Obama has taken some hits recently following comments from his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.  You’ve probably heard Wright’s speech…pretty extreme, right?  Definitely not great campaign material.

So how does Obama respond?  He goes national with a nearly 40 minute speech on race and politics.

I like what he did here.  While Hillary issued only a few comments following similarly controversial words from her campaign member Geraldine Ferraro, Obama turned a potentially devastating event into what was really a nationally televised campaign speech.

It was a strong move that plays to Obama’s strengths.  Why try to bury something that really will just fester?  Obama confronted critics with a  headline-grabbing speech, in classic Obama style.

While the underlying message of this speech was essentially the same as many of his others - unity, change, etc. - Obama really did a good job of making this speech personal.  He addressed race in terms of his own family life, while also doing the whole ‘change’ shtick.

It’s funny, when you read the text of the speech Obama does seem pretty naive.  But when you watch him say it, it’s inspiring.  Granted, I don’t know a lot about politics…but shit, it seems presidential.

Here you go:

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