USA Today has a collection of reactions by lawmakers and candidates from both parties.
The Corner has the video of John Edwards response.
The Washington Posthas the text of the Democrats’ response, by Sen. Jack Reed from Rhode Island.
Instapundit: “So I watched the speech. It was okay — an average performance for Bush, not especially good or bad — but I’m not sure it really added much, post-Petraeus. It will, however, probably pull a response from MoveOn, which based on this week’s experience can only help the Bush Administration … Okay, I watched the Democratic response from Sen. Jack Reed, which seemed calculated to make Bush’s speech seem lively by comparison.”
Riehl World View: “Without jumping down into the political and numerical back and forth of our future in Iraq just now, can anyone name one instance in history where a Nation and its military came away stronger and more secure after a humiliating, non-strategic retreat? I can’t think of one. And that is precisely the myth the Democrats are selling.”
The Moderate Voice: “A speech that some anaylsts on cable television said Republicans wished he would not have given at all.”
Hot Air has some video highlights and comments.
Brilliant at Breakfast: “5700 Carrots on a Stick. That’s about what I’d call Bush’s speech tonight.”
Right Wing Nut House: “It would help if the President would give us the castor oil with the honey when he talks about Iraq. He never has.”
Michael van der Galien: “Had this been 2003, last night’s George Bush’s speech would have gone down with the then so omnipresent rounds of applause and praise for the president’s determined stance … Of course, we are now more than four-and-a-half years into this project and despite the initial successes that Petraeus has delivered to Congress this week, the speech failed to address what most listeners wanted to hear.”
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