A warm comfy parlor, friendly political jabs, and bountiful refreshments—Tuesday night’s State of the Union watch party could easily have been any other exciting night at the legendary Polybian House. But that night, we had a special guest of honor (or shame, depending on whether you like elephants or donkeys). Joining us (albeit on screen) was the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.
All branches of the Government and Politics Association—the Penn Political Union, the Polybian Society, and The Spectrum staff—were well-represented in the turnout, as were event co-sponsors Penn College Republicans, the Penn Political Review, Penn Environmental Group, and Penn for Hillary.
In typical Polybian fashion, the living room was so packed that many sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor (no room for Amy Gutmann to lie down here). After a series of technical difficulties getting Sarah Simon’s Macbook to behave, our audience, armed with plenty of cold pizza, went momentarily quiet as President Obama ascended his podium in the Capitol.
Predictably, Obama’s address received a mixed reception from the Polybians. Some of us cheered Obama on as he mapped out America’s journey since the 2008 recession and the official end of the Iraq War. Others winced in pain as the president all but ordered Congress to approve a laundry list of new tax hikes and costly government programs. Aiding POTUS was a wonderful White House slide show filled with pie charts, key presidential remarks, and photographs of Obama chatting it up with kids, veterans, and neighborhood moms named Rebekah.
Live-tweeting the entire SOTU was Penn College Republicans. In true conservative fashion, the CRs’ Twitter page blew up with choice presidential utterances and equally tangy responses from the CR leadership. Some of the lucky winners:
But the audience’s liberal members were equally vocal. Led in no small way by the fearless Klaudia Amenabar, liberal-leaning Polybians and other audience members made clear their continuing support for their president and his vision for America’s future. And they certainly turned out in large numbers; the amount of cheering and applause in Obama’s favor was substantial. Obama may be unpopular, but not with this crowd.
Tonight, 48 hours since we first heard Obama’s memorable “Fifteen years into this new century” opening, the 2015 State of the Union remains fresh in our minds. It looks like a stormy year ahead in Washington. But rest assured, the GPA ship is well-anchored and positioned to watch the fun.
All branches of the Government and Politics Association—the Penn Political Union, the Polybian Society, and The Spectrum staff—were well-represented in the turnout, as were event co-sponsors Penn College Republicans, the Penn Political Review, Penn Environmental Group, and Penn for Hillary.
In typical Polybian fashion, the living room was so packed that many sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor (no room for Amy Gutmann to lie down here). After a series of technical difficulties getting Sarah Simon’s Macbook to behave, our audience, armed with plenty of cold pizza, went momentarily quiet as President Obama ascended his podium in the Capitol.
Predictably, Obama’s address received a mixed reception from the Polybians. Some of us cheered Obama on as he mapped out America’s journey since the 2008 recession and the official end of the Iraq War. Others winced in pain as the president all but ordered Congress to approve a laundry list of new tax hikes and costly government programs. Aiding POTUS was a wonderful White House slide show filled with pie charts, key presidential remarks, and photographs of Obama chatting it up with kids, veterans, and neighborhood moms named Rebekah.
Live-tweeting the entire SOTU was Penn College Republicans. In true conservative fashion, the CRs’ Twitter page blew up with choice presidential utterances and equally tangy responses from the CR leadership. Some of the lucky winners:
- “and grew the debt by $10 trillion”
- “and here comes more tax credits with unknown funding”
- “Now that he has no power in Congress, Obama says he'll work with Republicans”
But the audience’s liberal members were equally vocal. Led in no small way by the fearless Klaudia Amenabar, liberal-leaning Polybians and other audience members made clear their continuing support for their president and his vision for America’s future. And they certainly turned out in large numbers; the amount of cheering and applause in Obama’s favor was substantial. Obama may be unpopular, but not with this crowd.
Tonight, 48 hours since we first heard Obama’s memorable “Fifteen years into this new century” opening, the 2015 State of the Union remains fresh in our minds. It looks like a stormy year ahead in Washington. But rest assured, the GPA ship is well-anchored and positioned to watch the fun.