One of President Obama’s goals in his speech Wednesday night – unacknowledged, perhaps, but central – must have been to make the intransigient Republican opposition to healthcare reform look rude, petty, disingenuous, counterproductive and fundamentally dishonest. My verdict : Missionaccomplished,thanks to lots of Republican help.

Obama pointed out how Republicans such as Sens. Orrin Hatch, John McCain and Charles Grassley supported earlier reform measures that expanded  health coverage and care. He dealt with all the canards that opponents have thrown in the path of reform. No, it’s not a government takeover of health care. No, it’s not going to break the bank. No, there aren't going to be death panels.

But it’s no surprise that Obama’s speech was eloquent, well-constructed, logically compelling and full of facts and figures. As hard as it would be for any politician to deliver a memorable speech on a subject as wonkish as health care, Obama managed to do so with grace. The real impact was emotional, not informational, and it came at two key moments.

The second key moment was when Obama pulled out the heavy artillery, rhetorically speaking, and invoked the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. As Obama spoke of the letter Kennedy had sent him and framed the moral issue that health-care reform has always presented, viewers could see the emotion on the faces of Kennedy’s longtime colleagues in the Senate – not just Democrats like Vice President Biden, but also Republicans such as Hatch and McCain. Cameras lingered on Kennedy's widow, Vicki, and his two sons. Their faces showed both grief and pride, and reminded us that health care -- the great issue of Ted Kennedy's career -- is not just an issue of cost but one of conviction.