President Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday spurred an onslaught of praise from an unlikely demographic: prominent Republicans and conservative journalists.

The president's unbridled optimism and charged embrace of the country's future and founding principles struck a nerve on the other side of the aisle — as evidenced in tweets praising his speech and remarking the president had co-opted Republican ideals.

Many conservatives contrasted Obama's positivity with last week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which was largely defined by fear-mongering diatribes about crime, terrorism, illegal immigrants, and other perceived threats.

Eric Teetsel, who served as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's director of faith outreach during the GOP primaries, neatly summed up the comparison.

Republican strategist Rory Cooper also pointed toward Trump and Cleveland — albeit with slightly more subtlety.

In the past, Republican heroes like former President Ronald Reagan have used similar messages to Obama's with great success. Tony Fratto, who served as the White House deputy press secretary under President George W. Bush, pointed this out in a tweet and remarked that Obama's speech was reminiscent of his party's better days.

But Rich Lowry — the editor of the National Review, a conservative magazine that rejected Trump relatively early on and has continued to criticize him somewhat ostentatiously — may have captured it best.

Journalist and radio personality Erick Erickson, an outspoken voice of the conservative #NeverTrump movement, fired off a series of tweets bemoaning the Republican Party's dark turn and the impact of Obama's message on his critics.

Meanwhile, on Donald Trump's Twitter...