Commenteria: The Obama Speech

USA Today:

Even more impressive for me, is that after 8 years with a slack-jawed dufus in the Whitehouse, we can look forward to not only a President that can string a 6 word sentence together without drooling on himself, but he can actually WRITE such an elequent speech.

Obama tried to use the ol' bait-and-switch in his speech - tried to turn the spotlight on race relations instead of on his own lousy judgement and the fact that he's been proven a liar. Nice try, bud, but this issue isn't going away, and all the pretty words in the world won't make it so.

Barack used his grandmother as an example that he views Wright more as family than anything. Just as he wouldn't denounce his very own grandmother, he feels he can't denounce his pastor as well. Stay off the Fox News soapbox a little.


Guardian UK

If people would take the time to read Barack Obama's speech or even better read his book, they would see that he could never and would never agree with the alarming statements reverand Wright made in his sermons. In fact if you look in the videos of Reverand Wright you see that the majority of the people in the pews don't agree with the statements either.

I'm not American so this just conjecture on my part but I would guess that Obama has been hurt badly in PA by this kerfuffle for three reasons:
1) Jeremiah Wright's comments about 9/11 have upset a lot of people, given that Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.
2) Wright's comments have raised questions about Obama's credibility as a potential CinC.
3) Obama has already had problems with the perception that he is a candidate more in tune with upscale, rather than 'blue collar', voters. Wright's comments attacking the US will only reinforce the 'values gap'.

Here in the UK, that speech could never have been made. While racism certainly exists here, it is never acknowledged in the way that Barack Obama just did in his speech. I am heartened by seeing such an honest and heartfelt examination of the issue, and have never been as proud of my country as I was today, watching from abroad.

Who was Obama talking to? Who was listening? Would any working class white person change their mind after listening to this speech? Would anyone who had decided that Obama has been tainted by Wright now be swayed to vote for him?