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Hillary Clinton Reaction:

I did not have a chance to see or to read yet Sen. Obama’s speech. But I’m very glad that he gave it. It’s an important topic. Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history, and they are complicated in this primary campaign.

There have been detours and pitfalls along the way. But we should remember that this is an historic moment for the Democratic Party, and for our country. We will be nominating the first African-American or woman for the Presidency of the United States, and that is something that all Americans can and should celebrate.

The New York Times’ editorial (”Mr. Obama’s Profile In Courage”):
Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better.

Kathryne Jean Lopez National Review

Again, is a good one that will get super-delegates. But the contention that if you believe “We the People,” you have to vote for Barack Obama, is, of course, untrue and even offensive. That a man named Barack Obama can run for president is a wonderful thing, yes, but it doesn’t make him qualified to be president.

There’s also this that bothers me: His loyalty to Wright seems to run a little too deep. As a friend e-mailed me during the speech: “I always thought what created a controversy was that statements made or positions held might be true, notwithstanding that they were unpopular and even bracing. In that sense, Wright’s statements that Obama heard were crank statements, not controversial statements, no matter how hard he tries to sugarcoat.”

Then, near the end of the speech, he was doing it again: “The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society.” That was never my problem, senator. My problem is he spoke as if he hates America, as if he believes there’s something fundamentally wrong with the greatest nation on earth. You can talk about racism, senator. But what how do you think about America? Is it what we hear from Mrs. Obama and the Obamas’ pastor? How imperfect do you believe our union to be? Coming away from his speech, I’m a little worried that Barack Obama believes America is great as long as she elects him president.

Roland Martin, CNN:The Rev. Wright Controversy is now secondary. What Obama did was challenge America at its core.

He said, “America, the issue is not just the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, its also those of you who live in rural America, inner city, black, white, hispanic, Asian…” The thing we’ve been afraid of in America is taking that mirror and putting it in front of our own face.

Its easy for us to condemn the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but its more difficult for us to look at ourselves…

W.E.B. Du Bois said the problem in the 20th century for America is a race problem. What Obama just said is we need to make sure the problem of the 21st century is not a race problem.

Michael Munger, Political Science Professor, Duke University

While it may convince some, there will inevitably be people out there who will not be able to disentangle Obama’s words from Rev. Wright’s. The Internet is a powerful thing, and between Rev. Wright’s words, the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, and the picture of Obama in “Muslim-looking” apparel, there will be people all over the country, not just in Pennsylvania, that will see and hear those few things and run with them. No damage control can change those people’s minds.

Juan Perez, HighbridNation.com (that’s me):

Great speech…honestly I thought it was a little long. I think that’s because, I like a lot of Americans have gotten burned out by the political back and forth during the course of this long arduous process. He makes great points though. His comments about his white grandmother will be the focus of many critics but it was blunt, concise and hit the nail on the head. More a statement of fact than political debate. You’d be hard pressed to argue against much of what he said.