Barack Obama accepts presidential nomination of Democratic party

DENVER -- Voters must choose between continuing Republican failures or a future that restores hope in the success of the American dream, Barack Obama argued tonight as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama, 47, stood on an elaborate podium in the Denver Broncos football stadium and made the points that won him the nomination during a brutal primary season. The Illinois senator, the first African American to be the presidential nominee of a major party, called for a new politics based on traditional American values such as hard work.

 

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Obama gave the party faithful something to take home as they began what is expected to be a fierce general election campaign. He attacked his Republican rival, John McCain, for being no more than a continuation of the failures of the Bush administration.

"America, we are better than these last eight years," he said. "We are a better country than this."

It was a message that most here have heard before, but it was geared to the Republicans and independents watching on broadcast and cable networks and over the Internet. Those are the voters who likely will hold the balance in the November election.