Last night, the President of the United States gave his annual State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress and the nation. This annual ritual is something that is vital to our democracy. Whether individuals like the current President or they do not, we must all respect this annual exercise in our democratic system.

Now, for the fun stuff – what were the take-aways from the speech? My analysis is simple – Obama sounded more like a Democrat than he has in his last several addresses and even than he has in previous speeches. He clearly set out to establish defined differences between him and the Republican candidates vying for the opportunity to face him in November.

For the most part, the Republican candidates have had unfettered access to bashing the President’s policies over the last several months but this speech gave him the opportunity to answer some of those charges.

However, there were points in the speech where he clearly reached across the aisle while discussing drilling and economics. With his rejection of the Keystone pipeline recently, it seemed as though he was trying desperately to make-up with the energy industry.

The one statement that seemed to get the entire room on their feet and applauding was his reference to caring for our men and women in uniform. While Americans do not agree on war, they support the soldiers across the board. And yet, our soldiers are returning home facing challenges with employment, recovery and health care.

Personally, I had two favorite moments of the night – one was the President’s commitment to equal pay for women. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you should know by now that I advocate vigorously for the progress of American women.

My second favorite was the most touching moment of the evening when the President gave the still recovering Gabrielle Giffords a bear hug and shared a couple of moments with her. It was her last hours as a Member of the U.S. Congress, a job that caused the divide in our society to have her shot in the head and facing a long recovery. She looked amazing and was embraced by both sides of the aisle.

But, will they take that spirit of sharing forward into a contentious election year? Not likely. The President essentially scolded the entire environment in Washington D.C., even taking some responsibility. He called on Congress to work together to keep America great.

This analyst doesn’t think that is likely to happen in 2012.