I just read through an embargoed transcript of the speech and my
guess is that the press will eat it up. Heavy on his personal
story, the black experience, and on his belief that we can still
overcome racial divisions by working together. He condemns Jeremiah
Wright's comments, and changes his story a bit by saying that yes,
he has been in church while Wright made controversial
comments--that ought to give him some wiggle room in case a video
emerges of him present while Wright says something crazy. But Obama
won't disown Wright, the man who introduced him to Christianity.
There are also some barbs directed at conservatives, and so my
guess is that the reaction to this speech will divide along
ideological lines. I don't think this will hurt him in the
Democratic primaries, and may even be turned to his advantage. But
it has entered the national consciousness and will be part of the
larger Obama narrative in the general election. More to come after
he delivers the speech.