The reviews of Obama's speech are in

Posted: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:36 PM by Mark Murray

From NBC's Mark Murray
The reviews from political analysts and liberal bloggers are mostly positive. Here's a sample of their reviews and/or smart takes...

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "I do think that Obama's speech was a marvel of contemporary political rhetoric. Politically, analytically and emotively, it hit many high notes. His acknowledgment of white working class resentments (busing) and about the perception that there's been no racial progress, his willingness to stick by his friends, his grasp of history, his sense that our views of race are cramped and caricatured... all of that is something that even those who disagree with the substance of his speech, can, I think, appreciate."

The Politico's Ben Smith: A smart colleague notes that this speech is the polar opposite of this year's other big speech on faith, in which Mitt Romney went to Texas to talk about Mormonism, but made just one reference to his Mormon faith. Obama mentions Wright by name 14 times.

TPM's David Kurtz: "It is remarkable for its nuance, for its long view of history, and for its decency. I am not sure, on first take, how effective it is politically. Your thoughts? Late Update: The text is one thing. Delivery is another. And Obama doesn't seem to have his A game today."

TPM's Josh Marshall: "I think I have to dissent from David's view that Obama didn't bring his A-game to the speech this morning. I was only able to listen/watch out of the corner of my eye because I was on deadline for something else. But my sense was that the tempo and tenor was suited to the occasion. The kind of stirring delivery he's made a trademark of in his victory celebrations would not have been appropriate for the moment."

The pro-Obama Andrew Sullivan: "Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all been waiting for for a generation. Its ability to embrace both the legitimate fears and resentments of whites and the understandable anger and dashed hopes of many blacks was, in my view, unique in recent American history... I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity."

The pro-Clinton Taylor Marsh: "Senator Obama gave a speech today that is larger than politics, but it in no way ends his political challenges. The national wound of race Barack didn't want to touch is now reopened nationally and in the spotlight again. While his campaign wants to move on, the country will not, because everyone will be talking about race, through the invitation of Obama's speech today."

Scout Finch from DailyKos (which is mostly pro-Obama): "This speech is amazingly honest and will hopefully spark a long overdue discussion on race in America. We'll see if it is enough to blunt to criticism of his relationship with Reverend Wright. I think he's done a spectacular job thus far of denouncing specific remarks by Reverend Wright, while still standing steadfastly by him and his community."

*** UPDATE *** Here's the take from CBN's David Brody: "We won't know for awhile how voters view Barack Obama's speech today on race relations but The Brody File saw it as a HUGE positive for Obama and a successful turning point for the future of his campaign."

*** UDPATE II *** Hotline On Call's Jennifer Skalka: "Obama gave an eloquent speech today that will do much to quiet the increasingly polarizing debate about race in the Democratic contest. But more importantly, and more tellingly, he gave a deeply personal talk about his race, about his experience as a biracial American. And voters needed to hear it. Not because his biography is, in and of itself, the answer for these confusing times, but because, perhaps, only a person of his experience can dare all of us to be our better selves."

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Comments

Hey Natalie?

What experience has Hillary shown you?
I want details dear...

Chris, Maine (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:03 PM)

As a older, white, female independent voter.
Obama's speech brought me to tears, on just the image our country COULD be. I hope our schools had it on, so our children saw it, and can discuss it. I hope the discussion is brought home to the kitchen table, the office cooler, the neighborhood yard sale. I hope the discussion is brought infront of our own mirrors.

Lee Treasure Island Florida (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:03 PM)

Barack Obama once again demonstrated that he's presidential material. After having to endure the polarization of the Clinton and Bush years, Obama is willing to tackle the divisions and get us all to act as one.

Enrique, Chicago (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:03 PM)

Amazing at the so called American's who claim they want unity, but constantly post hate each day and want other's to run into the polls and vote for Clinton (if she is the nominee).

Prevailing is the cost of ignorance that plagues our nation. Anytme someone speaks of peace, others are challenged against their greater good to look the other way, while we in America continue to degrade who we can be in this nation and as a nation.

Well...if you have no peace and you have not a grain of compassion, why don't you move out our US of A? It's the hope slashers like you who have kept your feet on the necks of Democracy.

The true Americans deplore your efforts and are sick and tired of your acts of hatred on the prosperity of this country.

With a general election coming up I will remember folks like patty, john doe, etc., who denounce and reject all the good in America.

Day in and day out you spend your day tearing others down, how about doing something right, which is to come with substance for your candidate to convince others of why she is so great for America?
From her supporters I read hate for Obama, but no substance of why we should vote for her or why she would be a great president.

