Hey, don't take my word for it. Here's a sampling of what's being said about President Obama's recent 54-minute "do over" speech in Ohio:
Representative Mark Critz (D-PA): “President Obama And Others In Washington Need To Realize That We Cannot Spend Our Way To Prosperity…” “President Obama and others in Washington need to realize that we cannot spend our way to prosperity and that to in order to create jobs, we need to address unfair trade deals that ship jobs overseas and enact policies that allow us to take advantage of our vast natural resources such as coal and natural gas in a safe and responsible manner which will lower energy costs and create jobs and approving the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a good first step.” (Reid Wilson, “With Friends Like These...,” National Journal, 6/14/12)
CNN’s Gloria Borger: “It Is A Leadership Question. They Don't Want A President Who Whines About What A Terrible Situation He’s In And Woe Is Me. They Want Somebody Who Can Lead Us Out Of It.” (CNN’s “John King USA,” 6/14/12)
CNN’s John King: “[President Obama] Said If I Haven't Turned This Around In Three Years, It’s A One-Term Proposition. Now He’s Essentially Saying It’s An Eight Year Proposition.” “It’s a very different framing from the bit we played last night, where in February 2009, again just weeks after taking office, he said if I haven't turned this around in three years, it’s a one-term proposition. Now he’s essentially saying it’s an eight year proposition.” (CNN’s “John King USA,” 6/14/12)
Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter: “One Of The Least Successful Speeches I’ve Seen Barack Obama Give In Several Years. It Was Long-Winded.” (MSNBC’s “News Nation,” 6/14/12)
Politico’s Glenn Thrush: “Sloppier, Less Fully Formed…” “Obama's speech was sloppier, less fully formed and far more serious (He wore a POTUS suit and stood in front of flags), as befits a man who has to figure out how to sell a second term in the midst of another mid-summer economic swoon. Analysts, like Jonathan Alter on MSNBC, complained that it was too long at 54 minutes and missed the mark thematically.” (Glenn Thrush, “Speech Analysis: Obama Eats His Peas,” Politico, 6/14/12)
Fox News’ Ed Henry: “No New Ideas Today…” HENRY: “No new ideas today either, which is why top Republicans say [President Obama’s] time is running out.” (Fox News’ “Special Report,” 6/14/12)
The New York Times’ Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal: “It Was Really Long (6,607 Words) And Dreary.” “Mr. Obama gave a major speech in Cleveland today, by which I mean it was really long (6,607 words) and dreary. … I have two questions. First, is it smart politics for Mr. Obama to paint his rival with the George W. Bush brush? … Second, will someone edit the president’s speeches?” (Andrew Rosenthal, “Painting Romney With The Bush Brush,” The New York Times, 6/14/12)
The Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky: “Rhetorically, The Speech Wasn't Powerful – Diluted By Length And Tropes We've Heard Before…” “Rhetorically, the speech wasn't powerful – diluted by length and tropes we've heard before (we're all in this together), which give the impression of a static campaign, a body that's stuck and not moving forward.” (Michael Tomasky, “Obama's Speech: Calling Drew Westen!,” The Daily Beast, 6/14/12)
The Washington Post’s Ed Rogers: “The President Had No New Fresh Content. What He Did Say Was Stale, Pedantic And Condescending.” “The president had no new fresh content. What he did say was stale, pedantic and condescending. The speech was long on Romney/Republican ruin and short on any credible Obama plan. Being for something is different than having a plan to achieve it. … As I've written before, I don't think Obama has much to say about the economy. Today's speech reaffirmed that view, even though it took him more than 50 minutes to say it. The speech was lacking in many ways, but had plenty of gall. There is no chance the president helped himself today.” (Ed Rogers, “The President's Speech To Nowhere,” The Washington Post’s The Insiders’, 6/14/12)
Mediaite’s Noah Rothman: “Obama’s Speech Was An Unmitigated Flop.” “Obama’s speech was an unmitigated flop. This would not matter so much if it wasn’t for days of breathless hype surrounding this speech. It was promoted as though it would be the singular moment that would demarcate a before and after in the 2012 campaign. But in the end, it was just another speech — and not even a good one.” (Noah Rothman, “MSNBC Panel’s Verdict On Obama Campaign Speech: It Stinks,” Mediaite, 6/14/12)
The Daily Beast’s Zachary Karabell: “Purely As A Political Phenomenon It Was Very Ineffective…” “When he went, sort of, away from offense and on to defense, ‘what we’ve done and what we’re going to do,’ it became unbelievably diffuse and, in some sense purely as a political phenomenon it was very ineffective in that respect because it very well characterized the opponents as ‘this is not going to work’ but it didn’t really give you the sense of what will.” (MSNBC’s “News Nation,” 6/14/12)
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer: “Obama Speech In Ohio Felt More Lecture Or Courtroom [Argument] Than Rally.” (Devin Dwyer, Twitter.com, 6/14/12)
New York Observer’s Hunter Walker: “All Of These Points Have Already Been Featured In The President’s Other Recent Speeches.” “All of these points have already been featured in the president’s other recent speeches. Between the pre-speech hype from the campaign, the lack of new material and the overall length of the speech reporters were clearly dissatisfied with end result.” (Hunter Walker, “President Obama’s Speech Gets A Thumbs Down From Political Press Corps,” New York Observer, 6/14/12)
The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: “There Is No Policy Initiative Driving [President Obama’s] Argument For Reelection.” “President Obama hyped his speech and then delivered a long, boring and cliché-ridden address. That tells us a few things. Most important, there is no policy initiative driving his argument for reelection.” (Jennifer Rubin, “Obama Speech: 54 Minutes To Say Nothing,” The Washington Post’s Right Turn, 6/14/12)
BuzzFeed’s Zeke Miller: “There Is Nothing New In This Speech.” (Zeke Miller, Twitter.com, 6/14/12)
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