DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION:

HISTORY HITS HOME AS OBAMA ACCEPTS

In Vegas, cheers rise, tears fall for first black nominee

Leila Navidi

Nevada delegate Gibran Baydoun watches as Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech.

By Michael Mishak (contact), Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Obama's moment

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Winning the West

America's hopes, dreams, tensions flow through Denver's streets (8-28-2008)
Far-left wing sees its best chance in decades but frets over pace of change (8-27-2008)
How one die-hard Clinton supporter is swept from acceptance to conviction (8-27-2008)

Obama accepts nomination

For its strident politics and passion and the history of the moment, Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday enthralls his supporters at an overflowing — and tearful — TV watching party and brings deep satisfaction to a veteran civil rights activist and her niece watching quietly in their living room.

In one part of town, past the line of cars, the sign-up sheet and the buffet table of chicken wings, egg rolls, pizza and dessert, Assemblyman Harvey Munford, sitting on a bar stool, is taking it all in. More than 50 people are packed in.

Everyone — black, white, Hispanic and Asian — is glued to the big-screen TV. Joe Neal, the first African-American elected to the state Senate, is reclining in an easy chair. “I wonder what McCain is thinking right now,” he says, laughing.

The crowd, synced with the one in Denver, claps in unison.

“Yes we can,” Glynda White, a law professor at College of Southern Nevada, shouts.

As Obama formally accepts the Democratic nomination, his line is interrupted by a man standing off to the side. “Say it!” Obama finishes: “I accept ...” and he’s drowned out by cheering.

As Obama ticks through the stories of the downtrodden he’s met on the campaign trail, people chime in with choruses of acclamation: “Uh huh.”

When Obama says it’s not that McCain doesn’t care, it’s that he just doesn’t know, everyone here laughs and applauds. When Obama calls for change, everyone echoes him with chants: “Change! Change!”

Munford says he is thinking about the students he taught government to at Bonanza High School for 15 years. “No one ever thought this moment would occur,” he says.

Obama says he knows he doesn’t fit the “typical pedigree” for president. Neal chuckles and nods his head. Obama says something has stirred in the electorate, that this election has never been about him, it’s been about the people. Neal mists up.

Obama harks back to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the march on Washington.

“Oh yeah,” a woman shouts. “That was it,” another says.

Obama: “America, we can’t turn back.”

He gets a standing ovation in Munford’s living room.

“It’s on,” someone shouts.

Neal is crying now.

“To see this come to fruition in my lifetime is overwhelming,” he says, wiping away tears. “It’s beyond belief.”

A few blocks away, 76-year-old Ruby Duncan and her niece watch the speech in an apartment living room filled with plaques and proclamations attesting to Duncan’s own life as an activist.

At the very moment Obama walks onto the stage, Duncan looks to the ceiling and releases a joyous laugh.

“I’m so happy to see this in my lifetime!” she says. Overton agrees: “If I go tomorrow, I can say honestly I’d be happy.”

In Denver, Obama tells the applauding audience, “Thank you!”

“No, thank you,” Duncan replies to the TV screen. “Thank you for having the strength. They done put him through everything but a jar of peanut butter.”

Into the speech, Duncan gets a call from one of her seven children, Ronnie in Baton Rouge, La., to make sure she’s watching.

And of course she is.

She was invited to the convention, but turned it down for fear she wouldn’t be able to easily get around.

“But I was a delegate for Carter and I went to everyone after that that I could,” she says.

Now she is glowing in the moment, ebullient, shouting “Right on!” and applauding throughout Obama’s speech. “Tell them!” she tells Obama. “Tell them!”

By speech’s end, Duncan is grinning ear to ear.

“You did all right, my child,” she says to Obama. “I got it. I got it.”

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

By Matois

8/29/08 at 5:25 a.m.

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Sadly and contrary to the views of the civil rights activists, this is only a short-lived gain for "civil rights." The more the race card is played up and trumped up, the more divisiveness we can expect. I think it's fabulous that someone other than a white male obtained a nomination. We should acknowledge that, move on, and examine in detail the platforms and ideals of both candidates now. When people vote or don't vote for someone based on the color of their skin, we fully demonstrate that we've achieved nothing in the war on racism.
By Future2012

8/29/08 at 5:29 a.m.

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Obama said ''Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land--enough!''

Obama need to fix his own problems first by roping in Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

Obama is not providing a new vision of change. Obama wants to go back to past generic Democratic failures:

Raising Taxes.

Remember Clinton's tax the rich recession in 2000. Our 401k's drop by 50% , from March 24, 2000 to October 9, 2002 when the S&P 500 Index drop of 49.1%.