Try that for a change, because your are definitely doing her a disservice. For what I have seen of your behaviors on these blogs is not convincing of why we should consider and continue to vote for division.

Obama did a wonderful job in characterizing and summarizing the hurt of all Americans and if you can't find anything good in it, regardless, if you support him or not; you do it your own peril.

Michelle Zee (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:04 PM)

I could care less about OBAMA. He is an insult to america.

Jane (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:04 PM)

IMHO Sen Obama failed the ultimate test in this speech. I still do not know why he chose this church and why he stuck with it, given the number of UCC churches in the area. I come back to the fact that he was a grown man of 25 when he found Minister Wright and that both Wright and Sen Obama's friend Rezko had ties to Farrakhan. So pardon me if I'm a bit skeptical.
And, while I appreciated very much his keen observations concerning racial tensions, I found it very difficult to square this litany with his own background. I wonder still what Sen Obama felt he had in common with other church members, aside from the color of his skin, since his experience has been so obviously different from theirs. It is not as if the past 400 years of black history in America really have anything at all to do with him, except insofar as he chose to join the largest African-American church in what would become his political constituency.

M Wells San Diego (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:05 PM)

Grow up Barry. From where I sit you have had it pretty good. You have been taught to hate the USA and white people. Your grandmother hurt your feelings? How many people haven't had their feelings hurt by family? You would take a hate to the White House that would bring everyone down. You have spent 20 years learning from Mr. Wright and how many with your grandmother?

Louie, Louie (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:05 PM)

I don't care who you support, how much you hate Obama, or how cynical you have become. I defy you to recall a more sophisticated, honest, and profound discussion of racial politics in America by any politician in the last . . . ever? What Obama is saying here is that it's time to bring it all out into the open, including the anger and rage the black community still feels, but also the concommitant anger and rage many white people feel. No politician in my lifetime has ever displayed this amount of courage.

Oh, and yes, he did put the Wright issue to bed. He admitted that he has heard Wright say controversial things, he explained how and why he disagreed with those things, and he explained why he continued to be a member of the church. Those of you claiming he didn't will never accept any answer. You just want to keep attacking.

Barack Obama IS change. He is a leader. Everyone else looks small in comparison.

Matt (buffalo) (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:05 PM)

OBAMA IS DONE...FINISHED.
HE CAN NOT WIN IN NOVEMBER......
FLIP/FLAP OVER PASTOR'S COMMENTS......

HEY DEMOCRATIC LEADERS.........
LOOK FOR ANOTHER CANDIDATE FOR NOVEMBER.......

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AREN'T STUPID.......

INDEPENDENT TEXAN (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:06 PM)

instead of blabbering on about some candidates pastor maybe you should mention how our government is selling out the citizens of the u.s. to bail out a bunch of unscrupulous lenders, by the fed once again cutting interest rates the banks can take that 'cheap' money re-invest it and turn a profit to make their self destroyed balance sheets look better, none of the reduced interest rates will be passed on to consumers but used to reap windfall profits by the financial industry, another good example of this administrations take from the poor give to the rich doctrine, interest rates for the financial industry go down, inflation goes up, long term investments of retirees go down, oil prices go up, all in an effort to keep the filthy rich, filthy rich and everyone else poor. people better wake up we are being raped by the government in conjunction with corporate america and most people don’t even recognize it.

MK,MO (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:07 PM)

Another lie?Last Friday--never knew about these anti-american sermons.Today--yes I knew about these anti-american sermons.I will not turn my back on my mentor because he is the most important to me.The rest of his speech was the same speech he gives on the campaign trail.KO is fine to praise Obama---but we can do without the clinton garbage---day after day.I hope Matthews got thrills up both his legs today----I am ready to get out of the Democratic party---they are no better than the republicans.When Hillary is cast out with all the help of the media I will go to.

HT-MI (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:10 PM)

JUST WORDS - PROOF OF NO ACTIONS

I have re read his speech again....

SHOCKED at the pure audacity of Bs'ing us...

***********************************************************************
Obama " Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes"
**************************************************************************************
He not only now has changed his story again that he was in the pews when such words were said.

BUT I'm SHOCKED - he asks us to come together and not just talk about our divides but that we must act!

**********************************************************************************************
Obama " And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part "
**************************************************************************

Senator OBAMA, HOW can you ask us to act " do our part" when the 1st instance leading to multiple instances of your pastor using hate speech. YOU SIR DID NOT ACT YOURSELF! you sat thru it for decades... to add futher INSULT TO INJURY - you rewarded him by asking him to join your campaign!

