Feeling Better?

Pols on both sides, like most of us, were atwitter about Pres. Obama's primetime health care speech tonight, tweeting up a storm before, during and after the address. Here's a sample.

Pre-Address

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN): "On House floor waiting for POTUS. He needs to hit reset button, start over. Folks r more worried bout big govt than anytime in my life.#tcot" 9/9, 7:39 PM

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL): "Just read excerpts from President's speech for tonight. I'm glad the president is proposing insurance exchanges ... Health-insurance exchanges will help the nearly one-in-four Floridians who don't have or cannot get affordable health insurance." 7:46 PM

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI): "In the House chamber waiting for President's speech. Not handing out President's speech. Unusual! Only talking points! Go figure ... Handing out laminated talking points produced by the White House is tacky. This is serious business. I will not twit during speech." 7:57 PM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO): "No tweeting during President's speech. Don't want my mom to holler at me about bad manners." 8:01 PM

During The Speech

Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK): "Attending a joint session of Congress where Obama will again lend his support for socialized health care. I oppose his plan! ... Obama says our health care problem is our deficit problem. what about his $1 trill spending spree this year?" 8:25 PM

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY): "Obama: 'The time for bickering is over'" 8:29 PM

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA): "The idea of not allowing folks to be denied coverage because of a pre existing condition is a good one." 8:33 PM

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): "Obama says it's a partisan healthcare battle. Doesn't he realize Dems control Congress(57% House, 59% Senate)? His problm is his own party." 8:37 PM

Post-Address

Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid: "Pres. Obama explained his clear vision of health insurance reform. Time to get it done. #hc09" 9:06 PM

Rep. John Carter (R-TX): "Will now wade through this crowd on the House floor and get over to where I can webcast (JudgeCarter live > http://ustre.am/4n0b)" 9:06 PM

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME): "The President did a very very good job, it was a great speech and he laid out a very good plan. ... President walked by while I was waiting outside the Chamber. I told him he did very well and he gave me a hug. http://yfrog.com/12ph1rj" 9:07 PM

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI): "It is the wrong approach; the President missed opp. to say 'no' the extremists in his party and 'yes' to the American ppl. #hcr #hc #tcot" 9:08 PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT): "Tonight, President Obama made a tremendous case for action on health care reform. ... Anyone who doesn't understand the urgency of this crisis fails to recognize the needs of the American people. ... The President made it clear tonight that the time to act is now -- and I, for one, am ready to join him in this fight." 9:10 PM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT): "The President didn't sway many.....perhaps none of the congress in the room." 9:11 PM

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): "Happy to hear clear focus on cost. Inaction is unfair to consumers, makes business uncompetitive & will bankrupt our gov't. ... Also glad he called out "death panel" scare tactics. Whether malice or ignorance, it disrespects families dealing w/ aging issues. ... Appreciated Pres' bipartisan tone. Let's keep what works, fix what's broken. We agree on 80%." 9:20 PM

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL): "Agree w/Pres Obama that 80 percent of what he outlined in health reform we agree on so why not pass that now: no preexisting discrmntn, etc?" 9:31 PM

McCaskill: "Strong speech. Big olive branch to Republicans. Hope they realize the cost of doing nothing is much higher than resonable measured reform ... Biggest disappointmnt of evening, the total lack of respect shown by one member for the President.Never acceptable to behave like a jerk." 9:35 PM

BONUS TWEET: Promises Made, Promises Kept

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) tried to steal the show from Obama tonight with his soon-to-be-a-cable-news-staple "you lie!" outburst while Obama was telling the joint session the reform plan he supports won't cover illegal immigrants.

Here's Wilson's last tweet, posted over the weekend. Was it a harbinger of the attempted interruption to come?

Wilson: "Happy Labor Day! Wonderful parade at Chapin, many people called out to oppose Obamacare which I assured them would be relayed tomorrow to DC" 9/7, 11:29 AM

(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)