Tonight's SOTU and Mentions of Manufacturing

The Guardian ran an interesting piece today in the lead-up to tonight's sixth State of the Union speech by President Obama.

"If it's possible to gauge administration interest in an issue by the number of mentions it gets," the paper posits, "then a survey of State of the Union speeches since 1981 reveals that emphasis on manufacturing...is a relatively recent phenomenon."

The article notes that Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton made virtually no mention of manufacturing in the addresses during their tenures.

And then, writer Benjamin Preston notes, President George W. Bush offered only one comment on manufacturing, a passing mention that came in a list of other items during his 2004 address.

Preston contrasts those years with the tenure of President Obama who, he says, has offered substantive remarks on manufacturing in his annual addresses in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The article tells readers to again expect the president to focus a significant section of his speech tonight on the manufacturing sector.

We'll be listening.

Don't forget to check back here for our reaction to the speech.

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