captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: good evening from the timewarner cable arena in charlotte, north carolina nk, where they say they are fired up and ready to go. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: i'm jood your woodruff. we welcome to you to the final day of 2012 democratic convention. >> ifill: tonight barack obama accepts his party's nomination for a second term.

>> woodruff: presidential historians miesh yale beschloss and richard norton smith are standing by in washington. ray suarez is down on the floor. >> ifill: we go to the podium where caroline kennedy has just begin goon speak. >> fighting for jobs, giving hope to the hopeless and working day in and day out for the america he believes in. i was inspired by barack obama's vision for america, an america where we look out for one another wrrk we take responsibility for our sisters and brothers, and most of all for our children. back then i was inspired about it promise of barack obama's presidency. today i'm inspired by his record. [cheers and applause] over the past four years, we've had a president who has committed himself and his administration to the values that made america great. economic fairness, equal

opportunity, and the belief that if each of us gives back to this country we love and all of us work together, there's no challenge we cannot overcome. [ applause ] those are the ideals that my father and my uncle fought for. those are the ideals i believe in and this election is about whether we will advance those ideals or let them be swept away. like my father's election in 1960 this, is one of -- 1960, this is one of those elections where the future of our country is sat stake. -- is at stake. [cheers and applause] and women and children from the most on the line. the president has been a champion for women's rights. the first bill he signed was to make sure women could fight for equal pay for equal work. his commitment to women is about

even more than economic rights. it's about health care, reproductive rights and our ability to make our own decisions about ourselves, our families and our future. when it comes to what is best for women there's only one candidate in this race who is on our side: barack obama. [cheers and applause] as a catholic woman i take reproductive health seriously and today it is under attack. this year alone more than a dozen states have passed more than 40 restrictions on women's access to reproductive health care. that's not the kind of future i want for my daughters or your daughters. now isn't the time to roll back the rights we were winning when my father was president. now is the time to move this country forward. [cheers and applause] president obama has shown the

same commitment when it comes to our children. he has put our ideals into action for the next generation. he has inspired them to get involved. he has listened to their ideas and he has committed us all to building a better future for them. he has challenged states to raise standards for teaching and learning and almost all of them v. he has fought for early childhood education, putting outstanding teachers in every classroom and making college accessible to all young dreamers. [cheers and applause] i know barack obama will fight for women and children and all americans because he has proven it. he has the quality my father most admired in public life: courage. [cheers and applause] despite critics who said it wasn't good politics, president obama listened to my uncle teddy

and staked his presidency on making health care accessible to all americans. [cheers and applause] despite an opponent who wanted to let detroit go bankrupt, this president saved the auto industry and now it's coming back strong. [cheers and applause] he not only demonstrated the courage to oppose the war in iraq, as president he showed the determination to bring our troops back home. [ applause ] barack obama is the kind of leader my father wrote about in "profiles and courage." he doesn't just do what is easy, he does what is hard. he does what is right.

my father couldn't run for a second term. it was left to his brothers, his family and the generation they inspired to fight for the america they believed in. now it's up to a new generation our children's generation to carry america forward. so let me say to the young and the young at heart, barack obama is only president because you worked for him because you believed in him because uconn vinceed your parents to vote for him. young people have always led america towards a brighter future. it happened in 1960. it happened in 2008 and if you show the same spirit in this election as you did in the last, i know that we'll make history again on november 6. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> woodruff: caroline kennedy daughter of late president john f kennedy, niece to the late

senator ted kennedy. now down ray on the floor. >> suarez: just a short time ago joe biden was officially renominated as the democratic candidate for vice president of the united states. he will be speak later this will evening introduced by his wife dr. jill biden. then his mentor and friend senator dick durbin will introduce the president of united states for the acceptance speech. this crowd has been on its feet much of evening and the hall is very crowded. the crowd got up as one and roared its ak race for former -- acclamation for former congresswomanwoman gabrielle ge towards of arizona felled by a devastating gun shot to the head. slowly, painstakingly and with her friend debbie wasserman schultz of florida she came to the stage to lead the pledge of allegiance. [cheers and applause]

>> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indif indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> ifill: that was some moment. >> woodruff: it was. i don't think there were many dry eyes. >> ifill: joining us in the sky box is madeleine albright former secretary of state. welcome. >> very good to be with you. >> ifill: we're having a remarkable convention. maybe we'll see it tonight but we haven't seen it so far is say lot of discussion about national security and foreign policy. there was not much at the

republican convention either. is that by design? >> no, i think people are focused on our economy here at home, jobs, the health care issue, women's issues but it all fits within a picture of national security and we'll hear about it tonight. senator kerry is going to speak about it. obviously the president will, too. we didn't hear a lot at the republican convention. we didn't hear afghanistan mentioned by governor romney. >> woodruff: what are the main differences would you say between at proach of president obama and governor romney when it comes to national security and foreign policy? >> i think it's part of the theme generally looking forward. what president obama is going to talk about, has talked about, is america's role in the future. i think governor romney and his people are basically looking back. their policy works for the 20th century but not the 21st. >> ifill: the afghanistan extricating gets more

complicated every day. how does this president show those who will vote for him he has a plan that will work. >> he said says it will end in 2014, the troops will come out. this president keeps his word and he's going to do that he also said we wouldn't turn our back completely on afghanistan in terms of civilian activities, training and i think that will go forward because it isn't just for the people of afghanistan but also for our security in a region that is very clie dated -- complicated. >> woodruff: do you think it's clear that this has been a suck snenches i do think it's clear. he study the issue -- studied the issue care felix i admire the way he makes decisions. he got the advice of many and made up his own mind. it made it clear a surge was a good idea but it ends and that

is what president obama has promised. >> madam secretary, we'll hear from john kerry, former presidential nominee who famously asked the question about vietnam which can be asked legitimately about afghanistan in 2014. how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? >> i think afghanistan itself going in there was not a mistake. i supported president bush. it was in retaliation for 9/11. the mistake was made by president bush by taking his eye off what was happening in afghanistan and going towards iraq. i do think our military, our patriots, they know why they are fighting, and i think that the president has made very clear that we're coming out. and has explained what the mission is about. >> the president gave a rock solid promise that iran will not get nuclear weapons period. how do you think it's going? how will he end up resolving that or the next president? >> i think it's a serious issue? we've seen the international

atomic energy association not give a good report on it. the way president obama has been working with the national community to put pressure on iran. that will continue. i think it's been a major victory in terms of multilateral action. i think the sanctions are very tight, the ones the europeans have put in. we have to wait to see how they work. the president has said containment is not an option and he has left all options on the table. i think it's very important to continue with that posture and ultimately he has said that he will not, in fact, allow iran to have nuclear weapons. we're watching the process. >> ifill: traditionally democrats are the ones with a disadvantage of foreign policy and national security issues. this year it seems turned upside down. how did you look at that advantage if it exists? i think what is important, president obama -- people need

to understand osama bin laden is dead. it's a very big deal and a very important decision that the president made. also he has worked very hard on dealing with nuclear proliferation generally, dealing with issues about how we work with our partners. we're stronger if we work with partners and i think that what we're going to hear tonight is a forward looking foreign policy in which americans are safe and we live in a more stable world where other countries are able to choose their own leaders and where the growing gap between the rich and poor internationally is narrowed. i think it is a very important aspect, and the part that i always have maintained is that domestic and foreign policy are intertwined. there's no question that a lot of issues we deal with in the united states, such as the economic situation is in fact tied to other parts of world. >> woodruff: what do you make of the steady drumbeat of criticism of this president and

his administration for not being a loyal enough ally to israel? this is connected to the iran question but it seems to keep coming up over and over again. there was a dispute that arose here at this convention yesterday when language about jerusalem being the capital of israel had been taken out and put back in. there was a loud chorus of no's when that happened. >> i find this whole thing strange because president obama has been an amazing ally and partner of israel. this administration has provided incredible assistance to israel, the iron dome project, military aircraft to keep the military edge, quawl tative edge that israel needs. and we've heard from israelis that they feel that president obama has been -- and the united states a great alley. i think from what i understand it was the president who wanted to make sure that part of the platform in terms of jerusalem

being the undivide the capital of israel was in there and it's a final status issue. i don't think anybody should have doubts about the president's support and loyalty in terms of our relationship with israel. >> those were democrats saying nay and booing on the floor yesterday? what was that a misunderstand something in. >> i think probably. i honestly don't know. i think not everybody pay as tension. i think there's no question that the democratic party and president obama has been a very good supporter of israel. >> secretary al bright this is a quadriennial exercise i think. they have to establish jerusalem as the capital of israel, undivided, they run on it, get support on it and once they are in office they never do it. what is the reason the president has not previously made that change? is it just a campaign to get the folks revved up issue or is it a

legitimate case? >> i think it's a legitimate case. the problem is, and i have been very much a part of negotiations, is there's a series of issues left for final status and that is one of them because as negotiations are carried on you try to figure out how one thing works with another. it's been a part of democratic platform. it's something that is important. i think also as negotiations go forward, you know, that in fact there's been a series set aside for final status issue also in the platform. >> the democratic party was generally upset with president bush for trying people and holding people without due process, right? since then president obama has made liberal use of drone, to kill people without a lot of hearings and rights including an american citizen. do you have a problem with the drones, do you think people in the party have a problem wit? >> i don't think so. probably too long an answer but

