DENVER — A foot-stomping, flag-waving crowd larger than any other in political convention history greeted Barack Obama last night in Denver in anticipation of his speech accepting the Democratic party’s nomination for president.
In the speech before an audience of more than 80,000 people — and only eight weeks from election day — Obama linked his Republican opponent, John McCain, to President Bush’s unpopular presidency and forcefully promised a positive change for America.
“America,” Obama said, “we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.”
Camilla Auger, head of the Pitkin County Democratic Party, attended the speech with 30 Aspen-area Obama volunteers. “I thought it was amazing,” she said afterward. “He was articulate, he was inclusive and I think he inspired 70,000 people to go work their hearts out to get him elected. It reminded me why I’ve been a Democrat all my life.”
The first African-American presidential nominee from a major party, Obama spoke on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” during the March on Washington. Obama recurrently spoke of “the promise of America,” and said “it is that promise that, 45 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.”
Earlier in the afternoon, King’s children spoke to the audience. The civil rights leader’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, called Obama’s nomination, “one of our nation’s greatest defining moments.”
Obama’s speech also fell on the night before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a storm and crisis to which he alluded twice. “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,” he said.
Delivered under a starless Colorado night sky and in front of a stage lined with faux Roman columns, Obama’s 45-minute acceptance speech capped an evening of political theatre at its most dramatic — with an unabashed touch of flair from the entertainment world that included performances from Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and John Legend, who set an Obama “Yes we can” speech to music.
Zach Ornitz/Aspen Daily NewsBarack Obama accepts the Democratic Party nomination.
Obama used Thursday night’s speech, in part, to refute claims by the McCain camp that he is an empty-suit elitist with little substance to back up his star power. He spoke of his modest upbringing and said, “I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine.”
He promised to cut taxes for most “working families,” to end American dependence on foreign oil in the next decade, and to withdraw troops from Iraq. And he decried the nation’s current economic downturn.
“Enough!” Obama declared in one of the most passionate portions of the speech. “This moment, this election, is our chance to keep — in the 21st century — the American promise alive.”
Colorado shared a lot of the spotlight before Obama’s address, with speeches from Congressmen Mark Udall and John Salazar, and from a hoarse Gov. Bill Ritter.
Obama’s Invesco Field address was the first time a presidential candidate had accepted his party’s nomination at an outdoor venue since John F. Kennedy did so at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960. Obama promised a return to Kennedy’s strong-armed Cold War defense policy.
“We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy,” he said. “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.”
If you watch footage of Kennedy’s iconic “New Frontier” acceptance speech, you will see whole sections of the stadium sitting empty. There were some rows of empty seats behind Obama’s stage, but Invesco was filled almost to capacity. The setting included delegates seated on the floor identified by the traditional state placards, and people doing “the wave” and eating football stadium hot dogs (the beer stands, however, were closed).
It also included interactive text-messaging activities. Audience members could text their names and messages to get them posted on the Jumbotron, or take Obama trivia quizzes with questions such as “What is the name of Senator Obama’s comprehensive early education plan?” (The answer: “Zero to Five.”)
Due to the event’s unconventional outdoor setting, the traditional red-white-and-blue balloons’ dropping form a convention hall ceiling were replaced with a fireworks display and explosions of confetti.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
