Ignoring his ongoing impeachment trial, President Clinton delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday night to the American people who continue to help him fare well in approval rating polls.

Some students who watched the speech said they believe it will help heal Clinton’s tarnished image.

“I think he did a very good job, the reason being that he kept the tempo going the whole time,” said Jeremy Faris, freshman in exercise and sports science.

Jason Terrence, junior in political science, also thought Clinton performed well under pressure.

“He was like he always is — appealing to the most people possible,” Terrence said.

Student responses to the president’s State of the Union address were generally positive.

“I think he is hitting the right topics,” Faris said. “In the issues of spending, the Social Security will definitely be addressed bipartisanly.”

Clinton did what he needed to get the public on his side, said Mack Shelley, professor of political science and statistics.

“He was under the gun, so to speak, and had to come up with something big to make a good showing,” Shelley said. “Clinton is a very good speaker, and it was apparent during his speech.”

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll taken shortly after the speech showed the American people were impressed by Clinton’s performance.

Approval ratings were as high as 75 percent on some issues, according to the poll.

“The most important thing is he gained in the respect to him as a person, which has been hurting for quite some time with Monicagate and impeachment,” Shelley said. “There was massive improvement in a lot of polls, but the real question is whether it will last.”

Terrence said the president tried to reach as many people as possible by making promises that appeal to both sides of the issues.

“I think he was contradictory in many parts of his speech, such as when he talked about tobacco,” he said.

“He plans on suing the tobacco industry to compensate the federal government. Then, he talked about protecting tobacco farmers,” Terrence said.

Shelley said Clinton delivered a “Republican-like” agenda in his speech.

“He, in effect, is taking Republican policies and stances on issues and giving them a twist, making them his own,” Shelley said.

“He can come off as moderate to moderates, conservative to conservatives and liberal to liberals,” Shelley said.

Terrence said he is optimistic about Clinton’s agenda.

“He has figured out that you cannot have such a liberal policy, and you must appeal to the right to get your agenda through,” he said.

Shelley said the real question is whether Republicans will work with the president on the issues.

“These stances and approaches to these issues have mainly been Republican, but now that Clinton has adopted them, it is not clear if [Republicans] will support them,” Shelley said. “We will just have to wait and see.”