बराक ओबामा ने औपचारिक रुप से डेमोक्रैटिक पार्टी की ओर से राष्ट्रपति पद की उम्मीदवारी स्वीकार कर ली है।
उन्होंने डेमोक्रैटिक पार्टी के राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन को संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने सबको बराबर अवसर देने के अमरीकी सपनों को जीवंत रखने का वादा किया।
यह महज संयोग नहीं था कि जब अमरीका के पहले अफ़्रीकी अमरीकी उम्मीदवार बराक ओबामा अमरीकी सपनों को जीवंत रखने का वादा कर रहे थे तब मार्टिन लूथर किंग के उस भाषण की 45वीं वर्षगाँठ थी जिसमें उन्होंने कहा था, "आई हैव ए ड्रीम..."
अपने भाषण में बाद में ओबामा ने इसे याद भी किया।
डेनवर अमरीका भर से आए 84 हज़ार डेमोक्रैटिक कार्यकर्ताओं को संबोधित करते हुए बराक ओबामा ने टैक्स से लेकर ऊर्जा संकट तक और शिक्षा से लेकर स्वास्थ्य तक सभी विषयों पर अपनी बात रखी।
और अमरीकी सेना के बारे में बात करते हुए उनके चेहरे पर बुश प्रशासन की नीतियों को लेकर नाराज़गी साफ़ झलक रही थी।
विशालकाय फ़ुटबॉल स्टेडियम में उनके समर्थकों का उत्साह देखने लायक ही था।
चार दिनों से चल रहे डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी का राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन इसके साथ ही समाप्त हो गया है और डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी की ओर से चार नवंबर के राष्ट्रपति चुनाव के लिए प्रचार शुरु हो गया है।
इस चुनाव में उनके प्रतिद्वंद्वी रिपब्लिकन पार्टी के जॉन मैक्केन हैं।
'इससे बेहतर'
अमरीका के भविष्य को लेकर अपना दृष्टिकोण रखते हुए बराक ओबामा ने जॉर्ज बुश की नीतियों को आड़े हाथों लिया और कहा 'आठ साल बहुत हो गए।' उन्होंने कहा, "अमरीका पिछले आठ सालों के अमरीका से बेहतर देश है।"
बराक ओबामा ने देश की आर्थिक नीतियों में परिवर्तन करते हुए आर्थिक मंदी को दूर करने का वादा किया तो और घोषणा की कि यदि वे राष्ट्रपति बन गए तो 10 सालो के भीतर वे तेल के लिए मध्यपूर्व पर अमरीका की निर्भरता ख़त्म कर देंगे।
उन्होंने कहा, "तेल के कुँए खोदना एक अल्पकालिक विकल्प है कोई दीर्घकालिक उपाय नहीं।"
उन्होंने हर अमरीकी बच्चे को विश्व स्तर की शिक्षा मुहैया करवाने का वादा किया तो हर नागरिक को वही स्वास्थ्य सुविधाएँ देने का आश्वासन भी दिया जो अमरीकी संसद के किसी सदस्य को उपलब्ध है। इराक़ से सेना की वापसी का अपना वादा दोहराते हुए उन्होंने अपने रिपब्लिकन प्रतिद्वंद्वी जॉन मैक्केन की नीतियों की कटु आलोचना की।
बराक ओबामा ने अपने भाषण की शुरुआत हिलेरी क्लिंटन को धन्यवाद देने के साथ शुरु की और कहा कि वे अमरीका में उनकी बेटियों सहित हर लड़की के लिए एक आदर्श हैं।
पूर्व राष्ट्रपति बिल क्लिंटन के समर्थन के लिए धन्यवाद देते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि परिवर्तन की ज़रुरत को उनसे बेहतर कोई नहीं समझा सकता था।
उपराष्ट्रपति के उम्मीदवार जो बाइडन को भविष्य का राष्ट्रपति घोषित करते हुए उन्होंने उनके प्रति भी आभार जताया।
इस सम्मेलन में कार्यकर्ता पहले ही बराक ओबामा की उम्मीदवारी का अनुमोदन कर चुके हैं।
इससे पहले उपराष्ट्रपति जो बाइडन ने भी अपनी उम्मीदवारी स्वीकार की थी।
English Translation
Barack Obama promised tonight to fix the ``broken politics'' of Washington and preserve the ideals of a nation that allowed him to become the first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party.
