Click to play videoDenver: History was made when Barack Obama said, “With profound gratitude and great humility I accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.”
It was the anniversary of the march on Washington and Dr Martin Luther King Junior's immortal “I have a dream” speech. As Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver, 80,0000 people cheered him on.
The number perhaps was a sign of the day’s importance for all Americans, not just people of colour.
Former US vice president Al Gore got a hero's welcome on this historic night. He used an interesting metaphor to challenge the idea that Obama lacks experience. “Before he entered the White House, Abraham Lincoln's experience in elected office consisted of eight years in the legislature in Springfield, Illinois, and one term in Congress,” said Gore.
But the true heart of the evening began beating when Obama strode onto the stage. Interrupted periodically by cheers and chants of “yes we can” he laid out his platform.
He promised a variety of tax cuts, an end to US dependence on foreign oil, to improve education, make a college degree affordable and to reform the ailing healthcare system.
He even explained how he'd pay for it. And when Obama swung, he swung hard. “But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 per cent of the time. It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it,” he said.
“If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have. 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,” said Obama.
Obama now faces what's likely to be a bruising general election campaign. But in a sense, the battle is already won, because while the US still struggles with the legacy of racism Obama has now shown just how far the country has come.
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