Obama defines his vision.

Forty five years to the day in which Martin Luther King told Americans that he "had a dream", Barack Obama stood in front of a crowd of 80,000 people and delivered a much more simple message. He said that "the failed policies of George W. Bush" were not what the United States deserved, and that America was "better than the last eight years".

He condemned, in as good a refute of Republican ideals as I have ever heard, a government that "sits on it's hands whilst a major American city drowns before our eyes".

He told us that, next week, John McCain would try and persuade us that he was the "Maverick" who could bring change, but that McCain had voted with Bush more than 90% of the time and that we shouldn't "take a 10% chance on change".

And then, in a devastating depiction of McCain and his values, he stated:

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

It's devastating because it is so kind. It's not an attack, it's an attempt to understand how someone can can get it so continually wrong. How can anyone look at the legacy of George W. Bush and think that this is something which should be continued? Only a man who lives a life of such considerable wealth, that he is unable to count how many properties he owns, could be out of touch to such an extent.

He then accurately defined the beliefs of the Republicans and of McCain:

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

He then defined the differences between how Republicans define progress and how the rest of us do:

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

And he spoke, very movingly, about his grandmother and the sacrifices that she had made so that he could stand where he was standing tonight. He spoke of how the struggles of young students reminded him of his mother's struggles. Of how he saw in the faces of young veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan the face of his own grandfather. And, in a devastating rejoinder to McCain, he stated:

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me.

Underlining his entire speech was a rejection of the Republican philosophy. The Republican mantra that "we are millionaires and you can be too if you only don't stand in the way of us amassing more" was utterly rejected. Obama is pointing out that most Americans are not in that club, and probably never will be, and that their hopes and fears and concerns are of a much more elementary nature. They want to work hard, make a decent wage, and see their kids enjoy a better lifestyle than they did. And, most importantly, unlike Republicans, most Americans do not think that "you are on your own".

Obama's story is the American dream. He embodies all that is great in that nation. And he, unlike the Republican version of that same story, has never forgotten how lucky he is to find himself in his current position, nor the debt he owes to the people who made his success possible.

He then spelt out the change that he intends to bring:

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East...

...As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

He then spelt out his plans for health care and for equal pay for women stating, "I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons".

He then rounded on what is supposed to be the Republicans strongest card:

When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And, in what I think is one of his best ever observations, he stated:

You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.

And, finally, he touched on the historic significance of the anniversary on which he was speaking:

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend. That promise is our greatest inheritance.

It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five 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.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred. But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

As Obama speeches go this one was short on rhetoric but much more substantive on policy. He set out clearly the differences between himself and McCain and articulated what defines a Democrat as opposed to a Republican.

He answered those who had defined his campaign as "just words" with a clear definition of what the change he proposes would consist of. His change explicitly rejects the Republican notion that you "are on your own" and calls for a more collective responsibility:

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

He calls for a better, fairer, and a more just America. And he points out that the United States, more than any other country on Earth, has the resources to make that dream possible; not just for the few, but for the many.

It is so rarely that a politician comes along who speaks to one's soul. But, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther's King's historic call for justice and equality, Obama spoke to mine.

And he achieved this not with soaring rhetoric and alliteration, but with the honest integrity of his vision.

Bill Clinton wasn't offering false praise, this man deserves to be the next president of the United States. And he deserves it because, unlike McCain, this man was born into the humblest of families and rose to represent the very essence of the American dream. And, as he made perfectly clear tonight, he rose to his present position without ever forgetting the enormous debt of gratitude that he owes to his family and to the country that made his journey possible.

And, as he stands on the summit of Martin Luther King's mountain, all over the world we wish him well and want him to succeed.

UPDATE:

Here's the whole speech for anyone who missed it.



UPDATE II:

Even Pat Buchanan is calling it "the greatest convention speech" he has ever seen.



Click title for Obama's transcript.

Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, US election 2008, Invesco Field