Barack Obama accepts at the Democratic nomination in Denver, August 28. |
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Senator Barack Obama and his family took the stage along with Senator Joe Biden and his wife Jill after accepting the Democratic nomination. |
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Denver – On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther
King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech
August 28, Barack Obama formally accepted the Democratic
Party’s nomination for the presidency of the United
States.
As people shouted “Yes we can” and waved signs
reading “Change,” Obama said, “With
profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination
for the presidency of the United States.”
In his acceptance speech, Obama said “it is time
for us to change America,” and this 2008 election
is the election to keep “the American promise alive."
“We meet at one of those defining moments, a moment
when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil and
the American promise has been threatened,” he said.
OBAMA’S VISION FOR HIS PRESIDENCY
Obama said he would change life in the United States by
cutting taxes for 95 percent of working families, providing
affordable health care for every American, ensuring equal
pay for women and offering affordable college education
to every young American who serves his or her community.
In an election year in which high gasoline prices have
been a major campaign issue, the Democratic nominee said
that as president he would “set a clear goal …
in 10 years we will finally end our dependence on oil from
the Middle East.” Obama said he would do so by safely
harnessing nuclear power and investing in renewable sources
of energy.
“Just as we keep our promise to the next generation
here at home,” Obama said, “so must we keep
America’s promise abroad.” The Democratic nominee
said he would end the war in Iraq and fight al-Qaida and
the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Obama said he would “build new partnerships to defeat
the threats of the 21st century,” which include nuclear
proliferation, poverty, genocide and climate change.
Much of Obama’s speech focused on what he viewed
as “failed policies” of President Bush and problems
with presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s
proposed policies.
“We love this country too much to let the next four
years look like the last eight,” Obama said. Throughout
his campaign, Obama has said McCain would promote policies
similar to those of the Bush administration. Obama said
the Republican candidate does not understand the problems
middle-class Americans face, and criticized McCain’s
positions on tax relief for oil companies, health care and
education.
The Democratic candidate also criticized McCain’s
positions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: “We
need a president who can face the threats of the future,
not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.”
Obama, the first African-American presidential nominee
of a major party, spoke of King’s famous March on
Washington on August 28, 1963.
Speaking about those who participated in the march and
listened to King’s famous “I Have a Dream”
speech, Obama said “they could’ve heard words
of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb
to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.”
“But what the people heard instead … is that
in America our destiny is inextricably linked,” Obama
said. “That together, our dreams can be one.”
Those marchers, Obama said, pledged to march ahead. In
this election, “we must pledge once more to march
into the future.”
PEOPLE WAIT IN LONG LINES TO SEE HISTORY MADE
Obama’s speech capped off an evening of political
speeches, videos and musical performances at Invesco Field,
a football stadium that seats about 76,000. Most convention
events were open only to delegates and party leaders, but
this speech was open to the general public – free
tickets were distributed months ahead of the speech. The
last candidate to give an acceptance speech outside the
convention hall was John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Those who were able to get the tickets waited long hours
in the Denver heat to see the Democratic nominee, but few
complained. Many said they believed they would be witnessing
history. Tom and Patty Ballowe came from New Mexico for
the speech.
“It’s exciting to be a part of history,”
Tom Ballowe said. The Ballowes, who have worked as volunteers
on the Obama campaign for months, saw the event as an important
recognition of their hard work.
Dale Fish of Pueblo, Colorado, drove 100 miles to see Obama.
The Vietnam veteran says he supports the Democratic candidate
because “we don’t need kids dying for another
war.” Fish said Obama reminds him of the late President
Kennedy and his “passion and ability to capture the
imagination.”
In 1960 “the whole nation was jaded,” Fish
said, but Kennedy and King helped that generation believe
in their leaders. Fish believes that “Obama gives
us new dreams, new direction, new passion.”
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BARACK OBAMA'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Invesco Field, Denver, Colorado
Thursday, August 28, 2008
To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to
all my fellow citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your
nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates
who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one
who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans
and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary
Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made
the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy,
who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice
President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you.
I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest
statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from
world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still
takes home every night.
To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama,
and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so
proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story
- of the briefu nion between a young man from Kenya and
a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known,
but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve
whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart
- that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue
our individual dreams but still come together as one American
family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their
dreams as well.
That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred
and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was
in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers,
farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage
to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when
our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the
American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working
harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even
more are watching your home values plummet. More of you
have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you
can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But
the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics
in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We
are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio,
on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away
from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.
This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana
has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years
and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as
he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home
to tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans
sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that
sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before
our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and
Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough!
This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in
the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next
week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two
terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country
for a third. And we are here because we love this country
too much to let the next four years look like the last eight.
On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is
enough."
Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John
McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery
and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and
respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions
when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can
deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George
Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to
talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about
your judgment when you think George Bush has been right
more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about
you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference
in your lives - on health care and education and the economy
- Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said
that our economy has made "great progress" under
this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy
are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man
who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety
Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering
from a "mental recession," and that we've become,
and I quote, "a nation of whiners."
