i thought it was a great speech. he may not have been as aggressive in his delivery as in his other campaign events, but i think it suited the tone and subject of the speech.

The kid's done. Well folks, it's been real. (Though anyone who quote's Faulkner can't be all bad)

Obama doesn't seem to have his A game today? Uh-oh, double-plus ungood.

This speech is not going to help Obama. Obama has appeal among whites to the extent that he appears to be just like them, except with black skin. Most whites cannot imagine themselves attending a church like the one Obama describes, so describing it is only going to damage the illusion that he is just like them.

He dropped the uncle references.

Now that we have turned the page on race perhaps we can also turn it on all those other nasty issues that were confronted in the 60s.

And when can we turn the page on all this gay stuff?

8am West Coast - 11 am East Coast - not looking like he wanted this widely watched live.

1st, too defensive.

2nd, white racism has been endemic and has had profound effects on the structure of American society that clearly he's not willing to talk about.

3rd, if we can't mention israel (or the us) as having contributed to the spread of islamist movements, we're fucked.

Now that we've gotten rid of Obama, bring on Hillary. We will trash her in the fall. Silly Dems

Nice Rummy impression in the first paragraph. Jeez, do almost miss the guy? Maybe...

Nice text of a speech. Aside from any controversy perceived or otherwise, I can't imagine that becoming less of a blank slate can be helping his candidacy.

If McCain wins in the fall I am going to be brutally pissed off at all the lefties who wasted their time trashing one of the Dems to elevate the other. Why? Three words: John Paul Stevens.

I must have heard a different speech from the above commenters, because I was blown away by what I heard. I thought it was superb.

6, i didn't think the entire thing was great, but i wasn't ready to across-the-board slam it as a waste.

I can't wait until Election night. It's going to be fun to watch the Dems on this board when Hillary gets trounced. hahaha

so what excactlly was untrue about what wright was saying?

do people honestly beleive that there are no huge gaps between the way blacks and whites are treated in this country?

so whites' support for senator obama was always based on some weak notion that blacks have already achieved equality and there is no need to speak of racism?

was their vote for senator obama a safe way to say, look im tolerant

weak.

he should have your support more instead of focusing on something he didnt say.

as the online mag root puts it:
"Most white people and the mainstream media tend to be horrified (in a titillating voyeuristic type of way), when they 'look under the hood' to see what's really on blacks folks' mind"

Thought it was a great speech (haven't heard the audio yet, though). But... I have to agree with @6 about the Israel thing. Drives me nuts when Israel is portrayed as somehow above the fray, with no responsibility for anything. His wording deinitely rubbed me the wrong way.

The speech was amazing. I watched it all. It was a nuanced and decent speech about race issues in this nation. Read the whole thing. There was nothing defensive about it. In fact, it was extremely insightful and showed real empathy with ALL Americans and not just African Americans. Read before you comment, folks.

Good speech. He always gives good speechs. And I agree with what he said. And I'm happy he didn't throw his friend under the bus. But I come from the middle of the country in the middle of Chicago and I can think what most of the white people I grew up with
are thinking. They are thinking "Good man, but are these really things he believes or things he had to say?" and " will race become more divisive if he is nominated?" I'm not sure these people are willing to take those chances. There are already enough problems without inflaming racial divisions. And though I wish he would help, and I believe he would, I'm not sure these people will believe that.

@13

You are quite possibly a psycopath. You might want to have that checked out the next time you bring your "beard" in to the doctor's because she "fell down the stairs again."

Good luck with being awesome. I see that's working out really nicely for you.

Does anyone have a link to the whole speech on audio or video and not just the snippets having to do with Wright?

The best stuff came at the end, when he went back to casting the election as a choice between the standard bullshit or his highbrow politics. The country gets the president we deserve, and if we all think that Ferraro's comments and Wright's beliefs are what's really important in this election then by all means let's have another ugly fight between Clintons and Republicans.

Well, if they're focusing on his Christian pastor, at least they might give up on trying to pin him as a Muslim.

And at least he isn't ignoring the issue the way Kerry did with the swiftboaters.

i don't want to know what wright said that obama disagrees with. i want to know what he AGREES with.

cuz i agreed with all of it except the part where he thinks there's a God.

obama's going to remain vague & dodge every controversial opinion until he's elected (witness his dodge on lowering the drinking age back to 18). good for him. its a razor's edge he has to walk.

@11, I feel the same way. I got choked up in the car listening to it this morning on my way to work. I can't remember a candidate so eloquent, humble and inspiring (I'm 40, so the first President I remember is Nixon).

I thought it was a great speech, one that proves he's not afraid to talk about issues that other politicians like to sweep under the rug or secretly milk.

I hope it helps him. However, as you can see from certain comments above, closed-minded people are already dismissing the whole thing outright. It's like they wrote their responses yesterday and just waited for the entry to appear so they could post it.

Once again we see how prescient Ferraro was about how easy it is to run for president if you're black. Think how much more would be required of a white candidate who knew someone racist. Just a major focused speech? I don't think so. I mean, appearing at Bob Jones University or praising Pat Robertson would basically be the end of any white politician.

@25 - Yeah, I'm sure the last couple of weeks have been a BREEZE for him.

"Appearing at Bob Jones University or praising Pat Robertson would basically be the end of any white politician." Just ask George W. Bush and John McCain.

#25: I disagree. It would be the end of any white Democratic politician, but it certainly has not been the end of white Republican politicians. They disown statements from the Radical Right without disowning the person all the time. Pat Robertson still gets a good seat at the GOP Convention every year.

