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Watch President Barack Obama's first State of the Union Address live at 7 p.m. today on Channels 4, 7, 9 and 13 and CNN, Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, BET and CSPN on cable. KCEC-10 will broadcast the speech in Spanish.
Find a watch party by visiting my.barackobama.com/AttendSOTU and entering your zip code.
Check out Jann Scott's watch party at boulderchannel1.com or follow his tweets @BoulderChannel1.
As President Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night, dozens of Boulder-area Democrats will gather at watch parties to take in the president's words at the end of a difficult first year in office.
Democrats say they are frustrated -- but with Congress rather than the president -- and they'll be looking for Obama to take strong stances in the next year as they try to re-create some of the energy that brought the president into office by turning the speech into a communal event.
In addition to informal gatherings, Organizing for America -- a project of the Democratic National Committee, which organized volunteers during the president's election campaign -- has coordinated at least seven watch parties in the Boulder area, from Longmont to Jamestown.
Mike Kaplan, a rocket scientist with Boeing, will host a dozen people in his Gunbarrel home.
Kaplan said the president has done a good job playing the hand he's been dealt, but he'd like to see him be more aggressive in his speech and in his second year.
"I think a lot of us thought things would get less partisan, but instead they got more partisan," he said. "If he'd had the support of his party, particularly the more conservative Democrats, we'd see a lot more of his agenda get passed."
Organizing for America Colorado State Director Gabe Lifton-Zoline said the events are a way to keep people engaged and maintain some of the energy from the campaign -- and volunteers for phone banks.
As with other watch parties, like one last year for Obama's health care reform speech, participants can join in a conference call with Obama campaign adviser David Plouffe. There likely will be requests for participants to call their representatives and senators and urge them to support the president's agenda.
Boulder County Republican Party Chairman Scott Starin could not be reach for comment Tuesday to talk about any GOP plans for watching the address.
Georgia Christiansen of Louisville said she's looking for a chance to "reconnect with the energy of the campaign" and find ways to help push the president's agenda forward.
She said many people are frustrated and disillusioned by the slow pace of progress, but they need to keep the size of the challenges in perspective.
"People say, 'It's been a year. Why aren't things better?'" said Christiansen, a stay-at-home mother and nutrition educator. "My goodness, with everything, it's going to take time. We have to come together to honor the fact that he cannot do it alone."
But the experiences of the last year also have Christiansen listening to the president's words with very guarded optimism.
"No matter what I hear, we don't know what roadblocks he'll encounter," she said.
Jann Scott, an Internet television producer and local political iconoclast, decided to host a watch party because Wednesday is his birthday, and he's impressed with Obama's use of social networking.
"The fact that the administration basically set these up is pretty cool," he said.
He said he likes the idea of watching the party with a bunch of like-minded strangers. He plans to stream video of his watch party and a post-speech discussion on his Internet television channel, Boulder Channel 1.
Scott has been hard on local politicians, but he's full of praise for Obama.
"For everything that's been on the guy's plate, I think he's done a great job," he said. "There are a lot of special interests that have tried to throw him under the bus. They should let him do his job."
Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 303-473-1355 or meltzere@dailycamera.com.
