FIGHTIN’ WORDS

GOP Response Knocks Obama

Mitch Daniels issues stern rebuttal.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made Republicans regret he was not in the running for the party’s nomination with his stern rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. “We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves,” Daniels said after the speech. “So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality.” Obama seemed to point to a politics that transcends party in his speech; Daniels said that Republicans place greater value on business than Democrats and criticized the president’s decision to nix the Keystone pipeline. Meanwhile, in the Tea Party response to Obama’s speech, Herman Cain, reading from his notes, criticized the president’s “scripted rhetoric.” He also said Washington is out of touch with the people.