Obama's State of the Union: reaction from Washington

The President’s State of the Union address always packs out Washington’s bars and pubs – where much of the clientele are involved in politics themselves and everyone has a view. Barack Obama’s tough talk impressed the crowd in one bar near Capitol Hill, as he packed punches on the economy, gun control and withdrawing from Afghanistan. People called the speech “bold” and “controversial”. “There are a lot of social changes coming along slowly in this country, and I was very happy to see them talked about in the speech,” one man said. “The international issue he mentioned about trade with the European Union, that was good to hear and I’m glad to hear the news,” another told euronews. The President has ambitious plans and, with a House of Representatives controlled by the Republicans – euronews correspondent Stefan Grobe reports that Obama is all set for battle: “After Obama’s visionary outlook in the inaugural address, Americans now saw Obama, the tough politician. The President approached the Republicans with an olive branch and a cattle prod. His message to the opposition was that he is ready for any fight,” Grobe said.