My reactions ebbed a bit as the speech wore on. I liked it when he said what a rotten situation he inherited and left no doubts as to who left it to him. I also liked it when he said words to the effect that Democrats in Congress need to pass laws not "head for the hills." And when he chastised Republicans for knee jerk obstructionism (all while they uniformly sat on their hands - even when he talked about tax cuts!).
I thought Lieberman looked like he smelled a skunk for half the time they showed him.
I LOVED that Obama did not do the stupid little gimmick of pointing to Tiny Tim or Sergeant York or Officer Friendly or whoever up in the gallery to illustrate some policy point.
I thought the last ten minutes or so, came off as begging for understanding and I didn't like it. At the point he had clearly lost his audience too. There were looks of stunned disbelief and shaking heads and no responses at all. It was a little sad to hear his hands thudding on the podium as he waited for reactions.
He mentioned health care reform and (belatedly) called on Congress to get it passed but he fell short of telling them how.
But the take away line of "I won't quit" was good.
What did you all think?
3 comments:
If the purpose of the speech was to numb, somewhat, the grip of despair on President Obama's base, it worked. I felt marginally better afterward. The vow not to quit suggested that, perhaps, he isn't really quitting (like it seems).
Yes, I was glad of no human props. I was also happy the Republicans got their marching orders not to boo or shout back. But it was almost too bad - more of their natural bad manners would be good for the Dems.
If the purpose of the speech was to numb, somewhat, the grip of despair on President Obama's base, it worked. I felt marginally better afterward. The vow not to quit suggested that, perhaps, he isn't really quitting (like it seems).
Yes, I was glad of no human props. I was also happy the Republicans got their marching orders not to boo or shout back. But it was almost too bad - more of their natural bad manners would be good for the Dems.
I have to say I'm puzzled that Obama said, "If you have a better plan for health care reform [that does all these things] I'd like to hear it." That's a good challenge if the problem is Republicans. But we all know the problem is now one of party unity.
He did call out the Senate leadership a bit when he said they had to pass laws and not "run for the hills." But I thought he should have said something more direct about that and perhaps said something about the need for compromise to get the reform process started.
The way he said it, it sounds like he thinks we are at the beginning of the legislative process not the end of it.
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