Yes, politics is an inbred pile of skin tissue, focussed more on "our party, our country" (a term I just made up and hope to use more frequently in the future) rhetoric than on actual issues (they are getting worked out somewhere inside the epidermal lump, but it's pretty well hidden from us).

But sometimes, rhetorical analysis handled properly can be insightful.

James Fallows' notes on the State of the Union

By the way, pick up the current "State of the Union" issue of The Atlantic while it is still on newsstands; by far, the best magazine being produced today.