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Obama vows to reverse failures
29/08/2008 06:39 - (SA)
Denver - Declaring "we are a better
country than this", Barack Obama launched a sharp assault on
Republican presidential rival John McCain on Thursday,
promising to reverse the economic failures of the past eight
years and restore America's reputation in the world.
Obama, the first black White House nominee of a major US
party, linked McCain directly to President George W Bush and
said their failed Republican policies were responsible for a
faltering US economy and a decline in US global standing.
"We are here because we love this country too much to let
the next four years look just like the last eight," Obama told
a flag-waving crowd of about 75 000 supporters in Denver's
open-air football stadium as he accepted the nomination on the
last night of the Democratic convention.
"On November 4th, we must stand up and say: 'Eight is enough,'"
Obama said.
Obama delivered the biggest speech in a career filled with
big speeches on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I
Have a Dream" speech - a landmark in the US civil rights
movement.
The speech kicked off a two-month sprint to the November 4
general election against McCain, who tried to steal the
limelight with word that he had chosen his running mate and
will appear with the choice on Friday in Ohio.
Obama said McCain, an Arizona senator, was out of touch
with the day-to-day concerns of Americans and had been
"anything but independent" on key issues like the economy,
health care and education.
'I just think he doesn't 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," said Obama, who had been urged by some Democrats
to take a tougher line against McCain.
"Senator McCain likes to talk about judgement, but really,
what does it say about your judgement when you think George Bush
was right more than 90% of the time?" Obama asked,
citing McCain's voting record in the Senate.
"I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10%
chance on change," he said.
The televised acceptance speech by Obama, who was formally
nominated on Wednesday, gave the first-term Illinois senator
his biggest national audience until he meets McCain in late
September in the first of three face-to-face debates.
The speech included some of the most direct attacks on
McCain by Obama since the general election started. Obama,
whose patriotism has been the subject of Internet attacks, said
the candidates should be able to disagree without attacking
each other's character.
"I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country
first," Obama said.
Obama, an early opponent of the Iraq war, promised to "end
this war in Iraq responsibly" but said he would finish the
fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and would be willing to
use US military power when necessary.
'I will never hesitate to defend
this nation'
"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," Obama said.
He chided McCain, a staunch advocate of the Iraq war, for
saying he would pursue Osama bin Laden to "the Gates of Hell".
Obama said McCain's focus on Iraq had let al-Qaeda and bin
Laden escape.
"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," he said.
"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 American needs."
The speech capped a sunny day of celebration and musical
performances by singers like Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow
under clear skies in the stadium. By the time Obama's speech
started, nearly every seat, and the entire football field, was
full.
Former Vice President Al Gore, the Nobel Prize and Academy
Award winner who lost a disputed election to Bush in 2000, told
the crowd things would have been very different if he had won.
"I doubt anyone would argue now that election didn't
matter," Gore said, describing Obama as "a clean break from the
politics of partisanship and bitter division".
A job well done
Obama is running even with McCain in most opinion polls,
although a Gallup daily tracking poll on Thursday showed him
beginning to get an edge from the convention and moving out to
a six-point advantage, up five points.
Obama addressed criticism he has not offered enough
specifics along with his sometimes soaring rhetoric, restating
an ambitious domestic agenda that includes a tax cut for 95%
of Americans and an end to dependence on Middle East
oil in 10 years.
He said McCain's emphasis on new offshore oil drilling was
a stop-gap measure and not a long-term energy solution. He
promised to invest $150bn over the next decade to develop
affordable, renewable energy sources.
While Obama's policy proposals were not new, national
conventions are often the first time voters pay attention to a
presidential race. Opinion polls show many still unfamiliar
with Obama and concerned about his readiness for the job.
McCain launched an advertisement on cable television in
which he spoke directly to Obama through the camera.
"Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed.
So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations," said McCain, who
has been scathing in his criticism of Obama.
"How perfect that your nomination would come on this
historic day. Tomorrow, we'll be back at it. But tonight,
senator, job well done."
The last presidential candidate to accept the nomination in
an open-air football stadium was John Kennedy, who spoke to the
Democratic convention at the Los Angeles Coliseum before 80,000
supporters in 1960.
- Reuters
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US Elections Special Report
