I did not listen to Obama's speech, but I did read the entire transcript. I have to say, it is very, very good (brilliant?). It is nuanced, it is intelligent, it is moving (towards the end, I even teared up a bit). I think it will work to quiet the unrest and reinvigorate the campaign, not just for him, but for Hillary too. Maybe we can stop talking about Ferraro and Wright.
If Obama can keep doing this--responding to criticism, not with dismissal and "hope it goes away"--but with great, hopeful speeches that get on youtube and television and print, then I think he can mop the floor with McCain. Cuz I really don't think that McCain can do it.
It will be interesting to see what pieces and parts the media pick out of Obama's speech to highlight. Will they just pick up the pieces where he criticizes Wright? Or only the pieces that praise him? Will they ignore what he says about white struggles and single mothers and immigrants? They shouldn't, but they probably will.
Update: I saw him on video just now. It's, unfortunately, a poor delivery, especially at the beginning. He hasn't had enough time to practice the speech, he's not comfortable with the teleprompter, and he looked nervous. He loosens up about a 1/3 of the way through. It also looked like the teleprompter wasn't moving the text as fast as he was speaking at several moments. He doesn't have the emotional strength in his voice that the words convey. Part of the problem is that there is no audience that is clapping at the right points. It's just silent. There isn't a single clap until half way through.
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