Hendrik You're Not Alone

Hendrik Hertzberg wasn't blown away by Barack Obama's Iowa victory speech and neither was I.

While the nits we pick are different, Mr. Hertzberg is correct in his assertion that those of us who were not impressed were few and far between.

Something I didn't notice, Mr. Obama was using a teleprompter:

Obama was using a teleprompter, and he was reading his speech.

Now, as a onetime speechwriter myself, I have nothing against sticking to the text. When Obama accepts the Democratic nomination in Denver next August, for example, his words should be foolproof. I just thought that a late-night victory party after the Iowa caucus was the wrong time for a script, the right time for something more like spontaneity.