Real Clear Politics highlights some of the specific comments from the trio:
Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."
Matthews compared Obama to Carter.
Olbermann: "Nothing specific at all was said."
Matthews: "No direction."
Howard Fineman: "He wasn't specific enough."
Olbermann: "I don't think he aimed low, I don't think he aimed at all. It's startling."
Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a "commander-in-chief."
Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. "I'll barf if he does it one more time."
Matthews: "A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."
Matthews: "I don't sense executive command."
You can watch Obama's speech itself at YouTube, but I found it more like watching paint dry. Boring, uninspired, no real information offered and conservatives are not the only people criticizing this speech by Obama.
Negative reactions from the left have been surprising to say the least.
NewsHoggers:
Given the same choice I would still vote for Obama over John McCain, an angry old man who has never demonstrated any leadership qualities himself. Was there anyway to know Obama was not a leader? Maybe, but it's hard to identify a leader until they find themselves in a leadership position.
While I have disagreed with may Obama policies he demonstrated last night that his real flaw is a lack of leadership.
Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:
This is, by a long way, the most negative reaction I've ever had to an Obama speech. Even on Afghanistan, where I was dubious of his strategy and felt his address at West Point was technocratic and unconvincing, I thought his speech had at least a few redeeming features. But this one? There was just nothing there. I felt better about Obama's response to the spill before the speech than I do now.
Ezra Klein:
The optimistic take, at least for environmentalists, is that this is the language and approach Obama uses when he really means to legislate. The pessimistic take is that Obama shied away from clearly describing the problem, did not endorse specific legislation, did not set benchmarks, and chose poll-tested language rather than a sharper case that might persuade skeptics.
Taylor Marsh:
“Command and control” are not two words I’d take away from Pres. Obama’s speech tonight and that’s exactly what was needed to be conveyed."
Shakesville:
Were I a praying person, I'd be praying for a president who had a better goddamn plan than praying for shit to get better!
Those are just reactions from the left.
See more reactions from the left, right and down the middle at Memeorandum.
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