We have one nagging question after digesting President Barack Obama’s articulate if rambling 71-minute State of the Union address promising jobs, tax breaks, fiscal and political reform and bipartisanship: Will he actually work hard to make it happen in 2010 and beyond?

Critics of the president will gloat that he seeks to pivot to the right in light of his falling poll numbers and an electoral upset in Massachusetts that allows Senate Republicans to now crack Democrats’ filibuster-proof dominance.

Let’s not gloat. Too much is at stake. We’re about policies, issues and the future of our country. We don’t have the time for hate-filled rhetoric or political shenanigans. If the president has gotten the message that he needs to focus on the center-right priorities of our nation, so much the better. Democrats and Republicans must quit bickering, get down to business and embrace the delicate art of compromise on a host of issues facing us.

“Democracy in a nation of 300 million people can be noisy and messy and complicated,” the president said. “And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That’s just how it is. Those of us in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths and pointing fingers. We can do what’s necessary to keep our poll numbers high, and get through the next election, instead of doing what’s best for the next generation.”

Obama again revealed himself an eloquent and convincing orator, quite obviously in the league of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Fact is, some of us believed in his message of a transparent, new way of governing, even if we didn’t vote for him in 2008. And when he was inaugurated with a public fervor we’ve never seen before, we hoped the best for him.

We still do, but he must do some heavy lifting that we didn’t see in 2009. Pushing Congress to publish earmarks on the Web is a start. So is meeting monthly with Republicans, many of whom felt left out of the legislative process in 2009.

Good Republicans should applaud many of the things the president mentioned in his address, including legislation to create more jobs, deep cuts in the deficit, tax breaks for middle-class Americans, tax cuts for small businesses hiring new workers or raising wages, education initiatives, even the idea of retooling health care reform but in a way that includes concepts like tort reform.

These are things that we should be able to discuss in bipartisan fashion. We only hope the liberal Democratic leadership in Congress also embraces this message — and that the Republican leadership moves beyond petty politics and displays a real willingness to get to work — for all our sakes.