Reactions to Obama's Speech

Obama's speech has begun (35 minutes late) in Philadelphia, and I'm watching my usual sources for reactions. Here's something I wrote about it a little earlier today:

The text of the speech is here. I did a quick scan and don't think it's going to make his Jeremiah Wright problem go away. He still has to explain how he could be a member of that church for 20 years and not know anything about the Reverend's bigoted views.

Interestingly, Obama makes a big deal in this speech about his biracial background, something which he hasn't really mentioned much during the campaign. He's been quite content to be the "black" candidate even though he's the product of a white mother and black father.

Last night on my BlogTalkRadio show Andrew Jackson suggested that Obama needs to play up his racial heritage if he really wants to be the "postracial" candidate that can unite America. Maybe Obama was listening.

The staging for the speech is pure Americana. Blue curtains in the background with Obama flanked by eight American flags. Whenever I see staging like that I wonder who the candidate is trying to fool. If you have to have your patriotism staged for you, you have problems.

Here's a paragragh from the draft of the speech that seems to contradict earlier statements by Obama:

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

I seem to recall Obama saying that he hadn't heard any of Rev. Wright's controversial statements, at least not the ones recently made public, which may be true. But he implied that he hadn't heard anything like them either, and that doesn't seem to hold true with the paragraph above.

Jim Geraghty has more analysis of the speech here.

UPDATE: Geraghty adds this:

My readers who have read the transcript are unimpressed.

I think the speech is wildly uneven; but I suspect that it will be praised far and wide in over-the-top terms. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a commentator on the left who will criticize it.

My prediction - the mainstream media will praise the speech and declare an end to the Jeremiah Wright crisis. White middle class voters, however, will not see it that way. They will be suspect of someone who can sit under the kind of bigoted teaching that Rev. Wright gave without leaving the church or denouncing the man.

Another reaction from a commenter at The Corner when this speech was compared to Richard Nixon's "Checkers" speech from the 50's:

Nixon didn't give the dog back, why should Obama have to give up his preacher.

One comparison I haven't yet seen would be between the "God Damn America" rantings of Rev. Wright and the "God Hates America" rantings of that crazy Kansas church that pickets military funerals and declares "Thank God for IEDs" whenever our troops are killed in Iraq. It's really not much of a stretch to connect those two.

More analysis of the speech from Ed Morrissey here.

UPDATE: Rush Limbaugh describes this as the "Rorschach Speech". In other words, it can be whatever you want it to be. If you want it to be the definitive statement on race in America, then it is. If you want it to be another collection of soaring generalities, it is. I think Rush's description is pretty apt.

UPDATE 2: Here's a line that I missed but John Derbyshire caught:

"This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care …"

The fact that they're standing in an emergency room tells me that they in fact have health care. That's where they go to get it. They may not have health insurance, but they do have health care, which is mandated by law.

Derb's got a couple of other examples that are worth reading.