Nope. He's done. It's over. Pack your bags and go home.

This speech did nothing to answer resolve the incongruities between what Obama says he believes on the stump, and what he implicitly endorses in that church.

I cannot imagine retaining a membership in a church with a crazy pastor. Even if he/she is just crazy some of the time. Just doesn't wash. It smacks of bad judgement or political opportunism, which are the two characterological issues he is running against.

And that doesn't even get to the latent and not-so-latent racism this speech will foment...

Stick a fork in him.

"Damage control" it isn't. Josh's earlier post about this being an opportunity to restate Obama's core message was right on.

The man is sincere. Cynics say this will bury him but there is a chance the voters will get behind this message.

Way more class the Clinton I 's "sista soulja moement"

people seem to be much more interested in what his pastor has said about race relations than what obama himself has said. this is such a silly diversion. it may very well be the end for him, but it shouldn't be.

Seemed a little low energy, but otherwise a very good speech. B+. Referring to Wright's views as "profoundly distorted"- well put and a solid rejection of his views.

I think this will work a lot better than the "let's move beyond identity politics" message yesterday.

Still think Clinton should be our nominee, though.

He's done. He's done. It's over it's over. Give up. Please give up. Please? Come on, people, Obama is so over. Really. It's over. Really really over. Infinity? Anybody?

Yep. Keep saying that if it makes you feel better.

excellent speech.

when ferraro made her comments, i thought it was the end for obama. he never focused on race. it doesn't matter if america is more racist or sexist -- if the dem nomination were about that it would be much to clinton's advantage. this is because there are more women that can relate to the sexism against clinton then there are african americans who can relate to the racism against obama.

not only that, but talk about sexism and talk about racism scares a large number of people. but especially racism. look on this board! in this thread! people think having a bigoted pastor is the end of the obama campaign (maybe not racist if he doesn't have the power to discriminate). the focus on race would seem to be a huge liability.

and i wondered how obama would "spin" this one. what could he possibly do?

but he didn't have to spin anything -- which is one of the things that makes him and his campaign so great and so unique. he just says what he thinks, and it sounds right. he talks about race in a way that most people are comfortable hearing. acknowledging a problem without dwelling on it for too long before moving on to what's important.

brilliant.

fluteprof @ 29: Can you imagine being a member of any church? If you grow up in the church and are committed to it, sometimes you get a crazy pastor. You stay because it's your congregation, your family, your core beliefs. I've certainly had pastors I don't agree with on all points. Obama has explained why he stayed in the church, and it was not for opportunistic reasons, but exactly the opposite. It would have been very politically convenient for him to throw his pastor under the bus.

This reminds me of all the people who said they would move to Canada if such-and-such happened. Well, who's stopping them? If they haven't moved, have they "implicitly" agreed with the country's decision to invade and occupy Iraq?

@25, so funny! Man, yeah, that Bob Jones speech was the kiss of death for Governor George Bush's candidacy. Robertson's comments about assassinating Hugo Chavez or the country bringing 9/11 on itself with its wickedness sure hurt his friend President Bush.

McCain kicking off his campaign at Bob Jones sure is hurting him, as well. Poor, doomed white men.

Top AP Headline right now: "Obama confronts racial division in US"

Sorry haters, looks like the mainstream press might spin this in Obama's favor

@18. Now, now, no feeding the trolls. While it might seem cruel since they seem so hungry, if we feed them now we'll end up with a larger population than we can support, and while it's hard we must instead allow nature to take it's course.

Oh and this speech? This is why I want this man to be my president. Sour grapes and doubts aside, I think this speech has the potential has the capacity to turn the closest to successful smear against his campaign as an opportunity to STRENGTHEN his message of unity and the broadness of his appeal. But, we shall see.

@37. no spin necessary. this is what people needed to hear.

@35 - Good point. Back in the day when I was a churchmember I remember disagreeing with the pastor on lots of things, particularly his political opinions. However, that was balanced by friendships, beliefs that we did have in common, and the sense of community there. Obama's disagreement with his own pastor's opinions on certain subjects is nothing out of the ordinary.

@26-@28, @36... mea culpa, I know sarcasm doesn't work on the internet, I shouldn't have tried. I think the opposite, it's bullshit that he's required to defend himself against some crazy stuff said by his black friend. It's a bullshit hoop for him to jump through, but I guess that's politics.

daniel @41, I figured you were joking, but you know, just in case...

I just think it's interesting how presidential he looked. When I look at the pictures on CNN and NYT he just looks so comfortable and presidential there.

Full video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU

Sarcasm can work on the Internet.

I'm always sarcastic. Except for when I'm being sardonic. Unless of course, I'm being Zardoz.

Kneel!--kneel before Zardoz!

I thought this was a great speech, delivered just right for the circumstances. It reconfirmed that Obama is exactly the person we need as president at this moment in history.

I respect Clinton supporters like Big Sven who are honest enough to give him the credit he deserves. As for the haters, well, there are always going to be some of those, and they're going to be awfully miffed when Obama wins the November election. Maybe some will come around after that; the rest were never going to.

The whole text of the speech is online at the Washington Post, FWIW.

It's on the NY Times, too. Full text and video.

RE: the comments of his pastor. Perhaps they were more incendiary than they should have been, but what he says is true. Despite progress being made along racial divides, discrimination is alive and well in America (just look at the history of our "War on Drugs" for starters). I don't blame black people for being fed up and pissed off. Not for one minute.

Callie@48-

RE: the comments of his pastor... what he says is true.

Really?!? The government created AIDS to kill black people? Mbeki was right?

Sometimes my government makes me so angry.