Stylistically, Obama struck a perfect balance a near-perfect balance between loftier flights of rhetoric and a focus on reality.
The focus on reality:
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term.
Throw in his riffs on Lincoln, including the direct quote:
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
Don’t you just know that he’s looking forward to returning to Springfield, Ill. Feb. 12, 2009?
Add the comment on his grandmother’s death, and you have a very poignant, poignant speech on the emotional side.
That said, back to the realism side — specifically, to the the “we” he spoke about again.
All those e-mail addresses he has? Will he use them as a cyber-bully pulpit? A Woodrow Wilson for the early 21st century?
I will agree with him on condemning cynicism. But, President-elect Obama, left-liberal skepticism will remain alive and well in this and a few other, albeit small for now, corners of the blogosphere and punditry.
Overall grade? A/A-minus.
The McCain speech? He touched on the historic occasion with his Booker T. Washington reference, referenced Obama’s family loss, and indicated his willingness to help in any way.
With the allowance of having to wait for hindsight to see how much help he offers, McCain’s speech gets a solid B/B-plus.
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