Barack Obama’s appearance at the Lansing Center on Monday to deliver a major speech unveiling his energy plan was highly anticipated by the audience before the speech and highly praised by them after.

With news reports out the day before indicating that Obama was willing to accept more offshore drilling as part of a compromise plan that would increase the emphasis on renewable energy sources, it was clear that the audience was eager to hear what he would say on that subject.

Augustine Martinez, who works at a local college, told the Michigan Messenger before the speech that he thought such talk was a regrettable reality of politics:

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think more offshore drilling is a ridiculous idea, I don’t think it will do anything to help the people, I think it will do a great deal to help the oil companies. I think it will prolong our dependence on fossil fuels even longer. Unfortunately, politics is all about compromise, and if it takes that to get things moving, we’ll have to accept it.”

Greg Wade was more positive, saying, “”I think it’s a good idea. I think he’s leaving the option on the table so he can make a compromise if one is reachable. He’s just being flexible.”

Obama described the possible compromise as one worked out by a bipartisan group of 10 senators, saying that it only involved a “limited” amount of offshore drilling. But he also said that he would push for the oil companies to drill first on the 60-plus million acres they already have access to and have not used. The compromise was important, Obama said, because “I’m not interested in the perfect being the enemy of the good.”

That explanation seemed to go over well with audience members. Cherie Mollison told the Messenger, “The way he described this particular compromise, yes, that’s acceptable to me. Things have to move forward, so if it takes that I’m OK with it.”

On a broader level, the audience members we spoke to, all of whom identified themselves as Obama supporters, seemed to be annoyed by the attacks on the candidate that call him charismatic but nonsubstantive. Martinez told the Messenger that it’s the media that focuses our attention on irrelevant subjects and avoids discussing the substantive issues:

“I think all the talk of the race card the last few days is ludicrous. I believe that race can definitely be a factor in the campaign, it could definitely sway someone in terms of who they like or don’t like, but I think Obama has done a good job so far of keeping focused on the issues instead of going off on these tangents that the media likes to blow up. I really wish people would take the time and do the research to really understand the issues instead of focusing on Britney Spears and all these ridiculous issues that don’t matter. The media loves to focus on those things and not on the subjects that matter.”

After the speech, Mollison said she found the speech filled with detail and was ready to help get the energy plan passed:

“Well, they certainly can’t say this man isn’t just totally substance. This nonsense about comparing him to people with no substance is ridiculous. It was fabulous and a great plan for the next 10 years. It’s a marvelous, doable idea and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves to get going.”

Donna McCarthy, who came to the rally with Mollison, was impressed with the whole plan: “I think it’s very radical compared to what we’ve been hearing from politicians for decades, but we need something radical.”