Obama's speech inspires guv

After listening to President Barack Obama's inauguration speech, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he was going to do some more work on his own State of the State address on the flight back from Washington, D.C.

"I thought the speech was good, and I thought his use of rhetoric as a tool was excellent. There wasn't a lot of fat in his remarks. He got right down to business," the governor said.

Huntsman joked that Utahns shouldn't expect him to "reach that or match that ability" but hinted his annual address on Jan. 27 may be influenced by Obama's words, especially when he talks about the billion-dollar shortfall in the state budget.

"I'm going to take with me the idea that he asked for urgent action on the economy. He's calling on Congress, and he's calling on all of us to recognize the seriousness of the situation and act decisively."

The GOP governor said Obama kept party politics out of his speech, focusing instead on the difficulties the United States faces. "I thought it was fairly pragmatic," Huntsman said, reaching out to Republicans and Democrats. "This is a point in our nation's history when we need to stand together and collectively find solutions to our problems," Huntsman said, adding he hopes to see a honeymoon from partisan politics, "where we lock arms, Republicans and Democrats."

That bipartisan spirit was evident, the governor said, at a unique event Monday honoring the GOP presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, attended by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. In what Huntsman said was "a very poignant call to action," Obama told McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, that his country needed his service in the Senate now more than ever.

"The underlying sense of the gathering was that this is a very important kind of mood we're creating here. It's one of bipartisanship," Huntsman said. "Wouldn't it be great if it could last beyond the inaugural festivities?"

Huntsman, who went against many Republicans in the state by supporting McCain over former Utah Olympic leader Mitt Romney in the GOP primary, said he spent the evening seated next to McCain's mother, Roberta. At the inaugural ceremonies, he was seated with other governors above the podium.

Utah's first lady, Mary Kaye Huntsman, ended up watching the first African-American president sworn in alongside a group of celebrities including performers Beyonc? Jay-Z, P. Diddy and Usher. The pair spent more than two hours in traffic on their way to the airport, a trip that normally takes less than 15 minutes.

The governor, a former diplomat, said the inauguration served as a reminder of the peaceful transition of power that is a hallmark of democracy. Huntsman said he watched Obama walk former President George W. Bush to a waiting helicopter and couldn't help thinking, "You see there is a handshake and a hug as opposed to shots fired and blood running in the streets. … We get hypercritical of our nation, but at the end of the day, it really does work."

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