A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers
at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing,
kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because
they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that
they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder
their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave
for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are
not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going
without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.
Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's
going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't
know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making
under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose
hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations
and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more
than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer
a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits,
or an education plan that would do nothing to help families
pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security
and gamble your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because
John McCain doesn't get it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited
Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with
the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone
else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society,
but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of
work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it.
Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
- even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time
for us to change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of
what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that
pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money
away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your
child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in
the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton
was President - when the average American family saw its
income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under
George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number
of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500,
but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk
and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives
on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without
losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are
whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that
has made this country great - a promise that is the only
reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back
from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed
up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was
rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college
on the GI Bill.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three
hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom,
who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked
and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but
was still able to send us to the best schools in the country
with the help of student loans and scholarships.
When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory
has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the
South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two
decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of
starting her own business, I think about my grandmother,
who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management,
despite years of being passed over for promotions because
she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard
work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new
dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She
poured everything she had into me. And although she can
no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and
that tonight is her night as well.
I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that
celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes.
Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their
behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise
alive as President of the United States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to
make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have
the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive
and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses
should live up to their responsibilities to create American
jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules
of the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all
our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot
do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every
child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys
safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science
and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should
help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just
for those with the most money and influence, but for every
American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible
for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation;
the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I
am my sister's keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we
need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change
would mean if I am President.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists
who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses
who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations
that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to
companies that create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses
and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech
jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families.
Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should
do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the
future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President:
in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil
from the Middle East.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the
last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six
of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency
standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy,
no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount
of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand
that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution.
Not even close.
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest
in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness
nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so
that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right
here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people
to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars
over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of
energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation
of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries
and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be
outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to
provide every child a world-class education, because it
will take nothing less to compete in the global economy.
Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given
a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America
where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early
childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers,
and pay them higher salaries and give them more support.
And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more
accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young
American - if you commit to serving your community or your
country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.
Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable,
accessible health care for every single American. If you
have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you
don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that
members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who
watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she
lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies
stop discriminating against those who are sick and need
care the most.
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and
better family leave, because nobody in America should have
to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick
child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that
your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the
time to protect Social Security for future generations.
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for
an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have
exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why
I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate
loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But
I will also go through the federal budget, line by line,
eliminating programs that no longer work and making the
ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot
meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century
bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's
promise will require more than just money. It will require
a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover
what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral
strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence,
but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses
more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success
for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair.
But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace
parents; that government can't turn off the television and
make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more
responsibility for providing the love and guidance their
children need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's
the essence of America's promise.
And just as we keep our promise to the next generation
here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad.
If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the
temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief,
that's a debate I'm ready to have.
For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq
just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing
that it would distract us from the real threats we face.
When John McCain said we could just "muddle through"
in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops
to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually
attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out
Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our
sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden
to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave
where he lives.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops
from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even
the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq
has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits,
John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end
a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America
safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the
future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty
countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and
deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't
truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest
alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with
more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but
it is not the change we need.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy.
So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country.
Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain
foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations
of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built,
and we are here to restore that legacy.
As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend
this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's
way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give
them the equipment they need in battle and the care and
benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the
fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I
will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But
I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent
Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.
I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the
21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty
and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore
our moral standing, so that America is once again that last,
best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom,
who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better
future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks
ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes
his positions for political purposes. Because one of the
things that we have to change in our politics is the idea
that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's
character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for
this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism
has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so
does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields
may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they
have fought together and bled together and some died together
under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America
or a Blue America - they have served the United States of
America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country
first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face
require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans
will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of
the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight
years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade
deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common
purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we
have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on
reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters
in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in
Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second
Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely
we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters
deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and
to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration,
but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated
from her infant child or an employer undercuts American
wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's
promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the
strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common
effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy
talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger,
something firmer and more honest in our public life is just
a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional
values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't
have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare
the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you
paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds
into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington
doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes
have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop
hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate
for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I
haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America
something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand
is that this election has never been about me. It's been
about you.
For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one,
and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand
that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is
to try the same old politics with the same old players and
expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches
us - that at defining moments like this one, the change
we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.
Change happens because the American people demand it - because
they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership,
a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need
is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it.
I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to
more children and moved more families from welfare to work.
I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party
lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable,
to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons
out of terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people
who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved
again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never
thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've
seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours
back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the
soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good
neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes
and the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but
that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful
military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong.
Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world,
but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise
- that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain;
that binds us together in spite of our differences; that
makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen,
that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise
I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and
a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led
immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west;
a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to
reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that forty five years ago today,
brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand
together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial,
and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many
things. They could've heard words of anger and discord.
They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration
of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead - people of every creed
and color, from every walk of life - is that in America,
our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams
can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And
as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always
march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to
be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many
veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities
to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families
to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot
turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this
election, we must pledge once more to march into the future.
Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in
the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to
the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States
of America.
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