Obama, 'The Rev. Dr.,' Preaches Immigration Reform

Some of the commentary on President Barack Obama’s immigration reform speech Tuesday struck pretty predictable blows.

The Gateway Pundit called it a “pep rally." Early in the day, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), wasn’t happy with the level of interest he thinks the president has displayed in strengthening border security, Fox News reported. Others said the speech amounted to grandstanding and a calculated political move aimed at taking credit for the hard work a bipartisan group of senators have already done to hammer out a blue print for immigration reform.

But did anyone else notice that "The Rev. Dr." Obama made an appearance yesterday when he spoke to the mostly Latino audience gathered in Las Vegas? Obama got his preacher on -- delivering lines with clipped word endings and turning, at times, to his Southern black man cadence.

Watch the video above.

A lot has been made of Obama's code switching, using different voices with different audiences, since the 2008 election. Some consider this an essential life skill for black Americans –- W.E.B Du Bois did -- and most politicians. NPR reported that we all alter our voice, our vocabulary and the rythmns of our speech for different audiences. Public radio also described yesterday’s speech as one that, “struck an optimistic, populist tone as framer-in-chief.”

Others find Obama’s abilities creepy, even manipulative.

But he was, in fact, there to preach the gospel and need for immigration reform, from his point of view.