The Donald Trump seen during the State of the Union address is the leader Democrats should be afraid of

Most of those engaged in resisting Donald Trump, the man and the agenda, were ladling scorn on his address to a joint session of Congress, otherwise known as the State of the Union, long before the last of the (mostly Republican) applause had died down. Some Democratic lawmakers showed their disgust before he had even started by simply not showing up.

Their boycott was one of the night’s multiple subplots. Was it a meaningful protest against a man who has shown so little respect for the institutions of government or itself an act of petulance that merely descended to his own level, showing the same kind of disrespect for the rhythms and traditions of Washington that most Americans still hold dear?

Trump could have cared less. The feed I was watching on did nothing to filter out the source of noise closest to the microphones that wasn’t his mouth - the relentless colliding of his hands. If he wasn’t speaking, he was applauding. Applauding the special guests in the first lady’s gallery, yes, but just as much applauding himself. Clap, clap, clap. He has that way of breathing in through his teeth when he is feeling particularly pleased with himself. Gales of inhaling.

There was plenty to pick at. The linkage he made between MS-13 and other violent gangs and illegal immigration was repellant, as was using relatives of victims of the violence, seated beside Melania, as props. Once more Trump was demonising every illegal immigrant and stoking anti-immigrant prejudice among his base voters. Nothing about this president stirs my anger more.

His calls for national unity might have flown were they not so phony. Trump can’t help sow division, racial and partisan, usually by Twitter. In the speech, he picked at the scar of black athletes refusing to stand for the national anthem. No unifying there. His claiming of all credit for the current strength in the US economy, ignoring the long labours of Barack Obama, is absurd.

That these and other unflattering thoughts were flooding the synapses of those Democrats who were in the chamber was obvious from the cut-away shots of their stony faces. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the house, looked most of the time like she was choking on a quince.

But even if they didn’t know it then, there was an opposing explanation for the grim demeanour of the Democrats. Standing before them was the Trump they are most afraid of. You may not like the pistons that drive him, but on this night they were humming in impressive, dangerous unison. He can create a sense of forward motion even when it’s false. And it is hard to resist.

Take his report card on the economy and the contention that because it’s so promising the country is on the threshold of a “new American moment”. His facts and figures were as exaggerated as his willingness to give anyone but himself credit was absent. But such are his selling skills, Trump doesn’t just get away with these lies, he creates a narrative so upbeat and rosy they may on their own give the economy an extra boost. It’s the feel-good thing.

Beyond his polarising language on immigration, Trump offered a bargain that would end the limbo of the 700,000 Dreamers brought into the country as children by their parents in return for tougher border protection, including some sort of a wall, tighter rules on legal immigrants bringing family members into the country and a winding down of the visa lottery system. The resist movement will demand that Democrats refuse even to discuss these ideas. That’s one option, but a poor one. Some how, some day, the deadlock on immigration must be resolved.

Trump did not just repeat his appeal of a year ago for a bipartisan bill to rebuild the country’s creaking infrastructure, he made it more ambitious, asking Congress for $1.5 billion for new schools, bridges, hospitals, roads, rail lines and airports. Assuming they can find the funding for all this, that means new jobs. Again, the Democrats must choose. Are they going to say no? Trump asked for rehabilitation of long-term prison inmates too. He also made a call for funds for paid family leave when new babies arrive. Do they want to resist those things too?

The Trump denouncers and Democrats on Capitol Hill tell themselves that one moderately well-written speech delivered with a degree of confidence from a tele-prompter does not a decent president make and that Trump will surely create a new crisis for himself, with an ill-advised comment here or Twitter post there, before the week is out. Or they are counting on the Mueller probe into alleged Russian collusion to hobble him before he can take his agenda much further.

But what if neither of those things happen? The Trump who appeared on Tuesday night was a new version of himself, more polished and effective than we have seen before. The Democrats need more to overcome that and more to win the confidence of voters this November to give them majority control of the House than they have shown us so far. A few weeks ago, we were jabbering about Oprah Winfrey becoming their leader. This week, the great new hope was meant to be Congressman Joe Kennedy, chosen to deliver the official riposte to the president. Where did he come from all of a sudden (aside from a near-mythological New England clan)?

Whether or not Trump inspired you, whether or not you think there was a iota of honesty or statesmanship in what he said, his performance this week was sobering for Democrats. It was a Trump they are ill-prepared for. Sitting on hands and wearing sour faces is not a strategy. They can resist him where they need to, of course, but where he has ideas with real bi-partisan appeal, they should engage. Otherwise they look like deers in his headlights. And sulky ones.