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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Speech Reviews: A More Perfect Union
I just re-watched the Obama speech from earlier today. It was truly transformational. You know why people are knowing Hope again? Because a man of this level of intelligence, charisma, discernment, wisdom and poise may become our President.
Here is a round-up of the reactions to his speech, circulated earlier by the Obama campaign. Amazing.
Atlantic (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. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian. … I love this country. I don't remember loving it or hoping more from it than today.
Fox News (Major Garrett): I think the two things that struck me most about this speech, Jane, is I’ve watched a lot of speeches in my political career, and I know from politicians who work on the national stage, they ask themselves two questions when they see someone else deliver a major speech. The first question is, “Would I have liked to deliver that speech myself?” And two, “Could I have delivered it myself?” I think the answer to the first question for this speech today would have been almost a universal “Yes.” The answer to the second question for most politicians probably would have been “No.”
Political Wire (Taegan Goddard): Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race this morning showed off exactly why he's become the Democratic front runner for the presidential nomination. He's absolutely willing to challenge the conventional way of how politicians approach controversy. In my opinion, it was the best speech so far in this campaign.
MSNBC (Joe Scarborough): Illinois senator Barack Obama delivering a speech that, in many ways, was sweeping, some would suggest stunning. Anybody that expected Obama to play it safely today was wrong.
Atlantic (James Fallow): … People thought that Mitt Romney's speech would be the counterpart to John Kennedy's famous speech about his faith to the Houston ministers in 1960. No. This was.
The Nation (John Nichols): Barack Obama could have responded to the controversy that has been ginned up with regard to comments made by his former pastor will a safe and predictable speech. The "smart" strategy -- which was counseled by some Obama allies -- would have been to have the Democratic presidential contender focus in on concerns about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr.'s comments on foreign policy and then distance himself from the offending sentiments. But Obama did not do the politically "smart" thing. He did the right thing. And that is why his campaign will weather this storm.
MSNBC (Joe Watkins): I thought it was an excellent speech. I mean, if anybody can deliver a speech, it's Barack Obama. He has a mastery of words. And what he said, really, I think, was excellent. It brought people together. He was able to distance himself from the terrible remarks that his minister made without completely dissing his minister or his relationship with this minister, this man who has been like a father figure to him over the years. I thought it was very, very well done, very delicately done, done with great passion, great feeling, and that it called America to its better angels.
Atlantic (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.
Wall Street Journal (Christopher Cooper): From a political perspective, Sen. Barack Obama’s speech on race in America this morning in Philadelphia was extraordinary.
The New Republic (Michael Crowley): Brilliant, beautiful, inspiring--but perhaps not what crass electoral politics demanded of him.
MSNBC (Ron Allen): I can say that I was just amazed at the candor and the directness, and I hope that this does, in fact, and I would think this is going to lead the country to ask itself a lot of questions about the issues that he raised, whether you're black, white, Latino, whatever, Asian, American. It seems that he hit on just about every aspect of the American dilemma as it's been called that we've been struggling with as a nation for many of the last many, many, many decades.
New York Times (Katharine Seelye): Mr. Obama is delivering a sweeping discourse on race in America. He is getting a very warm and positive response from the audience, with murmurs of agreement at each new passage and an increase in applause as he builds toward the end. Audience members are nodding their heads at each other.
MSNBC: (Washington Post’s Sally Quinn): Well, this may be hyperbole but I think this is probably the most important speech on race since Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech because it opened up this conversation to our country in a way that has never been opened before. I can imagine -- the exciting thing about it is, imagine what is going to happen in schools and offices and dinner tables all over this country today and from now on where people are actually going to be having a conversation about things that they were never -- felt that they were allowed to talk about.
MSNBC: Joe Scarborough: Nancy Giles, let me ask you to follow up on Sally's comments. Was this one of the most important speeches on race, in your opinion in the past 45 years since Martin Luther king's "I had a dream" speech? Nancy Giles: Yes. Simply, yes.
Talking Points Memo (Greg Sargent): In the speech Obama goes big big big, quite consciously presenting his personal story -- and candidacy -- as both symbol and realization of American history.
Politico (Ben Smith): It's quite a speech: autobiographical, embracing complexity, and answering questions about Wright…Throughout, he insists on things that you don't get much of in politics: context and nuance.
Atlantic (Matthew Yglesias): I think Obama's speech was pretty brilliant.
MSNBC (Pat Buchanan): Well, you know, I thought it was it an excellent speech. He’s an extraordinarily good speaker, and it was extremely well delivered. And so I think – and it's going to appeal to an awful lot of folks.
CNN (Roland Martin): … No, what I think what he did in this was speak to the good of Trinity, the bad of Trinity, the good of America, the bad of America and say, we all, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, gay, straight, Christian, non-Christian, should be focused on a more perfect union for the United States of America.
First Read (Aswini Anburajan): His tone throughout was quiet and thoughtful. The same speech could have been delivered in a fiery tone. But Obama chose one that was quiet and thoughtful. It did little to lessen the impact and may have added to the weight of his words.
Earlier: Video of Obama's Speech on Race and Politics
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Hi,
Would you please share this info?
Thanks!
3/18/08 Declared A More Perfect Union National Call to Action Day
Today we witnessed something we have seen time and again during this campaign: Barack Obama leading, Barack Obama uniting, Barack Obama inspiring. Our inspiration is to view Senator Obama's speech today as a call to action, a wake-up call that one act no matter how seemingly
insignificant can lead to change. We also believe that a speech of
this magnitude can not be dismissed as mere words, and must
immediately result in action.
For these reasons, we have launched the A More Perfect Union National
Call to Action Day petition:
To: Senator Hillary Clinton, US Congress
Inspired by Senator Barack Obama's A More Perfect Union speech,
delivered at the Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008, we hereby pledge to undertake one act
today, no matter how small, that will improve our country, the world, or the life of another.
In pledging to join the A More Perfect Union National Call to Action Day this 18th day of March in the year 2008, we also seek to dispel the myth that speeches are simply words once and for all.
Please take the pledge to act today, and sign our petition here:
www.barackbypopulardemand.com.
Thank you for collecting these! Great stuff.
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