National Review editorializes on the speech: “Narcissism, too, is a constant companion. The opening of the speech, and the end, invited us to regard Obama as the embodiment of the nation. But it is not the country’s future that has suddenly come under doubt. It is his administration’s. It is not the country’s spirit that is in danger of breaking. It is contemporary liberalism’s.”
Over at my Washington Post discussion board, I argue that the speech won’t accomplish anything for Obama politically.