Obama's speech through the eyes of the media

Noonan goes on to write that because the event was - in her words - "muted," it gives the Republicans "a big opportunity to wield against him, in contrast, humor, and wit, and even something approximating joy."

If the Obama camp believes this, there is a one-stop solution: ask Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to become Obama's chief speechwriter from here on out.

No rhetoric

Muted isn't the word Time's Joe Klein described it. Calling the speech "tough" he said it was "the perfect speech for a skeptical nation."

"It wasn't filled with lofty rhetoric or grand cadences. It did not induce tears or euphoria. It didn't have the forced, kitschy call and response tropes — "and that's the change we need!" — that defaced nearly every other major speech at this convention."

Instead, writes Klein, the speech was "lean, efficient, practical and very very tough."

Yes rhetoric

It leads one to wonder if Klein and the San Diego Union-Tribune's George Condron saw the same speech. Condron called it "rhetorically dazzling." He did capture the significance of the speech nicely.

"...this speech will stand as one of the pivotal moments in American history and race relations, right alongside Rosa Parks' refusal to surrender her bus seat in Montgomery, the passage of the Voting Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was given 45 years ago to the day of Obama's acceptance speech."

History

The Washington Post's Kevin Merida discusses the historical significance:

"Forty-five years ago, many of those who jammed the Mall in Washington to hear a young Baptist preacher exhort the nation to be better were just trying to get the foot off their necks, win the right to vote, stay at a highway motel, eat at a decent diner. They were trying to send injustice packing. Not elect a black man president. Most had not yet envisioned that.

"But imaginations have expanded this campaign season, soaring beyond Invesco Field, where Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party's nomination Thursday night, becoming the first African American to stand before his nation and ask for its November vote."

Speech: great. Backdrop: hilarious

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