When it comes to analyzing a speech like last night’s: No Davids needed!

Sometimes after a big speech like the one President Obama gave last night, I feel a compulsion to analyze it here, to tell the waiting Vital Speeches followers whether the speech was good or bad.

With only a very occasional exception—sometimes I playfully live-blog the State of the Union address—I don’t do it.

And I just realized why: Nobody is waiting to hear what I think. It’s not just the speech-savvy Vital Speeches followers who don’t need my opinion. It’s everybody who saw the speech. That’s the singular beauty of a speech: The speaker speaks, and the audience members decide for themselves whether the speech was true or not.

Sometimes they need a little time to figure out how the thing sits with them or whether it sticks.

But that’s it.

Nobody else: Not David Gergen or David Gregory or David Broder or David Murray.

Obviously I make lots of decisions about speeches. Based on many criteria, I decide which ones get into Vital Speeches and which ones don’t. Just like speech audiences, I ultimately vote with my feet.

But beyond that, I’ve never liked “expert” speech analysis—mine or anyone else’s.

And instead of feeling guilty for not offering up detailed analysis, I’m going to feel good about refraining from it.

And now I’ll send the suspense: Yes, the speech will appear in Vital Speeches.

—DM