy accomplishment, the killing of Osama bin Laden. In an election year, this is how the challengers get to address a national TV audience.
[GOP debate montage]
MITT ROMNEY: Why don't you let me speak?
RICK PERRY: You knew you had illegal-
ROMNEY: Would you please, would you please wait?
RON PAUL: What's your excuse for that?
NEWT GINGRICH: Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?
ROMNEY: Are you just gonna keep talking?
MORAN: This is what the incumbent gets.
VOICE: Mr Speaker, the President of the United States.
MORAN: Make no mistake this was a campaign speech for President Obama. You saw it in the way many Democrats greeted him like a conquering hero and leapt to their feet again and again, while Republicans mostly sat on their hands.
Amid all the rancor, though, a moment of profound unify and hope, as the President and Congress together bid farewell to Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who announced that she will resign her seat to focus on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head, she suffered just over a year ago. It was just a moment then, back to politics. And in this campaign, there's only one real issue, Obama's record. So job number one for the President, convince people his policies are working.
BARACK OBAMA: The state of our union is getting stronger.
MORAN: But one of the challenges for this President is that he said much the same thing about the economy before, last year.
OBAMA: We are poised for progress. The economy is growing again.
MORAN: And in 2010.
OBAMA: The worst of the storm has passed.
MORAN: So, tonight, the President needed to point the way forward, show the country what a future under his second term might look like.
OBAMA: Where we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake aren't Democratic values or Republican values but American values, and we have to reclaim them.
MORAN: But the great theme and thrust of this speech boiled down to one word, fairness. The President is seeking to tap into a deep sense in the American public that from Wall Street to Washington, the game is rigged.
OBAMA: It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom - no bailouts, no handouts and no cop outs. An American built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.
MORAN: Obama's record will be front and center in the coming campaign. He wants to define it. Two points you'll likely hear again and again.
OBAMA: For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country.
MORAN: And-
OBAMA: Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's number one automaker. We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity. And tonight, the American auto industry is back.
MORAN: Osama bin Laden is dead. General Motors is alive. Those points folded neatly into another of the President's goals, to wrap himself in the American flag.
OBAMA: What's at stake aren't Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. No American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. So much of America needs to be rebuilt.
MORAN: And with polls showing the country furious about the constant partisan warfare in Washington, the President took direct aim at Congress itself.
OBAMA: As long as I'm president, I will work with anyone in this chamber, to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action. And I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.
MORAN: It's a good strategy. Obama might not be the most popular president but Congress is really unpopular. Just 13 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. Things that are more popular than Congress - Paris Hilton, the IRS, even OJ Simpson. But he closed on an up note.
OBAMA: Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about.
MORAN: In the end, President Obama tried again, to sound that old theme of bringing the country together.
OBAMA: Each time I look at that flag, I'm reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and those 13 stripes. No one built this country on their own. This nation is great because we built it together.
MORAN: President Obama, staking out his turf in the coming campaign battle in an election year, the State of the Union address.
