Let's Stick This Pin on the Constitution

It was the right speech ... the speech Dem had to give ... a mashup of speeches ...

(NEWSER) - 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.

Republicans say Dem is serving own purposes

(NEWSER) - John McCain’s inner circle tried a new line of attack against Barack Obama today, charging that the presumptive Democratic nominee and his entire party want to lose the Iraq war to serve their own political purposes. Said McCain’s top foreign policy hand, “Senator Obama seems to think losing a war will help him to win an election.” More»

In patriotism speech, Dem says no to devaluing service

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama today rejected surrogate Wesley Clark’s suggestion that being shot down in Vietnam didn’t qualify John McCain for the presidency, the LA Times reports. A rep said Obama “honors and respects” McCain’s service. In a speech in Independence, Mo., Obama said: “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” More»

McCain represents tradition that's changing

(NEWSER) - It's not just youth vs. age, Peggy Noonan writes of the general election contest that began in earnest this week, it's a battle of the Old America vs. the New America—"between the thing we were, and the thing we have been becoming for 40 years or so." The Old America McCain represents values patriotism, tradition, honor, character, stoicism, she writes. The New, Obama's America, values education, achievement, making bold decisions, breaking tradition. More»

Candidate lost message of patriotism, unity in wooing white working class

(NEWSER) - Give us our “one nation” Obama back, the New Republic editors demand: Barack has been "sapping the charisma from his campaign” to chase down the white working class, and now that Clinton is (all but) gone, it’s time to pivot back to pure patriotism. Trumpeting national unity was Obama’s “greatest political strength” earlier in the year, and suddenly his feelings about America have become a “liability.” More»