Michael Gerson finds much to criticize in it. For example:
"In substance, Barack Obama's convention speech could easily have been given by Al Gore or John Kerry -- and, in various forms, was given by Kerry and Gore. It was all in there: the lunchbox economic populism -- based on the assumption that most Americans are filling their lunchboxes with scraps from dumpsters. The attacks on corporations, millionaires and other sinister job creators. The touching faith in the power of diplomacy....And some of the attacks [on John McCain] were simply unfair. Is it really credible to blame McCain for a tripling of oil imports during his time as senator? What does it mean that McCain "won't even follow (bin Laden) to the cave where he lives"? That McCain is cowardly? That he knows where bin Laden hides, and won't tell the rest of us? That he doesn't believe in fighting al-Qaeda?"
I think that's what's troubling about Obama's speech. I knew I would disagree with many of his policy prescriptions. But I still thought there'd be something new about the speech, that he'd really try to come off sounding and looking like someone new. But when you boil the speech down, there was nothing all that "change"-ish about it. He sounded like, well, a regular Democrat.
