Maybe the sentiments of the woman who wanted to throw a shoe at him represent a larger proportion of those listening to his speech than you would otherwise be aware of, but I for one was deeply moved by this speech. In part it was the incongruity of this man in Renaissance garb talking to a body that not too long ago would have had a quorum who thought of him as either the anti-Christ or some Machiavellian schemer promoting superstition to disguise his own dark power agenda. And he's a Jesuit, to boot. The Jesuits were kicked out of every country in Europe at one time or another for their sly, scheming ways. So if nothing else, I hope for many his speech broke the stereotypes associated with popes and Jesuits, but I'm sure there are many in a cynical place like D.C. who were left implacably entrenched in their prejudices.
I've been reading around the web on liberal sites, and it's interesting how people seem to think that the pope can just say whatever his personal opinion is: How can a guy be so right about this and so wrong about that? When you're the pope you don't get to just say what you might personally think. There are 2000 years of thinking by people who thought culturally and historically circumscribed, were mostly thoughtful, decent people, if not prodigies of the spirit and mind. And so anything any pope says, even things that seem 'new', must have some continuity and consistency with the teaching and thinking that preceded it.
For him it's mostly a question of emphasis, of drawing from this 2000 year tradition of thinking and reflection and applying it to what the world--or what this particular audience--needs to hear now. In that respect this address to congress was close to flawless.