The State of the Union address communicated the issues clearly and in detail, however the proposed details struck displeasure in some.

President George W. Bush made the annual speech last night, stressing the central issues of his second term -- Social Security and the future of democracy in the Middle East and Iraq, specifically.

College Republicans staff adviser Charles Gable thought the speech was very strong and displayed Bush's commitment.

"I thought the speech was bold, resolute, and it was confident in tone," Gable said. "He is definitely feeling the victories and he is going to add to the momentum he got out of the elections."

The State of the Union speech was much more focused on policies compared to the inaugural speech, Midori Valdivia, Political Science Association president, said.

"A lot of people really wanted specifics," Valdivia said. "He said what he needed to say to present his agenda."

There was a lot of political rhetoric throughout the speech, Todd Taylor (sophomore-international politics) said.

"However, [Bush] also had a lot of hardcore detail for what he wants to accomplish in his second term," he said.

Bush spoke about the recent free elections and the promise it fostered for the spread of democracy. Meagan Zajac, Political Science Association member, thought it was important that he addressed Iraq.

"It maybe dispelled some of the negativity to spur the excitement surrounding the elections," Zajac said.

Bush spoke in detail about his plan to curb the Social Security crisis.

Megan Green, College Democrats president, said that the proposal for Social Security reform seemed hypocritical.

"He said we would choose which way is best, but he was really pushing for the personal retirement accounts rather than the choice," she said.

It was important that he spoke about Social Security because of the buzz around it, Zajac said.

"It is important for us, as college students, to be made aware of the problem because it is going to affect us," she said.

Centre County Democrat Chairman Bob Shepherd said that he thinks the "so-called" Social Security crisis should be replaced by a focus on Medicare, which may actually have a serious problem.

"Our corporations president chooses to ignore that and sweep it under the table," he said.

Shepherd said he and his wife did not watch the speech. "He is a source of annoyance," he said. "We don't like him, we don't like looking at him and we don't like listening to him speak."

The proposal for a Constitutional amendment to protect the sanctity of marriage also struck a chord with Green.

"It is unfortunate that we have a president willing to write discrimination into the Constitution," she said.