I know the cultish obama followers are in their charles manson seance moment... But what a piece of crock to preach to us to act on these divsions , while he himself did jack when it was times to act!

get you new incense's out obamabots and sing ha ma na , ha ma na ... but his own words contridict his ACTIONS!

Unbecoming of A Presidential candidate!

"I can no more disown him (Jeremiah Wright) than I can disown black people."

Seantor Obama, you are a liar and unelectable.

Voter, Philadelphia, PA (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:11 PM)

Kelsie Gavin,
Can you please re-post your comments a few more times over the next week? They were well-considered and very thought provoking. Too bad more people don't take a breath before they start chucking their slings and arrows.

Thanks Kelsie (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:11 PM)

Chris S in Seminole Fl, I too am a I Floridian. I know all too well the prejudices of Florida, this is a bunch of crap and you know it.

You never supported Obama and you want people to feel the way you do, but most don't so why don't you stop the bull. If you cared not what he said, why did you listen? If it someone I care nothing about, why would I waste my time?

I am so sick of ignorant people who have not a pot to pi$$ in or a window to throw it out and want to continue to dash the hopes of others.

If the hope message is not for you, vote the opposite, but don't get on here with this divisiveness. Why don't you tell us why the candiate yiu support is so great, instead of telling us why Obama is not.

Give me a break, what a bunch of losers!

Michelle Zee (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:12 PM)

Barack Obama said one thing last week which was that he WAS NEVER IN THE CHURCH hearing Rev. Wright's hate speech. Yet in his speech today, he said he WAS IN THE CHURCH when similar hateful things were being said. And he STAYED IN THE CHURCH after hearing them. His forthrightness comes into question now that his story has changed from one week to the next. Also, his judgment should come into question as well. He talks about his superior judgment all the time. Was staying in this church listening such horrible things a sign of his superior judgment? I would never listen to such vile remarks consistently on a week-to-week basis because I have proper judgment.

Joseph Legler, New York, nY (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:12 PM)

Kelsie Gavin, from Williamsburgh, VA you are my hero. You managed to put into words what my frustrated brain could not. When did we decide that infallability was a job requirement of our president? None of us is perfect and I'm willing to bet that all of you who call Obama a liar never stepped foot into Trinity Church and have no idea who Rev. Wright is beyond the 30 second clips you see on TV. I believe it is a sign of steadfast loyalty, commitment and conviction that led Obama to denounce Wrights comments but refust to denounce him as a man. That's the kind of leader I want representing my country when we screw up in the eyes of the world (which we have done and most certainly will do again). He's honest, unafraid and aware of his imperfections.

Sarah, Pittsburgh, PA (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:13 PM)

Brilliant! I was moved to tears listening to Senator Obama's speech. I especially like that he did not throw his pastor "under the bus." If he had done that I would have find it hard pressed to respect him. Some of us have parents and grandparents who have said things that have made us cringe but we did not disown them. Character matters. And, not throwing his pastor under the bus show character.

Paulina W, New York City, Ny (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:14 PM)

If I ever need to answer the question "Why I support Sen. Obama?" I will point to this speach.

Here is a candidate who does not back away from tough issues. We, as a nation, have needed to talk about race in America for years, at least since the O J trial. Sen. Obama has laid it all out on the table.

Health care, the war, the economy and all of the other issues impact all of us. They are not caused by other races or sexes or nationalities. But, they are made worse by Americans separating ourselves into such groups and building walls.

Differences add to the tapestry of this great country. America seems to want to pull that tapestry apart, thread by thread, and say "here is a black thread," "here is a white thread." Soon we lose the broader picture of the tapestry for the pile of separate colored threads.

Sen. Obama is the future. I am proud to be a Obama supporter.

Bill Johnson, Anaconda, Montana (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:14 PM)

Here what Senator Obama will never be able to explain. He has two daughters. Did he exposed both his TWO DAUGHTERS to these hate speeches? If he purports to be the seaway between the future and the past, then, why exposed his two daughters to this rhetoric? There is a difference between words and actions and here a clear example that goes against his NEW SPEECH.

Ruth Silverstein, Philadelphia, PA (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:15 PM)

HT-MI,
Please just re-register Republican. You keep threatening it. Look, Hillary Clinton has NO MORE experience than Barack Obama. She WASN"T responsible for SCHIP, she WASN"T responsible for peace in Northern Ireland, she WASN"T responsible for the issues she claims in Bosnia. If I'm missing something that she WAS responsible for achieving, I would love to hear it because I'm starting to think I'm missing something. What are her top 3 accomplishments in all the "results" she talks about achieving? Can you help those of us who have looked at her resume and don't see it?

