In his inaugural speech Monday, President Donald Trump promised to increase energy production and manufacturing–and most Pennsylvania political leaders were happy to hear it.

“I liked the speech,” said Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), who told DVJournal he was sitting just 15 feet away from the president as he delivered it.

“He was direct. His thesis was, in a nutshell, that we are in a period of decline. That decline stops today, and renewal begins,” McCormick said, adding, “It was uplifting.”

McCormick, who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also praised Trump’s pledge to unleash U.S. energy production.

“Trump said he’s going to declare an energy emergency, which will allow him executive authorities to do things very rapidly on energy which would be to reduce regulations, increase production, possibly make big investments in infrastructure. That’s a big deal,” said McCormick.

Sen. Dave McCormick at President Trump’s inauguration ceremony.

 

State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery) agreed.

“Pennsylvania has an extraordinarily diverse energy portfolio, including nuclear power, coal, renewable energy, and is the second largest producer of natural gas in the United States. As he did in his first administration, President Trump will unleash our ability to ship LNG, chemicals, and other energy products throughout the world growing our economy and good paying jobs,” said  Pennycuick.

Pennsylvania political professionals also gave Trump’s inaugural address high marks,

Guy Ciarrocchi, a Republican political commentator who ran for Congress in Chester County, praised the speech.

“President Trump’s closing remarks are amongst the boldest and most uplifting since Ronald Reagan in 1981. This pledge to unity and a common future reminds us of Lincoln. His call to Mars harkens us to Kennedy’s call to the moon. It was quintessential Trump, and thoroughly American.”

Fellow GOP strategist Charlie Gerow was impressed with Trump’s opening line, ‘The Golden Age of America begins right now.”

“President Trump was clear that he intends to follow through on the promises of the campaign. He was very clear about a very ambitious agenda, including the executive orders he will put in place immediately. President Trump spoke of the mandate he has. He also enjoys record-high popularity, a Congress under his allies’ control, and the wind is at his back. It really is time to Make America Great Again!”

Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania Democrats were less enthusiastic, but they weren’t negative, either.

“As governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — the birthplace of that democracy — I want to congratulate President Trump on his inauguration,” said Gov. Josh Shapiro (D). “President Trump, after being duly elected by the American people, now holds the sacred duty of leading this nation forward for the next four years.

“I remain committed to those commonsense Pennsylvania priorities, and where our priorities are aligned, I stand ready to work with the Trump administration to continue our progress here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) made headlines of his own by showing up for the speech in the capitol rotunda wearing his usual hoodie and shorts. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he sent a fundraising email Monday saying that while “Trump is officially back in the White House,” he wouldn’t be “backing down from fighting for what’s right.”

But he also wrote, “I’ll work with Trump where I can to get wins for Pennsylvania,” echoing Fetterman’s previous comments that his door was open to Donald Trump, despite their political differences.

In Harrisburg, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) praised Trump’s inauguration address.

“President Trump spoke to the people not above them by promising a more prosperous future by restoring American values through commonsense and integrity,” said Ward. “President Trump also declared an energy emergency which is a necessary and commonsense step required to revoke policies like the Green New Deal that have eroded our way of life by increasing the cost of everyday products.

According to Ward, “No other state has the potential to prosper like Pennsylvania if we take advantage of this opportunity to unleash our energy sector and align our state policies to advance our manufacturing competitiveness and grow our energy sector.”

Christine Flowers, a local immigration lawyer and pundit, was particularly focused on the border issue.

“I listened to President Trump’s comments on immigration, and I found myself agreeing with a good part of it, including the designation of drug cartels as members of terrorist organizations,” Flowers said. “The damage they do to our population is at least as dangerous, and arguably more widespread, than Al Qaeda and other Islamist organizations.  The odds that you will encounter a descendant of Osama Bin Laden on American shores is nil, whereas the odds that you or a family member will be devastated by the drug plague is nearly 100 percent.

“That said, his obsession with eliminating birthright citizenship is bound to fail, and it’s another sign of his scattershot approach to immigration, and his failure to address the root causes of the problem,” said Flowers. “You cannot simply ‘undo’ what has been for at least a century considered a constitutional right by a unilateral executive order.”

Joe Guzzardi, an analyst with the Institute for Sound Public Policy, said, “For years and under Democrat and Republican White Houses, American voters have yearned for common sense immigration. Clinton, Bush II, Obama and most definitely Biden have refused to support a commonsense immigration agenda that works for Americans. Trump has given citizens hope that he’ll deliver what Americans want—-a secure border and safe communities.”

Trump’s assertion that the government will recognize only two genders, male and female, was welcome news for Bucks County parent Jamie Walker.

“As a parent of two daughters, I am thrilled we have a president and administration now that actually knows what a woman is! Women’s rights are now protected. Males won’t be allowed to compete against girls in sports or use their locker rooms. I am hopeful the Trump administration can help get public schools to focus on academics and not progressive ideology.”

Trump’s overall message was that supporting U.S. jobs and manufacturing by boosting energy production is a good fit for the Pennsylvania economy, said Carl Marrara, executive director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association.

“With a renewed focus on domestic manufacturing by the Trump administration, state economic competitiveness is more important than ever before. Whether it’s reshoring an entire plant to the United States, or expanding existing domestic operations, Pennsylvania will be competing for those business investments and needs to act to make it the smart business decision to locate here.”