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When President Obama was done with his turn the page speech, what seemed to resonate most with the pundits was his denunciation of cynicismand his critique of the media.

We already knew what he was going to say last night on taxes and new programs, so the networks spent little time on that. But who expected him to channel his 2004 speech about moving beyond red and blue states, to decry the medias focus on gotcha politics and gaffes, and to declare that I still believe the cynics are wrong?

NBCs Chuck Todd quickly returned to reality, saying, Does he have some sort of followup on breaking gridlock?

ABCs Jonathan Karl was surprised that Obama gave no nod to Mitch McConnell as the new majority leader: There was no mention of the fact that he was walking into a very different chamber.

Cokie Roberts, too, felt the rhetoric didnt match the appeal: This speech was all about a Democratic agenda, and not trying to get something done.

Even Robert Gibbs, Obamas former spokesman, said on MSNBC: I dont know that were going to change our politics over the next two years.

Rachel Maddow lauded the president for directly taking on the question of whether he had let the country down. For people who voted for him, and thought he could be transformative, that is the central question, she said.

But Chris Matthews seemed to take Obamas criticism personally: I think he made a mistake about cable TV. There are a lot of people, our network especially, who hoped and shared his hope.

On Fox, George Will said Obama was trying to come off as Mr. Congenial, but he pledged four, count em, four vetoes.

Juan Williams said he didnt think the audience would warm to Obamas crowing mode, but that his attack on crazy politics and call for worthy debates could strike a nerve.

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Media debate Obamas cry against cynical politics -- and coverage