Of course Pence's speech was a failure. Because garbage in, garbage out.

But Ron Grooms thought it the bee's knees.

Coincidentally, Tully's fifth point echoes a remark I made to a friend just last week. Mitch Daniels may have been a fascist, but he was a technocratic fascist. At least Their Man Mitch provided consistent evidence of a pulse. Comparatively speaking, Pence is a wooden, unresponsive "culture wars" non-entity ... and one needn't be a leftist like me to notice. I've heard conservatives sadly concur with me, albeit in hushed tones.

As the Internet has been known to observe, Tully flat nails it.

Tully: 5 reasons Pence’s speech was a complete failure, by Matthew Tully (Indy Star)

Gov. Mike Pence gave his fourth State of the State Address Tuesday night. At a time when Indiana needs big ideas the governor delivered little more than talking points and election-year dodges.

It was, without question, one of the worst speeches I’ve ever heard a politician give. It was empty and phony, an out-of-touch act of political self-preservation, and filled with cheap applause lines and small-ball notions at a time when Indiana needs boldness and big ideas.

Gov. Mike Pence had months to prepare for his annual State of the State address. He went out of his way in recent weeks to build up expectations for it. But in the end, the speech he delivered was as devoid of ideas and guts as it was any semblance of leadership.

Pence failed Indiana on Tuesday night. Yes, once again, he failed the state so many of us love and want to see move forward. He failed for many reasons. Here are a few.