Most important of all, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home. (Cheers, applause.) People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.
I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other serious conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn't afford health care and couldn't qualify their children for Medicaid unless they quit work and starved or got a divorce.
Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of?
What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by multiple, multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and unlimited favors for the well-connected? (Booing, jeering.)(Applause.) And what about Katrina and cronyism? (Booing, jeering.)
My fellow Democrats, America can do better than that. (Cheers, applause.) And Barack Obama will do better than that!
Yes, he can, but first, we have to elect him.
They took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families' incomes for nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5 1/2 million driven into poverty -- (boos) -- and millions more losing their health insurance. (Boos.) Now, in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same.
Think about it: more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality and weaken the economy; more Band-Aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured; more going it alone in the world instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.
They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. (Boos.) Now, let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America; a simple message. Thanks but no thanks. (Cheers, applause.) In this case, in this case, the third time is not the charm.
16 years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity. (Cheers, applause.) Together we prevailed in a hard campaign, in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief. (Cheers, applause.)
Sound familiar?
It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.
His achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward the more perfect union of our Founders' dreams. The values of freedom and equal opportunity, which have given him his historic chance, will drive him as president to give all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability, their chance to build a decent life -- (cheers, applause) -- and to show our humanity, as well as our strength to the world.
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