Hotline After Dark -- The Reviews Are In

The reviews are in of Mitt Romney's speech. Talk of it dominated the airwaves last night:

MSNBC's Shuster: "Most of the reaction came from observers on television, not the candidates in the race" ("Hardball," 12/6).

FNC's Cameron: "Like Kennedy, Romney did not delve into specific doctrine. And a hand picked audience of friends, family and religious leaders eagerly agreed with his explanation" ("Special Report," 12/6).

ABC's Berman: "Time and again he used language designed to find common ground with religious voters" ("World News," 12/6).

CBS' Whitaker: "Romney gave a speech heavy on America's history of religious tolerance but light on his own religious beliefs" ("Evening News," 12/6).

NBC's Allen: "Despite the soaring rhetoric and presidential setting Romney's speech was pure politics" ("Nightly News," 12/6).

NBC's Russert: "A larger audience did see this -- many seeing Governor Romney for the first time. ... So a lot more people I think will now know who Governor Romney is and now have questions about his faith" ("Nightly News," 12/6).

Newsweek's Meacham: "He did very well if one were a person of faith. If one is an Evangelical Republican primary voter, I think this was a very reassuring speech. ... I think that was very effective primary speech, but not so effective in terms of the general election audience reaching out to swing voters" ("NewsHour," PBS, 12/6).

CNN's Borger: "It was a terrific political speech in that he made us feel good about ourselves as Americans and what we believe about diversity in faith. And it was well delivered. And he looked quite presidential. On the other hand, ... I don't think he quite handled his Evangelical Christian problem, because he didn't specifically address the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, although he did say that Jesus Christ is the savior of mankind. He didn't say Jesus Christ was his own personal savior" ("Situation Room," 12/6).

Pat Buchanan: "What Romney did was he defended his faith in a defiant way that John F. Kennedy never did. ... If he wins this election, he wins Iowa, I think it'll be because of this speech. This was one of the most formidable addresses and most impressive addresses I've seen any candidate deliver this year" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 12/6).

Rev. Richard Land: "I thought Governor Romney gave an eloquent speech today. ... I think he allayed fears of some who were concerned he might give preference to his Mormon compatriots. I think he gave some comfort to those were concern his allegiance to his faith might interfere with his oath of office" ("Money & Politics," Bloomberg, 12/6).

Washington Post's Robinson: "This odd statement he made that freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom, that's a very odd kind of spin to put on the U.S. constitution and in our tradition of separation of church and state. So I did not think it was a Kennedy-esque speech. I thought it was something quite different" ("Tucker," MSNBC, 12/6).

FNC's Barnes: "He surprised me as how good it was" ("Special Report," 12/6).

I'M JUST BEING ME

John Edwards was in the "Situation Room":

Asked if his minimizing his criticism of the other '08ers is a change in strategy: "No, you're seeing me be me. I think we're a little less than 30 days before the Iowa caucus and closer to the New Hampshire primary and I think what caucus goers and voters want to see from me and from the other candidates is they want to hear what your vision is for the country. So I want them to see exactly what I would do as president of the United States and visualize me in that role."

CNN's Blitzer: "Because a lot of us remember, Senator, four years ago when Gephardt and Howard Dean, they were battling each other and you came across as Mr. Nice Guy and you wound up doing really well in Iowa, four years ago and some are suggesting now that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are really battling, you're taking the high road."

Edwards: "Well, I think it's what my responsibility is as a presidential candidate. ... I want to make it clear to people what I want to do, what my positive message and what my positive agenda will be as president of the United States. It's just that simple. That's exactly what I intend to focus here at the end."

Asked about Romney's speech: "I know we've had a history of this, you know with John Kennedy and other presidential candidates. I think that from my perspective, my faith is usually important to me. I also see an enormous responsibility as president to maintain separation between church and state. I mean, it's not my job even though my faith is very important and personal to me every day of my life. It is not my job to impose my faith on America, and I assume that Governor Romney thought this was something he needed to speak about."

Blitzer: "Your wife told me last week that if you or any of the other Democratic candidates comes in third in Iowa, it could be the end of the presidential campaign. Is she right?"

Edwards: "There goes Elizabeth again. No, here's what I think. I think it depends on exactly what happens. I mean I think it's unpredictable. Iowa is, I mean for example, if we're all bunched up together, that's one thing. If there's separation between us, that's something different. I think that what we know is we're in a deadlock in Iowa. Right now we're very much in a dead heat and I think somebody will emerge and whoever emerges will have enormous momentum, and I think what people are looking for in Iowa. I mean I know these people. ... I think the caucus goers in Iowa are looking for somebody who's strong, who understands working people. This is where I come from. They know that and they're looking for somebody who's got some backbone that will fight for them and that's exactly what I'll do" (CNN, 12/6).

HILLARY 101

ABC's Gibson spoke with HRC as part of the net's "Who Is" series:

On her Chicago upbringing: "It was 'Father Knows Best' and 'Ozzie and Harriet' and 'Leave it to Beaver' all rolled into one."

More: "There were no gender differences -- if we were going to play football, we were all going to play football. I was expected to compete. ... It was a great but unusual message for a girl of that time."

On wanting to be an astronaut at 14: "I wrote NASA and said, 'What do you have to do to become an astronaut?' That was my question. I wanted to prepare myself. .... They said, 'Be a man.' They said, 'We're not accepting girls.' And I was crushed. I couldn't believe it."

On Bill Clinton: "I never understood how difficult it would be to navigate his political career on my terms."

On her campaign: "You know, some days -- let's just be honest -- it's scary, the idea of waging this campaign, getting out there, engendering all of the feelings -- pro and con" ("World News," 12/6). [EMILY GOODIN]