That certainly didn't take long.
The current governor of Minnesota, his immediate predecessor and the queen of the Tea Party all reacted quickly to President Obama's big speech on the nation's future Wednesday, in ways you might expect.
In fact, in the case of presumptive presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, they didn't even wait for him to deliver it.
Appearing on Fox and Friends, Pawlenty, predicted that the speech would be little more than "more of the same" and that it would contain "warmed over proposals from before and I don't think you'll see details." Politico reported that he was equally dismissive once the speech was over: "nothing more than window dressing."
In her prebuttal Bachmann derided Obama's call for higher taxes, saying she agreed with Republican leaders' dismissal of the idea. "I don't think it should be on the table because tax rates are high enough. And I think that history shows, Matt [Lauer], is when we raise taxes, particularly on job creators, we bring in less revenue rather than more."
Dayton's office released a statement a couple of hours after the speech, saying it was one of "fairness and shared responsibility. He wisely protects the middle class while asking the richest Americans to share the responsibility and the sacrifice of debt reduction. Equally important, he protects investments in education, transportation and other infrastructure that support job growth and American competitiveness. His approach stands in stark contrast to the proposals put forward by Republicans in Congress ..."