“Over-the-Horizon” fighting strategy.

Clinton shifted the military to an “Over-the-Horizon” fighting strategy. We have many examples of the failure of this strategy (Chinese embassy, aspirin factory, and Black Hawk down) and no successes in the 90’s. Without human intelligence, and troops on the ground, and now legal opinion backing for every strike, we cannot effectively target the terrorists and use the “Over-the-Horizon” fighting strategy.

Energy Security.

Clinton and Gore would not allow domestic drilling and took NO action on global warming or energy security in the 90’s.
By Gordon

8/29/08 at 8:03 a.m.

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Future2012 - "Obama wants to go back to past generic Democratic failures: Remember Clinton's tax the rich recession in 2000. Our 401k's drop by 50% , from March 24, 2000 to October 9, 2002 when the S&P 500 Index drop of 49.1%."

Funny that the dates you selected were mostly GWB's policies. 9/11 caused the majority of the decline. But who do you blame for our economy now after Republicans controlled congress and the presidency from 2001-2006. Hard for you to point fingers at democrats for todays Depression.

Clinton presided over the greatest economy in history. More jobs, rising pay, lower welfare, and BALANCED the budget with surpluses, just to name a few.

The value of Dow industrials was at 3235 in January 1992 and 9878 in January 2001, over 200% increase during Clinton's Presidency.

Bush started January 2001 with 9878 and the DOW as of now is 11,611 a 15% increase in 8 years. PATHETIC.

Clinton left Bush a surplus in the budget and Bush decimated the surplus into a 600 billion per year defecit. Bush doubled our national debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion. Even with 600 billion per year worth of spending that we don't have, the economy is tanking.

Any honest person who compared the two Presidents would admit Clintons tax the rich economy BLEW AWAY Bush's plan of bankrupting the nation. The stock markets are the best gauge of our economy and I detailed earlier the stock performance in both Presidencies.

Americans for once have a very clear comparison of Democrats and Repulicans economic policies. Even the wealthiest, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, have stated Clinton's economy was MUCH better and have no problem paying their fair share of taxes. Warren Buffet's quote "why should I pay a lesser percentage of my income in taxes then my secretary has to pay."

To sum it up, the proof is laid out, Democrats are much better at economic policies than Republicans.
By Gordon

8/29/08 at 8:38 a.m.

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One more thing, since you used the S&P 500 for your comparison, so will I.

January 1992 S&P 500 = 403
January 2001 S&P 500 = 1160

An almost 300% increase during Clinton's presidency.

January 2001 S&P 500 = 1160
August 2008 S&P 500 = 1287

A 10% increase during Bush's presidency.
By jfnance32

8/29/08 at 9:11 a.m.

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Obama said last night, "I am my brother's keeper."

Is he talking about the brother that lives on a $1 a month and in a shack?

I am not sure if I want him to be my brother's keeper.
By That_Anonymous_Guy

8/29/08 at 9:20 a.m.

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Nance,

Good thing the McCains are much better at helping out their relatives.

Just ask Cindy's half-sister in Phoenix.

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/cindy-mcc...
By Future2012

8/29/08 at 9:28 a.m.

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The economy does not turn on a dime it takes years to skew up or down.

Check out the graph in the USA Today 8-29-2008, bottom of page 3B. This graph show the Clinton Recession starting in 1999.

Clinton left a broken economy. It took the Bush tax cuts to turn the economy around.
By Gordon

8/29/08 at 9:59 a.m.

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"The economy does not turn on a dime it takes years to skew up or down."

You are correct, that's why Clinton's second term was much better than his first. His first term was spent filling in the holes the Republicans dug. Also, after a 300% run up, then a small decline is not a recession, the only people calling it a recession was the Bush campaign and republicans. If Bush had not done the tax cuts our economy would be much better off. Our debt is what has caused the value of the dollar to sink to record lows.

The same reason that the next president will be a 1 term president. He will be blamed for the failures that Bush passes on, and will have to spend the entire term filling in the holes.

The republicans mantra of smaller government and less taxes failed. We have the largest expansion in Government under GWB. We have the largest budgets under GWB, and the largest defecits and debt under GWB. So I guess the real Republican philosphy is Don't Tax and spend the nation into bankruptcy.

The party of true fiscal responsibility is the Democrats. History doesn't lie.

If I had a credit card that I charged $100,000 per year on, everyone would think I was doing well, but when you look deeper I would be going bankrupt.
By Gordon

8/29/08 at 9:52 p.m.

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Hey DOG: You are nothing more than an America hating terrorist. Go back to your cave, you'll be safe as long as GWB is president. But start running when Obama becomes president.

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