Haley, Obama, voters are all on the same page?

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley earned high praise in the press – and harsh criticism from conservative commentators – for her measured Republican response last night to the president’s State of the Union address.

But the GOP governor may have set a new bar for high-profile speeches that are tested in real time by groups of voters. A Fox News focus group consisting of a wide array of voters, approximately two dozen people, watched both speeches and expressed their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with what they heard.

The electronic dials they used to grade the rhetoric nearly went haywire at one point during Haley’s remarks. The Republican response was, literally, off the charts. The GOP voters in the group turned their dials up so high in a show of support that the red Republican line on the Fox graph went off the top of the screen.

The Democrat line shot upward dramatically. Longtime pollster Frank Luntz, who oversaw the focus group session, said he has never seen such a reaction.

Voter explosion of support

What prompted this explosion of support? It was this statement:

“Democrats in Washington bear much responsibility for the problems facing America today.” But, she went on to say: “There is more than enough blame to go around. We as Republicans need to own that truth. We need to recognize our contributions to the erosion of the public trust in America’s leadership. We need to accept that we’ve played a role in how and why our government is broken.”

The reaction from the focus group voters suggests that the angry electorate, which has become the overriding story of Campaign 2016, views both parties – the overall political establishment -- as responsible for the messy dysfunction in Washington. But instead of the bluster and name-calling spewed by Donald Trump, they seem to prefer a little humility, a forthright admission of culpability.

Haley, the youngest governor in America, went on to issue a call for more bipartisanship and civility. And, without naming Trump, she warned of the dangers of harsh hyper-partisanship:

The loudest voice in the room

“During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.

“… In many parts of society today, whether in popular culture, academia, the media, or politics, there’s a tendency to falsely equate noise with results.

“Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true. Often, the best thing we can do is turn down the volume. When the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.”

Marking perhaps a first in the history of the current format -- SOTU speeches followed by a response from the opposing party -- Haley closely echoed one of the prime messages in President Obama’s speech. The president told Congress:

“A better politics doesn't mean we have to agree on everything. This is a big country, with different regions and attitudes and interests. That's one of our strengths too. Our founders distributed power between states and branches of government, and expected us to argue, just as they did, over the size and shape of government, over commerce and foreign relations, over the meaning of liberty and the imperatives of security.

Extreme voices get attention

“But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens," Obama added. "It doesn't work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice, or that our political opponents are unpatriotic. Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise, or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us.”

Then he said this: “Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention.”

The loudest, most extreme voices on the far right tried their best to get all the attention last night on Twitter as they skewered Haley for the moderate tone of her remarks, especially in calling for reasonable immigration reforms.

According to Politico, in a series of tweets radio host Laura Ingraham blasted the Republican National Committee (which chose the governor as their spokesperson for the night) and Haley for the response, which Ingraham said was more of a rebuttal to Trump than Obama.

"Too bad @NikkiHaley missed her oppty to stand w/ working ppl who want borders enforced, American workers put first, govt shrunk" Ingraham wrote. "The country is lit up w/ a populist fever & the GOP responds by digging in, criticizing the GOP candidates dominating polls?! NOT SMART."'

Conservative commentator and author Ann Coulter went even farther, writing in her typically crude manner about Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants: "Trump should deport Nikki Haley."

"Nikki Haley: "The best thing we can do is turn down the volume" Translation: Voters need to shut the hell up," Coulter wrote as part of a series of tweets criticizing Haley's response.

Over at Breitbart, Haley's response was equated to an open-borders policy.

"To the glee of our corrupt media, Nikki Haley is attacking our own frontrunner. The GOP Establishment is garbage," tweeted Breitbart columnist John Nolte.