The speech was long, thoughtful, insightful and fascinating.
It rejected Wright's words and ideas in stronger words than ever, but explained Obama's refusal to reject the man in the broader context of a unifier who could understand and begin to reconcile the destructive tendrils of both black and white anger in America. So, it absorbed Wright into the unifying Obama brand.
It also cast aside the pretense that the only issue was whether Obama heard particular sermons. He admitted that he was well aware of both the bad and good in Wright, and felt his devotion to the community outweighed his inflammatory words. That sounded more true than, 'I didn't know.'
That said, does it move the dial? Boiled down, he said what he's been saying, and most people won't have time to watch or read the whole speech, the sweep of his vision on race relations. The key is going to be soundbites. The one that Obama would like to air is probably this:
"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother, a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
"These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love."
That soundbite says: I'm a standup guy, and I won't desert my friend or my people. White ethnic men respect that. It says: Remember, I'm half-white, which is a good reminder right now. It says: There's white racism, too. Which every white person knows. And it says, I love America.
It's also personal, not intellectualized. He needs to let people know him again, so personal is good. If that soundbite is played again and again, he'll probably do as well as he can with this.