“The American Promise”
Democratic National Convention
August 28, 2008
Denver, Colorado
As prepared for delivery

“Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

“It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

“It is why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

“We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

“Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay and tuition that is beyond your reach



“These challenges are not all of government’s making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed presidency of George W. Bush.

“America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.”

***

“This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

“Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we’ll also hear about those occasions when he’s broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

“But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.”

***

“You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

“We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put away a little extra money at the end of each month so that you can someday watch your child receive her 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 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.

“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.”

***

“That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

“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 our 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.

“Washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he’s said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

“Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

“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 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.”

***

“We are the party of Roosevelt. 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 to restore that legacy.

“As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

“I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing so that America is once more the last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.”

###

 8/28/2008; 4:43:44 PM  

Lots of speculation in the political blogosphere about the Republican VP. Supposedly McC has already made his choice, to be announced tomorrow morning. Who do you think he chose and why? Who would be good for Democrats.. Bad?

I think Romney would be his most powerful choice, I hope he chooses Lieberman -- I think he'd be the easiest to run against. I don't see too many Republicans going for him, and no one wants a traitor a heartbeat from the Presidency esp when the Presidential candidate is 72 and a cancer survivor.

That's what I think, what do you think??

PS: Lieberman ran for the Democratic presidential nomination just 4 years ago.

Update: The AP all-but says McC has chosen Pawlenty.

 8/28/2008; 3:33:40 PM  

I just got settled in at the blogger's booth in the press section at Mile High Stadium.

The line was unbelievably long, but eventually it moved very quickly. Getting 80K people in through security in a couple of hours is a huge job. Eventually I got pushed ahead because of my media credential. I'm uploading some pictures and movies that tell the story.

Video: Hot people waiting in line.

The famous stage with the doric columns.

 8/28/2008; 2:34:37 PM  

First a disclaimer, I didn't like Bill Clinton as President. But over time my feelings toward him mellowed, and I gave him full credit for inspiring the Democrats to give Rove & Co hell in the 2006 election, winning back control of Congress.

No doubt Bill Clinton knows how to get people to work for him, he was good enough to get elected President twice, and over the years his skill has matured. But I didn't expect the tour de force I saw last night. It was the best political speech I've ever seen, he hit all the points, his gestures, his timing, his facial expressions were artfully perfect. There was something for everyone, and despite what the Republicans are saying, he charmed everyone in the hall, and probably most of the people watching on TV. If you didn't see the speech, you owe it to yourself to seek it out on the Democrats website. In the realm of politics this was a Sistine Chapel, a Mona Lisa, a Statue of Liberty.

There were so many good lines, but the one that made me laugh the loudest was when the crowd quieted down afterr chanting Yes We Can, Yes We Can, Clinton paused and began his next paragraph as if it all had been scripted (maybe it was) Yes He Can, and then talked about Obama and what a great President he will be. Everyone was happy to hear him praise the younger Future President, such graciousness begets much love in return, the way he did it, it sort of chokes you up. (Makes you wonder what the convention would have been like if Hillary had won.)

So Bill Clinton now occupies a position that no one else has occupied in the age of television and the Internet, the powerfully charming super-statesman, two-term ex-president, still young, unlike Reagan, with many years to go before retiring. A far cry from the lout who campaigned so aggressively and unfairly, and reminded us that lurking inside that statesman's body is a child who, when he loses control, can be very dangerous to himself and the rest of us.

Update: The Clinton speech is on Youtube via CSPAN.

 8/28/2008; 9:46:49 AM  

I brought both my trusty but big 17-inch MacBook Pro and the tiny Asus Eee PC. I was hoping the Asus would be up to being my sole reporting notebook, that I wouldn't have to lug both computers with me from event to event.

I was concerned that the keyboard would prove too small for writing, and that the Windows-based tools would prove too unfamiliar, but I'm happy to report that the Asus performed like a champ. The MacBook stayed at home during the DNC, and my load was light, with just the tiny Asus, which got a lot of attention, people wanted to know about the tiny computer, and were amazed that it cost just $600.

The Sprint EVDO and Siera wireless modem also worked flawlessly everywhere in Denver, in the Pepsi Center, backstage, in Starbucks (where I'm writing this now).

Further, the keyboard works, even though I have huge hands and fat fingers. You can learn how to touch type on this keyboard, as I write this I'm loooking out the window at the traffic on 16th St, and only had to look at the key board to ffind the numeric keys. Otherwise, I l4eft the errors in so you could see how accurate you can be with this keyboard.

The machine does go to sleep for a few seconds while I'm typing from time to time, very annoying. I hope to get to the bottom of why it's doing this and stop it.

The only thing I wish it had was more space on disk. I got the model with a solid state disk, I guess it's Flash memory? It's split into two virtual drives, about 10GB total. Not enough storage. I supplemented it with a 16GB SD card, but that's a bit of a PITA because that's how I get pictures off my camera, so I'm always swapping the SDs out. Pretty sure I'm going to lose one eventually.

One thing I haven't figured out is what Paint program to use for cropping and resizing graphics. That's why you don't see pictures in the margins of my writing this week. I have very modest needs. I used to use Adobe ImageReady but I don't know how to install it on this computer becausee it doesn't have a CD drive. If anyone can recommend a lightweight and easy, but good picture editing program for Windows, it would be much appreciated.

But net-net I'm happy, my back is happy. It's been hot here in Denver this week and being able to move around without the MacBook has been a pleasure. Oddly, I don't mind using XP at all and I go back and forth between it and the Mac without problem, so far.

Photo: Size comparison -- MacBook vs Asus.

 8/28/2008; 9:56:29 AM  

When I was in Boulder on Sunday, David Cohen and Brad Feld, the organizers of TechStars, kindly set up four meetings for me with Boulder startups they thought I'd find interesting. It was great fun! Bright motivated people with big ideas, the discussions were interesting and I learned a lot.

One of the companies is EventVue, who, like a company I invested in last year, is doing software to manage online communities around physical world conferences. Their customers are the conferences themselves. EventVue helps participants find each other, and gives them tools to describe and share their experinces at the conference.

This week they're announcing that they have a customer that you'd think they'd pay for the priviledge of serving, the DEMOfall conference in San Diego, Sept 7-9. But to my surprise, they're being paid for providing the service. It should prrovide some very valuable exposure to this Colorado-based startup.

The DEMO announcement is online now, as is a site Scripting News readers can explore to get an idea of how the service works.

I hope to write up the other companies as they have stories to tell.

I should meet with random startups more often -- I get ideas and get my enthusiasm for tech entrepreneurship is renewed.

 8/28/2008; 3:04:52 AM