Cavuto: Obama's Speech a Game-Changer?
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They say you only get one chance to make a first impression.
Actually, that is not true.
Presidents get lots of chances.
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Many have changed the public's impression of them in a single speech.
Bill Clinton went from big-spending liberal to a tamed and "end-welfare-as-we-know-it" new Democrat in one memorable post-mid-term address.
And Ronald Reagan journeyed from "old-man" to "man-oh-man," taking Washington by storm, only weeks after taking a bullet.
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So first impressions can change.
But that means the guy leaving that impression has to change.
And that's the question for one Barack Obama tonight.
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Will he change?
And will voters' impression of him change?
So far, the indications are not good.
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More spending for jobs programs that haven't exactly created a lot of jobs.
And talk of a follow-up speech to address how we're going to pay for that spending that hasn't inspired a lot of confidence.
Now maybe that's by design.
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...that he is actually tricking us. All of us.
And planning something surprising.
Something that will defy his liberal impression we have of him.
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Maybe something big.
Maybe some big tax cuts.
Who knows?
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What I know is that history is defined not by leaders who do the expected...but the un-expected...
Richard Nixon going to China.
Nikita Khrushchev suddenly blinking with JFK.
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Ronald Reagan talking to the evil empire
They changed the game, first by changing the speech.
Now it does not work for all.
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But for this president it doesn't hurt to try.
After all, he could do worse.
Look around...the impression is pretty clear.
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He already has.