Reactions mixed to record-setting Obama speech

Much of the media has characterized the president’s address Thursday to the Democratic National Convention as ‘meh,’ although the speech helped shatter a political record on Twitter.

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“I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy,” he said. “You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades.”

For those counting, Obama said the word “hope” 15 times and “Mitt Romney” once.

This morning, the media reaction to the speech has been mixed, with pundits from the partisan cable networks taking to their corners to praise or pan the address. Other media outlets have characterized the speech as familiar and strong, though not a barnburner.

The speech may not have stood up to the one candidate Obama delivered four years ago, but conversations about it caught on like wildfire on social media. Twitter reported that @barackobama drove 52,757 tweets per minute during the speech with more than 9 million Tweets sent about #DNC2012. Just 4 million tweets were sent with the “#RNC2012 hashtag over the course of the RNC’s 3-day event.

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