Very rarely would you expect a piece by Peggy Noonan to be flattering to Democrats. After all, she is former speechwriter to Ronald Reagan, and a strong conservative.
Today, in the Wall Street Journal, one of the most conservative mainline editorial pages in the country, Peggy Noonan gives Barack Obama a tribute.
She extolls the virtues of a speech starting even with the tiitle of her column:
"The thinking man's speech"
Perhaps this is a title that wouldnt be written by a left leaning editorialist as it is gender specific. But, the phrase is powerful. It engenders within us an image of someone who finds beauty in this speech and finds room for conversation, thought, and more.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Noonan starts her column powerfully:
I thought Barack Obama's speech was strong, thoughtful and important. Rather beautifully, it was a speech to think to, not clap to. It was clear that's what he wanted, and this is rare.
Clearly, SHE has PERSONALLY been touched by this speech. Think about THAT for a moment. If Barack Obama can reach Peggy Noonan, speechwriter for Ronald Reagan so much so, that she writes an effusive column praising him, what else can Barack Obama accomplish in the aim of uniting our country?
She talks about how it CHANGED the DISCUSSION in the MEDIA:
They started talking, pundits left and right, black and white, about what they'd experienced of race in America. It was kind of wonderful. I thought, Go, America, go, go.
GO AMERICA! GO! WHat a powerful beautiful thought in itself. How patriotic! Yes, patriotic it is. barack Obama has made us proud to be Americans.
Finally, she peaks of WHITE RESENTMENT and how Obama addresses the issue:
"So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town," when they hear of someone receiving preferences they never received, and "when they're told their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced," they feel anger too.
This is all, simply, true. And we are not used to political figures being frank, in this way, in public. For this Mr. Obama deserves deep credit.
So not only does Obama deserve credit, he DESERVES DEEP CREDIT
She goes on to point out its depth:
The speech assumed the audience was intelligent. This was a compliment, and I suspect was received as a gift. It also assumed many in the audience were educated. I was grateful for this, as the educated are not much addressed in American politics
.
She is not as impressed by Hillary Clinton and John McCain who seem to play to soundbites like typical politicians.
If Hillary or John McCain said something interesting, they'd get more than an eight-second cut too. But it works only if you don't write an applause-line speech. It works only if you write a thinking speech.
They should try it.
So try saying something interesting , Hillary or John! Just great, calling them out as standard politicians with glib soundbites is unusual for a partisan commentator.
But, Ms. Noonan IS writing in the Wall Street Journal after all. So it is no surprise she ends her column by attacking Obama for not understanding how GOOD the past 25 years have actyually been for America. That the picture of suffering he paints is not the America she and millions of others have experienced these past several decades.
Ms. noonan thinks the speech will be one for the history books, and we all know she is not alone. What is striking is that she is rooting for the man:
My sense: The speech will be labeled by history as the speech that saved a candidacy or the speech that helped do it in. I hope the former.
She is taken by him. When will you donate to the campaign, Peggy?
We welcome all comers.
Can we say Obamican?