Obama plans to cover a lot of ground in speech

By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 28, 2008 at 6:09 p.m.
Updated August 28, 2008 at 6:15 p.m.

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Sen. Barack Obama plans to stress his life story and his vision for changing the policies espoused by President Bush when he accepts the Democratic Party's nomination tonight at Invesco Field.

Excerpts of the speech released late this afternoon by his campaign show that Obama will stress, at least in some fashion, his story, especially as it relates to the American dream. he will talk about how his parents, a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas, believed in the American dream -- and in its opportunities for their son.

“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," Obama planned to say. “It is 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."

Obama planned to call this time a "defining" moment.

“Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less," Obama planned to say. "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."

He also planned to call this the moment to keep "the American promise alive."

“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," Obama planned to say. "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 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."

Obama will call for tax breaks for companies that keep jobs in the United States, and tax cuts for "95 percent of working families." He also plans to call for work to "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," he planned to say. "I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest $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.”

Finally, Obama said he would reject the idea that only Republicans can predict the country.

"We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy," he planned to say. "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 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 Qaida 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. 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.”

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