It has been interesting to hear the responses to Obama’s speech on Tuesday night. The opinion polls following the speech were humorous. They asked people to give their opinion about how good of a job Obama is doing. They also asked people if his speech changed their opinion on this matter. Can we really tell anything at this point? Yes, he has made several moves but only time will tell what kind of impact these decisions will have on our country.

As always, Obama put his gift of speaking on display. For me, Obama is a guy you want to like no matter what you think about his policies because he comes across very genuine and sincere. As I have said in the past, I have some real concerns about his policies. However, we need to remember that Obama deserves our respect as our country’s leader regardless. And as Christians, we should humbly submit to those people who God has put in leadership positions over us. If we have disagreement, we should be less militant and more thoughtful and respectful in our responses. It is a difficult task but one we should endeavor to take on.

So as far as speeches go, I think Obama had a nice delivery. Some pundits have called it ambitious. I can certainly see that element with the statemens he made about taking swift action on several matters. However, I think it is a speech we expected to hear. It’s not too drastically different from most presidential speeches. Yes, we are facing unique times so the content of the speech will reflect the context.  Obama’s goal was to give people hope in the midst of a suffering economy becaue the fears connected to the economy lead to other fears. Yet, we shouldn’t expect any other type of speech from a leader in such times. We would have heard a similar speech from McCain, Clinton, or Huckabee. So I don’t get too geeked or disheartened by such speeches. I think Obama accomplished his purpose and did it with his usual charm.

What do you think? How did Obama’s speech affect you? (Remember…be respectful and play nice.)