State of the Union Address: Is there a formula?

I do not understand why reporters, political pundits and operatives do not know what to call tonight’s speech by the President. What constitutes a “State of the Union Address?” Is it the number of verbs and adjectives embodied in the speech? Is it the confinement to a certain subject matter? Is it the season of the year or time of day or night? Who has these answers? I like *Chris Bower’s handling of the issue.

I have heard the speech being called, “First address to Congress,” “The President’s speech” and a few other things but always followed with, “…but it is not a State of the Union Address”. Logically, a State of the Union Address would occur anytime the President talks to the entire body of congress, after all he is talking to all the major representatives of all the states in the union. What makes “The State of the Union Address” so different?

I posit the notion the press is using the phrase, “State of the Union Address” to create and move a news cycle. I can hear them now: “Wait until the President presents his State of the Union Address” and “When President Obama gives his State of the Union Address, he is going to say this and that etc.,” or “Right now, we are waiting for the President to tell us when he will be giving his State of the Union Address” and so cynically add, “By this time, most other Presidents have already given their State of the Union Address to congres," and they begin to name all the Presidents and what they had to say along with other bull shit! It’s so silly but then we are talking about driving news cycles and making mortgage payments. Oh, well, here a pundit, there a pundit....
As always,
BB
* Only Going To Church On Christmas
by: Chris Bowers
Tue Feb 24, 2009 at 01:31
http://openleft.com/
Excerpt:
But I have to ask: why are State of the Union speeches a big deal? Presidents deliver speeches all the time, but these speeches are rarely covered lived on by all major television, Internet and radio news outlets. Within the professional political world of D.C., the SOTU not only is worthy of an acronym, but its annual parties are second only to changes of partisan power in Congress and / or the White House in terms of celebratory atmosphere. What is it about the SOTU that generates such intense coverage from major political and media institutions?