Holy Cow! Obama's Speech Was Really AWFUL!

Indiana: Balloq's medallion only had writing on one side? You sure about that?
Sallah: Positive!
Indiana: Balloq's staff is too long
Indiana, Sallah: They're digging in the wrong place!

-Raiders of the Lost Ark

Last night's acceptance speech by Barack Obama was just like that scene from Raiders of The Lost Ark , when Sallah and Indy turn to each other and joyfully say together "They're digging in the wrong place!" Although it wasn't an American archeologist and his Egyptian friend...it was a political blogger and his conservative campaign worker daughter.

We were both waiting for last nights speech with a bit of trepidation.  After President Obama's skill reputation as a great orator was built on his convention speeches in 2004 and 2008.  Granted he has rarely shown the same skills since his inauguration, but this was probably the biggest night of his political career we were worried the President would rise to the occasion

But halfway into Obama's speech my daughter to me and said, "there are no new ideas in this speech" And I said, "I thought so too but are you sure about that?"  We paused for a moment and smiled, and said in unison "this speech really sucks."

And it was true Barak Obama spoke beautify last night, but the content of the speech was awful, pulling together Idea's from older speeches and mixed them up with jabs at his opposition ticket

Our reaction to the speech was not unusual.  In fact Obama's performance last night was universally panned from both sides of the aisle.

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “A Lot Of Stuff We’ve Heard Before.” CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “Going on to the next chapter right now, Jessica Yellin, our Chief White House Correspondent. You sat with me. We listened together. I thought there would be more specifics. There were a lot of goals expressed, generalities, a lot of stuff we’ve heard before. I didn't hear any specific new initiative that the President unveiled.” (CNN, 9/6/12)

• CBS’ Bob Schieffer: “It Just Didn't Have That Spark.” SCHIEFFER: “But this as not the kind of speech that Bill Clinton made last night. It just didn't have that spark.” (CBS, 9/6/12)

• NBC’s Savannah Guthrie: “An Excitement Gap Between The President’s Speech And Bill Clinton’s Last Night.” WILLIAMS: “Savannah, final question. Is there an excitement gap between here and Tampa?” GUTHRIE: “Well, I think some people who have been at both conventions think there was something of an excitement gap. There may have been an excitement gap between the President's speech and Bill Clinton's last night.” (NBC’s “NBC News Live,” 9/6/12)

• CNN’s Brianna Keilar: “Don't Think I'm Going Out On A Limb To Say Clinton Was Wayyyyyyy Better Than Obama.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

• Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo: “Lacked Clinton's Magic.” “When Obama built to a crescendo, the cheers exploded. A workman-like speech for a master speaker, but it lacked Clinton's magic” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

• NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell: “Wasn't A Whole Lot Of New Policy…” “Brian, this was all about getting them excited. There wasn't a whole lot of new policy except on education, but certainly this was a way to rally the troops.” (NBC, 9/6/12)

• CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “A State Of The Union, Almost, In Terms Of Kind Of Going Down A Checklist…” “Although, it certainly wasn't a speech full of soaring rhetoric like some of his speeches four years ago. Some of it comparing it sort of to a State Of The Union, almost, in terms of kind of going down a checklist.” (CNN, 9/6/12)

• ABC News’ Rick Klein: “Strange Silence Prevailing In The Arena.” “Almost no confetti at

• The Washington Post’s “The Fix”: “Certainly Not Among The Best He Has Ever Delivered…” “One person you won’t see in winners and losers is President Obama. His speech was certainly not among the best he has ever delivered — the #1 seed in those rankings is his 2007 Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner address — and, at times, it felt more like a State of the Union address rather than a convention acceptance speech.” (The Washington Post, 9/6/12)

• The Associated Press: “Obama Urged Voters To Stay Patient Even Though His Economic Policies Have Failed To Fully Fix The American Economy.” “Obama urged voters to stay patient even though his economic policies have failed to fully fix the American economy. Once the candidate of hope, Obama's message was hang in there.” (The Associated Press, 9/6/12)

• Politico: “Obama Offered The Time Warner Cable Arena Crowd Little In New Proposals…” “Accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for re-election, Obama offered the Time Warner Cable Arena crowd little in new proposals, but reinforced the notion that his agenda to rebuild the economy needs only more time to reach success.” (Politico, 9/6/12

• National Journal: “Why Obama's Speech Fell Short” (National Journal, 9/6/12)

• BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith: “Isn't His Most Soaring Speech” “This isn't his most soaring speech, but Obama also doesn't feel totally present in reading/delivering it.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

• University Of Virginia’s Larry Sabato: “It Was Purgatorial.” “I see the usual suspects (love you all) are either praising Obama's talk to high heaven, or damning it to hell. No, it was purgatorial.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

• Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Salena Zito: “Lack Of Jobs Mention In The Speech Is Telling…” (Twitter.com, 9/6/1

• The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein: “The Jobs Crisis Was Notably Absent From The Speech…” “This might be politically smart, but the jobs crisis was notably absent from the speech, as was the American Jobs Act.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

What does this all mean?  With 60 days left in the campaign, neither party will have an advantage coming out of the conventions. The GOP convention turned Romney int a human being, but didn't do much more, the DNC convention went from 2008's Yes We Can, to 2012's "Hang out, maybe we can do this.)  Starting today both candidates will be ramping up their adverting level but don't expect a big movement of voters one way or the other, at least until the early October first debate.  Some prognosticators are saying that the election might stay this tight until Nov. 6., with a final result so close that the 2000 election will seem like a landslide.