|
DENVER: In the United States, Senator Barack Obama has made history by formally accepting the nomination to lead his party in the 2008 presidential election.
In a stunning climax to the Democratic Party's convention in Denver, he electrified a crowd of 76,000 supporters at a sports stadium with a victory speech that vowed to keep "the American promise alive".
Obama said: "With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States... 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 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 is 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 Presidency of George W. Bush. America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this."
This was a speech that continually tarred John McCain with a George Bush brush. In cadences that presage the attacks that Democrats will now unleash on the campaign trail, Senator Obama directly tied the Republican candidate in this election to the incumbents in the White House.
"John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety per cent of the time. 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 ninety per cent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten per cent chance on change," he said.
Obama spoke on a specially-constructed stage that the Democrats were tweaking right up until the last minute. Described by the Republicans as "The Temple of Obama", the Democrats are sensitive to criticism that their candidate has been more style than substance.
And so the speech went further than others he has made on specific matters of policy, including one bold pledge to end America's dependence on oil from the Middle East.
"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," Obama declared.
Bold, too, was his promise to restore America's international standing. He promised to end the war in Iraq, finish the fight with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and engage in what he called "tough direct diplomacy" with Iran.
Obama said: "The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans – Democrats and Republicans – have built and we are to restore that legacy.
"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 more the 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."
With their candidate anointed, the Democrats must now wait and see how voters react to his convention. They are hoping Obama will enjoy a sizeable bounce in the opinion polls, carrying him all the way through to Election Day in November.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party will waste no time in trying to seize the initiative back from their Democratic Party rivals.
- CNA/so
|
|
|
