Walking the walk

MANIFESTO

It's impossible to say with certainty whether President Obama's speech on health care reform last night will have the intended impact. Will intra-party differences between Democrats be resolved? Will public attitudes shift back in the White House's direction? Did the speech help reframe the debate? We don't yet know.

We do know, however, that the president did exactly what he needed to do, and delivered what was probably the best speech of his presidency [no matter what Joe Wilson thought].

Steve Benen elucidates.