Even Fox News Loved Obama’s Tucson Memorial Speech Last Night

President draws near-universal media praise in honoring Arizona shooting victims

President Obama’s speech at the Tucson Memorial on Wednesday drew rave reviews from both sides of the political-and-media aisle — from the New York Times (no surprise) to (shocker) Fox News.

It's something President Obama hasn’t gotten in awhile: cheers — not from a crowd in a college arena, like he did last night (a setting that drew more than a few jeers) — but from near-universal praise from media critics.

Below, a roundup.

Nate Silver, New York Times: "President Obama’s speech in Tucson tonight seems to have won nearly universal praise. I suspect it will be remembered as one of his best moments, almost regardless of what else takes place during the remainder of his presidency."

Glenn Beck, Fox News: “Last night, the president said what he should have said on Saturday. A leader says that on Day 1. But it is truly better late than never. This is probably the best speech he has ever given, and with all sincerity, thank you Mr. President, for becoming the president of the United States of America last night.”

John Podhoretz, New York Post: "Never before in the annals of national moments of mourning have the words spoken been so wildly mismatched by the spirit in which they were received. The sentences and paragraphs of President Obama's speech last night were beautiful and moving and powerful. But for the most part they didn't quite transcend the wildly inappropriate setting in which he delivered them."

James Fallows, The Atlantic: "The standard comparisons of the past four days have been to Ronald Reagan after the Challenger disaster and Bill Clinton after Oklahoma City. Tonight's speech matched those as a demonstration of "head of state" presence, and far exceeded them as oratory — while being completely different in tone and nature. They, in retrospect, were mainly — and effectively — designed to note tragic loss. Obama turned this into a celebration — of the people who were killed, of the values they lived by, and of the way their example could bring out the better in all of us and in our country.

That is to Obama's imaginative credit. … A performance to remember — this will be, along with his 2004 Convention speech and his March, 2008 "meaning of race" speech in Philadelphia, one of the speeches he is lastingly known for — and to add to the list of daunting political/oratorical challenges Obama has not merely met but mastered."

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post:

"It was one of his better moments because it avoided politics. Now, he did stray into campaign shouting mode when he said, 'I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this — she knows we're here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.' And similarly when he celebrated the citizen heroes of the day, he likewise did the staccato shout bit. Still, it was in celebration of others, not him."

Chuck Todd, MSNBC:

"The past two years have made the 2004 convention speech that helped launch Barack Obama’s national profile — 'There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America” — seem like an eternity ago. Health care. “You lie.' The 2010 midterm campaign. And most recently, the partisan back-and-forth over Saturday’s shooting in Arizona. But in an address that was the Obama he sold himself as during the '08 campaign (hopeful, uplifting, focused on Americans’ better angels), the president last night recaptured that 2004 voice as he honored the dead, the wounded, and the heroes in Saturday’s shooting. 'At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized … it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds,' Obama said. He later added, 'If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate — as it should — let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.'"

And more praise from Fox News, via Business Insider:

Brit Hume: “It wasn’t a memorial, it was more like a pep rally, but I think that is precisely what the people of this region needed and wanted.”

Chris Wallace: “It was a very powerful speech, the most powerful moment was when he talked about Gabby opening her eyes.”

Charles Krauthammer: “He did his speech in a very skillfully, successful way.”

[Images via NYTimes.com, Newseum.org]

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