President Bush's speech last night "was more a defense of" his "policies and a review of successes" than it was "a blueprint of new details or initiatives," USA Today reports. The Chicago Tribune notes Sen. John Kerry issued a statement saying most of Bush's words "we've heard before."
Jeff Greenfield provided the best analysis of the speech: "What the president says, even with the bully pulpit, is way, way less important than what we're going to be seeing and, if over the next few months what the president tells us is going to happen, happens, that's when you're going to see a turnaround in public opinion. I don't think speeches no matter how well crafted can change how people perceive a story like this. Maybe it can change their minds about taxes or the environment or some domestic debate. On life and death and war and peace I'm really skeptical."
Reuters notes Bush "mispronounced Abu Ghraib each of the three times he mentioned it while announcing U.S. plans to tear down the infamous jail and replace it with a new facility." Nonetheless, the Washington Post says the pledge to destroy the prison "was the symbolic highlight of a speech."
The New York Daily News says thanks to "a smart copper/peach powder base" Bush's scrapes and bruises from his weekend bicycle accident "had vanished for the evening speech."
