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Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama accused his presumptive Republican opponent John McCain of "follow[ing] George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy," telling the Democratic convention in Denver that rhetoric alone will not neutralize the Iranian threat to Israel.
"You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq," Obama said. "You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances."
"If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice, but that is not the change that America needs," Obama said.
The Illinois senator also vowed on Thursday to end U.S. energy dependence on Middle East sources within 10 years if elected in November.
Obama launched his historic campaign for the White House with an outdoor extravaganza Thursday, promising more than 84,000 cheering supporters an "end to the broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush."
In a nationally televised speech in which he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama pressed the themes that will guide his campaign through the Nov. 4 election: that he will help the country's struggling middle class and be strong on national security, and that a victory for rival John McCain would amount to a third term for Bush.
"Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land - enough!" he said.
The speech capped the four-day Democratic National Convention, where he sought to unite a party divided after a bitter primary fight and regain momentum in the campaign against McCain.
In an audacious move, McCain sought to steal some of the political spotlight by spreading word that he had settled on a vice presidential running mate. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty canceled all scheduled appearances for the next two days, stoking speculation that he was the one.
Obama's speech was delivered in a dramatic setting, a filled sports stadium, the camera flashes in the night, the made-for-television backdrop that suggested the White House, and the thousands of convention delegates seated around the podium in an enormous semicircle.
"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," Obama said.
"America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this," he said.
Obama's speech came one day after Democrats made him the first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party. His address coincided with the 45th anniversary of one of the most critical events in the American civil rights movement: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Obama mentioned but did not dwell on the anniversary. His campaign has tried to prevent his candidacy from being defined by his race as it tries to appeal to a wide swath of the American electorate.
The Illinois senator also laid out his energy policy, promising Americans a short-term rebate of $1,000 per couple to help with rising energy costs; release of up to 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and investment of $15 billion a year over the next decade to encourage renewable energy, clean-coal technology and electric cars. "In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," Obama said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016443.html
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