Thanks for the Help (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:16 PM)

America has become so polarized by partisan politics and political spin and idealogues, that some people can't recognize something that transcends politics even when it is staring them blatantly in the face. Obama's speech was that something. Those of you belittling it, take a breath and actually think about what he is saying for a minute. What's there to disagree with? When have you heard any national figure speak so forthrightly about what we all know is true?

Matt (Buffalo) (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:16 PM)

Yes, no doubt about it, Obama is quite the orator. Now we'll just have to wait to see if he can get the trains to run on time.

campdog (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:16 PM)

Where do we go after Barack Obama’s speech? I have a question for the press. Are you going to step up and stay on message? The message about the economy, about health care, about education, about employment, about pensions . . . These are the issues that most Americans want to talk about. Are you going to stay on message or are you going to continue the drama of division and distraction? What say you?

Madeleine Ryan (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:17 PM)

How in the world can anyone take this man seriously when he was willing to literally throw his grandmother under the bus in order to rationalize the statements made by Rev. Wright? Hate is hate. Rev. Wright preaches hate. We've all seen the videos. Senator Obama has participated in this church for over 20 YEARS. If he denounces Rev. Wrights views, why did he remain in that church? Oh, let me see, his old granny is a racist because she conveyed her fear of young black men, so he can excuse Rev. Wright's racist rants.

Stick a fork in him. He's done!

Mary, Louisiana (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:17 PM)

I just read the entire speech, I am speechless....Sen. Obama is honest, courageous, transparent and truly the person we need to lead our Country out of darkness into a new era.

My Mom, a life long Republican, decided to vote for Obama several weeks ago. She just sent me an email informing me that all of the over 55 female residents of her 55+ condo in Florida (all Republicans) will now vote for Obama. The overall opinion being Obama CAN unite.

Thank you Sen. Obama for being stong enough to withstand the firestorm!

Donna

Donna, Charlottesville, VA (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:18 PM)

There is no way for Sen Obama to excuse his bad judgment. He should have left this church. He can acknowledge that hatred exists in the Black community without making himself part and parcel of it. I know there are whites who have big chips on their shoulders toward Blacks. But I do not belong to their clubs and I wouldn't go to a church that espoused those attitudes. This is WRONG. And there is no way to spin it right. And I would dissociate myself from a white person who spoke about Blacks in this manner. He/she would NOT be a close friend. Relatives you can't help, but friends you choose. He has chosen this man as a friend and referred to him as a mentor. We can be civil and decent to people who disagree with us, but when it is issues of this importance, we should distance ourselves from people who espouse these beliefs. They are destructive and serve only to destroy progress that whites and blacks are trying to make in racial relations.

can't be fixed (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:18 PM)

Funny, somehow people think if they type in CAPITAL LETTERS, somehow thier comments carry more weight...they do not. They simply appear hysterical and desperate.

Colleen, NY (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:18 PM)

I wish Senator Obama had delivered this speech last Thursday when the "FoxNoiseHillarious4McSameAsBush" crowd started ramming the Pastor Wright clips down our throats. Anyone sitting out there wondering how these things seem to explode out of the blue are right to wonder. Have we ever seen The Clinton Party so quiet? EVER?

Senator Obama could have taken 2 or 3 roads out of this: 1) Throw his former Pastor and Church under the bus 2) Hang his head, submit to the wishes of "Hillarious" and leave the race for President
3)Step to the podium, like he did today, speak for himself on this issue from his heart, and continue this election process with the leads that he has in delegates and states won.

If the news networks stop their Pastor Wright loops long enough (well we know FoxNoise4McSameAsBush won't) maybe they can perform some exploratory exams on The Clinton Party.

DShawn233, LaVergne (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:18 PM)

I am still troubled by the way the BLACK community continues to view this election in purely racial terms. By voting for Obama in 90+% blocks, they show us how to BE racist, and I'm not comfortable with it. If I saw Obama as a candidate who won these contests NOT because of the color of his skin but because of the merit of his ideas, I'd be for him totally. But as Geraldine Ferraro correctly noted, he is winning because he is BLACK, and because the BLACK community is voting for him on purely racial terms. To me, that's not a valid candidacy.

Rob in NV (Sent Tuesday, March 18, 2008 1:19 PM)

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