Hillary Clinton is at a loss for words. At an event yesterday in Philadelphia, she said she had not yet seen yesterday’s Obama speech but was glad he gave it.

According to the Caucus, “Many reporters muttered in disbelief during and after her remarks, surprised that a candidate as diligent as Mrs. Clinton -– who always talked about being well-prepared and doing her homework -– would not have read the speech yet.” Disbelief indeed. She doesn’t know what to say—for at least two reasons: First, the Clintons are slaves to public opinion and Obama’s epic speech has caused head-scratching to go on longer than usual. Some pundits weighed in immediately, but most Americans slept on it and even today continue to mull the implications.

Also, the speech has put the Democrats on a different footing in relation to identity. After Obama announced that black bitterness toward America is an ossified problem whose resolution requires his intimate stewardship, he took the sting out of a lot of future charges. He said, essentially: sure continue to accuse me of embracing the wrong people, but as long as you do you’ll be distracting us from the underlying reality—which I just laid bare and I can fix. Amazingly, he’s made it seem as if anti-Americanism (in close proximity to the potential-president, yet) is beside the point. It’s an illusion of course, but powerful illusion is his medium.

With all the talk of playbooks, (the Clinton playbook, the Republican playbook, the Rove playbook) Obama’s pulled a move (at once defensive and offensive) without precedent. What’s certain is his speech has shifted the balance. Once again, he acts and the world waits for Hillary’s response. This in itself will slow the “she’s back” train down to a crawl.