Obama says he vows to ‘fix broken politics’

DENVER—Barack Obama, launching his historic fall campaign for the White House with an outdoor Democratic National Convention extravaganza, pledged Thursday to “fix the broken politics in Washington” after he defeats Republican John McCain in the fall.

“We are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this,” Obama said.

Seeking to weld his Republican rival to the outgoing Bush presidency, Obama declared that McCain as a senator had voted with Bush 90 percent of the time. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change,” he said.

“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,” Obama said.

He said it’s time to change leadership in Washington after two terms of the Bush administration. “On Nov. 4,” he said, “we must stand up and say: ‘Eight is enough.”

Obama said that more Americans now are out of work or working harder for less, more have lost homes or are watching home values plummet, have cars they can’t afford, credit card bills they can’t pay and tuition that is beyond 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 policies of George W. Bush,” he said.

Obama said he was setting a goal “for the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet,” of ending dependence on oil from the Middle East in 10 years.

Playing on Bush’s assertion in his 2007 State of the Union address that the nation was “addicted” to foreign oil, Obama said, “Now is the time to end this addiction.”

Obama also sought to ease any concerns Americans might have that he was not prepared to be commander in chief or that Democrats were not as trustworthy as Republicans on national security.

“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,” Obama said.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he said.

Obama’s convention finale blended old-fashioned speechmaking, Hollywood-quality stagecraft and innovative, Internet age politics.

Aides pledged a direct conversation with voters about the choice between Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator, and his Republican rival, Sen. McCain of Arizona, who is turning 72 this week.

In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, thousands waited in bright sunshine to gain admission to Invesco Field at Mile High, the stadium that had been turned into Obama’s soundstage for the night at an estimated cost of $5 million.

By happenstance, the evening coincided with the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

Obama’s aides were interested in a different historical parallel — Obama was the first to deliver an outdoor convention acceptance speech since John F. Kennedy did so at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960.

In a bid to extend the convention’s reach, Obama’s campaign decided to turn tens of thousands of partisans in the stands into instant political organizers. The plan called for them to use their cell phones to send text messages to friends as well as call thousands of unregistered voters from lists developed by the campaign.

In all, Obama’s high command said it had identified 55 million unregistered voters across the country, about 8.1 million of them black, about 8 million Hispanic and 7.5 million between the ages of 18 and 24.