Romney speech a hit — on blogs, talk radio

• "I wish Mitt Romney didn't have to give the speech that he gave earlier today. I think it's an unfortunate truth, but he has been, from almost the very beginning, in my estimation, the victim of a very vicious, nasty campaign by people that are attacking religion and using religion as a wedge." — Sean Hannity, co-host of "Hannity and Colmes"

• "I don't agree with him politically.... Nevertheless, look at his values, look at his family, look at the way he lives his life, certainly that comports with the things that you as an evangelical Christian believe." — Alan Colmes, co-host of "Hannity and Colmes"

• "We only wish his empathy for religious minorities such as his own extended a bit further, to those who do not believe in God. It is regretable that 47 years after John F. Kennedy felt the need to promise voters that his Catholic faith would not dictate his conduct as president, Mr. Romney felt compelled to offer similar assurances.... Where Romney most fell short, though, was in his failure to recognize that America is comprised of citizens not only of different faiths but of no faith at all and that the genius of America is to treat them all with equal dignity." — Washington Post editorial

• "I personally found little in it with which to disagree. But it was hardly a speech of the ages.To my ear it was a political speech in the narrowest sense, aimed at reassuring evangelical primary voters, especially in Iowa, who are wary of his Mormon faith.... the most obvious omission was Romney's failure to follow up on his promise to 'offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my presidency, if elected.'" — Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek Web exclusive

• "It is not always easy to blend an argument for religious liberty with an argument for religious assertiveness, but Romney did it well. Yesterday, I called around to many of America's serious religious thinkers, including moderates like Richard Bushman of Columbia, and conservatives like Neuhaus and Roberty George of Princeton. Everyone I spoke with was enthusiastic about the speech, some of them wildly so." — David Brooks, The New York Times