Conservative bloggers’ mixed reaction to speech

The conservative blogosphere seems pretty mixed in its reaction to Obama’s Cairo speech. Of course, many bloggers have blasted the speech as naive and apologetic. But much more so than usual, a number of conservatives are speaking up in Obama’s defense.

Dan Spencer at Red State loved it:

Credit where credit is due. Obama, as I suggested he do a year ago, finally confronted his, and our Muslim issue.

The first 15 minutes of President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world was what I wanted to hear from candidate Obama a year ago. Had he given that portion of his speech during the presidential campaign much of the irrational fear of Obama as some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate would have been relieved.

I found it Ironic that when Obama turned to democracy, religious freedom and women’s rights, the speech was reminiscent of the remarkable series of speeches President Bush gave about the advance of freedom.

This was one of President Obama’s more important speeches and he rose to the occasion and delivered a fine speech. There are numerous things about Obama’s speech to the Muslim world I could criticize, but I will save that for another article.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air called the speech “surprisingly good”:

Did it work? Schneider says it only received light applause at the end, so perhaps Obama told a few too many hard truths for Egyptian tastes–which is why we questioned that decision. On the whole, though, Obama defended American positions on Israel and Afghanistan with more strength than he does here at home.

Of course, the big question will be whether this does anything at all for our standing in the Muslim world. Frankly, I doubt it; this may wind up eroding Obama’s standing instead. Still, a much better effort than I’d feared.

Max Boot at Commentary:

Having just read Obama’s Cairo speech, my reaction is: Not bad. It could have been better. But it also could have been a lot worse.

For dissenting views, see Erick Erickson, Ira Stoll, and Rachel Abrams, among others. For the most part, the speech is getting much better reviews by conservatives than Obama’s previous overseas ventures.