Speaking before a crowd of close to 80,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field and accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party for president, Barack Obama criticized John McCain for supporting and seeking to continue the Bush administration's policies in what Democrats all week have been calling a third Bush term with "more of the same."
Obama praised McCain's military service, but pointed out that his nearly 30 year-long political record is a different story. "John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time," he said. "Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than ninety percent of the time?"
"I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change,” Obama added.
Obama rejected McCain's repeated claims that the economy is doing fine. He talked about the difficulties working families face with home foreclosures, growing unemployment, and lack of health care coverage. “We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put away a little extra money at the end of each month so that you can someday watch your child receive her diploma."
"We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president," he continued, "when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush."
The highlight of the speech, however, was Obama's elaboration of concrete proposals for "exactly what that change would mean."
Responding directly to McCain campaign distortions of his tax proposals, Obama said, "I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95 percent of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class."
Obama pledged tax incentives to small business owners, while eliminating tax incentives to big corporations who move jobs out of the country, a promise John McCain has refused to make.
Turning to energy policy, Obama linked the energy issue to national security, the economy, and the environment.
First, Obama focused his sights on McCain's record on energy. "Washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years," he said. "And John McCain has been there for 26 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."
"Today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office," he emphasized.
Obama offered a diverse solution. "I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power." In contrast to McCain's opposition to more fuel efficient cars, Obama plans to provide incentives for US automakers to "re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America." In addition, Obama proposed incentives to car buyer to be able to afford new cars with higher gas mileage.
Most importantly, Obama called for an investment of "$150 billion 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.”
On health care, Obama pointed out that John McCain wants to impose a new health care tax on employee benefits. In contrast, he stated, his health care proposal would open the federal employee insurance program to working families who can't afford health insurance premiums on their own, and he would provide incentives to grow the employer-based benefits system.
Obama also rejected McCain's proposal to privatize Social Security.
Obama strongly addressed the issue of national security. “We are the party of Roosevelt," he asserted. "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."
It is the Bush-McCain foreign policies that have undermined national security, he pointed out. “As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation," he went on, "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 pledged to bring the war in Iraq to an end responsibly, and to find the people who were actually responsible for the September 11th attacks. Addressing foreign policy questions like Iran, Russia, and more requires a new, intelligent approach, not just a lot of bluster from Washington.
"I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease," he concluded. "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.”