``This moment -- this election -- is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive,'' Obama told more than 75,000 supporters at Denver's Invesco Field as he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination. ``We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight.''
Obama spoke 45 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ``I Have a Dream'' speech, and he drew on that historic legacy. His parents, a Kenyan and a white woman from Kansas, ``shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to,'' Obama said.
Democrats had high expectations for tonight's speech; it was Obama's keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 that propelled him to national prominence. He used the acceptance speech to tell Americans more about himself, while arguing that he is a better candidate to lead the country than presumed Republican nominee John McCain.
In a 45-minute address on a stage that evoked the architecture of the White House, Obama promised to cut taxes for working families and small businesses and end U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil in 10 years.
Criticizing McCain
He directly criticized McCain, tying him to the ``failed policies'' of President George W. Bush that he said were responsible for the declining fortunes of American workers.
``John McCain doesn't get it,'' Obama said. The Arizona senator subscribes to an ``old discredited Republican philosophy'' that rewards the rich and leaves others worse off, he said. ``It's time for them to own their failure,'' Obama said. ``It's time for us to change America.''
Obama said McCain voted for the president's positions 90 percent of the time.
``What does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than 90 percent of the time?'' Obama asked. ``I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.''
McCain, who turns 72 tomorrow, is set to accept his party's nomination at the Republican National Convention next week in St. Paul, Minnesota. His campaign took some of the attention away from the Democrats' convention today when officials said that McCain will announce his running mate tomorrow.
Republican Response
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds issued a statement responding to Obama's attacks.
``Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama,'' Bounds said. ``The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be president.''
Obama, 47, an Illinois senator, formally became his party's standard bearer yesterday. His former rival, Hillary Clinton, moved to nominate him by acclamation after her name was placed in nomination along with his for the party roll call.
Obama paid homage to Clinton early in his speech, saying she served as ``an inspiration to my daughters and yours.''
Early Crowd
People started filling the stadium hours before the speech, patiently walking through mazes of security and, for some, sitting in the sweltering sun. During a brief appearance yesterday at the Pepsi Center arena, where the bulk of the convention took place, Obama said he decided to move this evening's events to Invesco Field to include more people because ``change starts from the bottom up.''
The risk was that McCain's campaign might use images of Obama in the venue to press their description of Obama as more a ``celebrity'' than a leader.Obama addressed that line of attack by recounting the struggles faced by his grandmother, who helped raise him, and the laid-off workers he assisted on Chicago's South Side.
``I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine,'' he said.
In the speech, Obama also sought to answer questions raised by Republicans about his ability to act as commander-in-chief, vowing to end the war in Iraq ``responsibly,'' while saying he ``will never hesitate to defend this nation.''
`Party of Roosevelt'
``We are the party of Roosevelt,'' Obama said. ``We are the party of Kennedy. 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.''
Obama also used part of his speech to criticize the economic record of the Republicans, recounting the struggles of Americans and promising a new course.
``The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great, a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight,'' he said.
Before Obama took the stage, former Vice President Al Gore got the crowd roaring by saying the world would be different if he had won his own race against Bush in 2000. Now, Obama represents the right course, he said.
``The question facing us, simply put, is will we seize this opportunity for change?'' Gore asked. ``We must seize this opportunity to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.''
Musical performers including Jennifer Hudson, will.i.am, Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder warmed up supporters at Invesco Field as they waited for Obama's speech. Some in the crowd offered up Obama's trademark chant, ``Fired Up! Ready to Go!''
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