The State of the Union response has a problem: It almost never responds to anything.
What was once a smart adaptation to the television age has become a lifeless ritual that rarely functions as a fitting rebuttal to the speech the president has just given. Instead of a rebuttal, we get a recital: a prewritten monologue delivered in a quiet room by a “rising star” who’s staring into a teleprompter and reciting safe contrasts that sound like every other speech voters have heard a thousand times before. It is political comfort food: bland, predictable and instantly forgotten.
As the party that doesn’t currently control the White House, Democrats can do better. And they should start doing better now. If our party is serious about breaking through in an era dominated by attention and voter cynicism, then Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who’s giving the Democrats’ English-language response, should rethink the format entirely and give America something it almost never sees anymore: Something unscripted. Something human. Something real.
It is political comfort food: bland, predictable and instantly forgotten.
In every political campaign — be it for the House, governor or Senate — candidates are expected to think on their feet. They debate live. They answer questions. They hold each other accountable. They react in real time.
Yet on one of the biggest political nights, we pretend those skills don’t matter.
In large part that’s because, over time, the opposition party’s State of the Union response has become less about the speech the country just heard and more of a national audition and a test of message discipline for the next generation of party leadership.
But here’s the irony: None of the solo responders in the modern era has ever become president. What has become routine is something else: awkwardness, overproduction and viral mishaps that overshadow the substance of the message.
The response is designed to offend no one and inspire even fewer.
The president speaks live before Congress, surrounded by ceremony, applause and history. The responder appears alone, in a sterile setting, reciting a script written days earlier. The first feels human. The second feels manufactured.
And voters can tell.
Imagine a different approach.
Instead of a studio set and a teleprompter, we get a live shot of Spanberger watching the address while revealing her facial expression and body language from a small picture-in-picture in the lower- or upper-third corner of the shot.
She’s taking notes. Conferring with her staff. Absorbing and reacting to everything she observes and hears from the president.
Then, when he concludes, she steps in front of the cameras, delivers a concise, organic statement and takes questions from reporters.
Authenticity comes from unscripted moments — when reactions are raw, when conviction shines through tone and posture.
No script. No artificial staging. No theatrical gloom. No overacting. And most importantly, no teleprompter. Trump is the most skilled television and media politician of his generation and a belligerent master of live performance, spectacle and driving the news agenda. And you don’t bring a teleprompter to a street fight.
Authenticity comes from unscripted moments — when a leader’s guard is down, when reactions are raw, when conviction shines through tone and posture.
Politicians are not actors. They are not meant to play characters. They are human beings, entrusted with power and the ability to reach large audiences. When they sound human, voters listen. When they sound programmed, voters tune out. A rapid response shows outrage when it’s warranted. Agreement when it’s honest. Skepticism when claims don’t add up. Confidence when policy differences are clear. It is an argument, not a vision. If the response is supposed to be a rebuttal, then it should actually rebut. It means speaking like a defense attorney in a courtroom: listening carefully, then standing up and dismantling Trump’s case in front of the jury. Spanberger can argue point by point about where the president is wrong and why Democrats have better ideas. Spanberger has the credibility, temperament, media fluency and charisma to change the model. We pride ourselves on being the party of innovation. Of reform. Of challenging outdated norms. And we should show that. Spanberger has the credibility, temperament, media fluency and charisma to change the model. She can show that leadership isn’t about reciting broad platitudes that please every demographic or interest group. It’s about engaging candidly and directly with the country and holding the other side accountable in real time. In an age of filters, edits and artificially produced political theater, it’s unscripted, in-the-moment authenticity that would be the most radical and viral move of all.
Michael LaRosa
Michael LaRosa is a former press secretary to Jill Biden and special assistant to President Joe Biden. He was a communications adviser to House leadership, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and the U.S. Senate Energy Committee. He was a producer for MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. He is currently a Partner at Ballard and Ballard Media Group, a bipartisan advocacy and public relations firm in Washington, D.C. 
