The speech was quite good and well delivered. But it was not "great" - in the historical scope of inaugural addresses - and nothing in it struck me as particularly historic or memorable. There was no signature line, no mantra for the ages, and no powerful theme that will affix this speech in the public consciousness for years to come.

The line about his father was particularly poignant, though I expected (and would have liked to have heard) more from Obama about today's significance and symbolism as the fulfillment of MLK's dream and America's promise.

The end of the speech was superb, as Obama painted a beautiful and haunting picture of America's history, bringing Washington's words back as a message for today:

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Those three paragraphs were, in my opinion, the best of the speech. But again, I don't think there is a takeaway from this speech that will stand the test of time.

This is, I suspect, the first of a number of episodes where Obama is going to suffer from trying to meet impossibly high expectations. For nearly any other person, this speech would have been hailed as a home run. But for Obama, who's hit so many home runs in the past, expectations were for him to hit a Grand Slam and deliver one of the best inaugural speeches ever. This speech fell short of being one of the all time greats, but it was still a very good speech on a very historic day for America.