Reply To: Why wasn't last nights speech a State of the Union adress?

Technically, it probably could be. “State of the Union” is just a name. The Constitution says, “He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” It doesn’t need to be the huge deal they make it out to be. The president can send an email out to Congress, and it would probably meet the requirement. It actually was done via letters for a long time – from Thomas Jefferson in 1801 until 1913, when Wilson gave a speech in front of Congress. Carter was the last president to give the update in writing, in 1981.