Democratic National Convention in Denver

Obama Accepts Nomination, Pays Service to Western Issues

By Robert Struckman, 8-28-08

Sen. Barack Obama accepted the nomination for Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States before a packed stadium at the Invesco Field in Denver on the final day of his party’s national convention. (Click the link above to see the whole speech.)

He told Americans not to be afraid of ambitious dreams. His grandfather, after taking him to see the astronauts after their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, told him: “Americans, we can do everything, if we put our minds to it.”

Obama thanked Hillary Clinton and offered some concrete statements of particular interest to Montanans and Westerners. He said, “The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.”

Obama vowed to tap the nation’s natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. He set a clear goal: to end the nation’s dependence on oil from the Middle East in 10 years.

Obama also criticized Republican nominee John McCain by linking him to President George Bush and saying it’s not that McCain doesn’t want to help America, but that he doesn’t know how, that he doesn’t get it.

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