Rave reviews for First Lady Michelle Obama

   By Joan McCarter on Wed Sep 05, 2012

Media critic Howard Kurtz called it a "resounding triumph." Conservative John Podhoretz said it was a "total knockout." Michelle Obama's speech at last night's DNC set a very high bar for every speaker who follows her.

Plenty of conservatives were forced to admit that it was a great speech.

“I thought as a political speech it was excellent and did nearly everything she needed it to do. She was more comfortable and convincingly passionate than Ann Romney and made not only a defense of her husband the man … but also of her husband’s policies,” Jonah Goldberg wrote in National Review.

“I hate to admit it, but Michelle Obama hit it a long way tonight, in my opinion. And overall, I fear that the Dems had a good night,” wrote Paul Mirengoff at Power Line.

It made a great impression with the "unbiased" crowd, too:

“Unanimity: Everybody—conservatives, liberals, centrists, moderates—[thought] Michele Obama rocked it last night,” MSNBC political analyst John Heilemann said on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday morning.

“The first lady not hitting a home run but probably a grand slam,” CNN host Wolf Blitzer said on Tuesday. “Michelle Obama owned this convention in a way that no speaker owned the convention in Tampa,” said NBC political director Chuck Todd.

Her speech capped, and punctuated, a night that was resoundingly positive and substantive. Where the first night of the RNC was jeers and anger and contempt and lies, the Democrats were energized and positive. And Michelle Obama embodied all of that. She was able to weave a personal narrative that reflected her own political values, those of her husband, and those that were on display from all of the speakers last night, from Gov. Ted Strickland's unabashed populism to Rep. Jared Polis's simple words about his family, to Mayor Julian Castro's humility and optimism.

It was a very good night for Democrats. But it was a grand, grand night for Michelle Obama. Her husband has a lot to live up to tomorrow night.

Michelle Obama's prepared remarks are here.

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