Obama on Warpath Pleases, Worries Pundits

It was the right speech ... the speech Dem had to give ... a mashup of speeches ...
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 29, 2008 1:39 PM CDT
Obama on Warpath Pleases, Worries Pundits
Barack Obama gives a thumbs-up after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last night.   (AP Photo)

The chattering class saw strength—even Rovian aggression—in Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, for better or worse. A sampling of what observers are saying:

  • The Democratic nominee managed to be about voters, not himself, magnificently deflecting John McCain’s entire “celebrity” narrative, Michael Tomasky writes in the Guardian.
  • This speech is exactly what Democrats have been calling for: a bare-knuckled attack on McCain, challenging the Republican "not to stoop to questioning his motives," Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post.

  • "If the Rove Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check," writes Andrew Sullivan for the Atlantic. Sullivan calls Obama's speech a "transformational moment,"  forcefully rebutting every McCain attack while giving national security back to the Democrats. 
  • But that attack seemed at odds with the second half of the speech, wherein Obama called for a post-partisan Washington, John Harris and Jim Vandehei note on Politico: “It's hard to practice new politics and old at the very same time.”
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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