when we were involved in the air war in kosovo people would say you should have boots on the ground. i kept saying we're getting rid of a terrible policy where there's ethnic cleansing, why not use an air war if it works? i think the drone policy is one in which those who are trying to kill us are being taken care of through the drone policy and i think there's a legitimate use for it. [cheers and applause] >> woodruff: madeleine albright the former secretary of state good to see you and thank you for joining us. >> great to see you. >> woodruff: we appreciate you hanging in there over this particularly loud moment at the convention. >> i admire you for being here. >> ifill: we're okay with that. that is jennifer granholm, the former michigan governor s the host of her own cable show now on a left leaning cable network owned by al gore. >> woodruff: she left office

popular, michigan being a battleground state. she has everybody fired up. let's listen. >> who took the wheel? barack obama. what america was losing 750,000 jobs per month, who give us a lift? barack obama. when american markets broke down who jumpstarted our engine, barack obama. when america needed it most who got us rolling again on the road to recovery? barack obama america, we need to rev up your engines in your car and on your ballot the d is for drive forward, the r is for reverse in this election. we're driving forward not back. let's reelect our great president barack obama.

>> ifill: i've had many opportunities to interview her and i've never seen anything like that. >> woodruff: i was going to say the same thing i interviewed her in her office when she was governor of michigan and her demeanor was milder. >> strange things happen when people host a television show. >> ifill: talk about fired up and ready to go. >> she was born in canada. it was she's highly caffeinated tonight. >> at the least. >> ifill: we go to the podium for the actress from desperate housewives but also a surrogate and activist for the obama campaign eva longoria. >> hello, charlotte. i have to say hello to texas. [cheers and applause] i have to tell you, i've been on a lot of stages in my life but none as important as this one.

i am honored to be here as cochair of president obama's reelection campaign. [cheers and applause] i feel fortunate to be standing on this stage tonight and i never could have imagined it growing up. i was born in corpus christi, texas. [cheers and applause] i'm the youngest of four girls including my oldest sister lisa who has special needs. my mom was a special education teacher and my dad worked on the army base. we weren't wealthy, but we were determined to succeed because in my family there was one card nal priority: education. you see, for me, college was not an option it was mandatory. so even though we didn't have a lot of money, we made it work. i signed up for financial aid, pell grants, work study, anything i could. and just like our president and

first lady, i took out loans to pay for school. i changed oil in a mechanic he's shop, i flipped burgers at wendy's, i taught aerobics and worked to pay them back. like a lot of you i did whatsoever it took and four years later i got my degree. [cheers and applause] but more importantly i got a key to american opportunity because that's who we are. a nation that rewards ambition with opportunity, where hard work can lead to success no matter where you start. as i travel the country for the president, i see americans of every background fighting to succeed. they are optimistic, they are ambitious, they are hard working but they also want to know that their hard work will pay off. and we're lucky that our president understands the value of american opportunity because he has lived it. [cheers and applause]

and he is fighting to help other as chief it. he is fighting to make college more affordable. he has cut taxes for every working american. he is helping small businesses get loans and it's cut their taxes 18 times. [cheers and applause] 18 times. and that's important. i'll tell you why: because small businesses create two out of every three new jobs in america. it's the suburban dad who realizes his neighborhood needs a dry cleaner. it's the latina nurse whose block needs a health clinic and she's going to open it or it's the high school sophomore building facebook's competitor. it's they who are building the economy not mitt romney's outsourcing pioneers. mitt romney would raise taxes on middle class families to cut his own and mine.

and that's not who we are as a nation. let me tell you why. because the eva longoria who worked at wendy's flipping burgers, she need a tax break. but the eva longoria who works on movie sets does not. [cheers and applause] president obama he is fighting for changes that grow the economy from the middle out and help all americans succeed. jobs, education, health reform, the dream act -- [cheers and applause] -- equal pay for women. president obama is moving us forward with opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. mitt romney wants to take us back to yesterday. and that's not going to work because america was built by optimists. optimists like manipulate friend amanda who recently started a small business. she went to buy her web site

address, her first and last name. somebody owned it but wasn't using it. she asked to bite. the owner wrote back. she's a 13-year-old girl who shares amanda's name. she politely explained she could not give up the web site. why? because the younger amanda plans to be president of the united states one day. [cheers and applause] and she's going to need the web site for her campaign. so here say little girl, a 13 years old, who believes she can build her american dream. and here is a president who is building an america where that dream is possible. so let's fight for the american dream. amanda's, yours, mine, all of ours and we know how to do that. let's reelect president obama!

>> woodruff: in a convention program where they are mixing famous people actor like eva long goral. earlier we heard from scalt johansson, kerry washington with politicians we have one of the politicians coming up. the governor of the state of montana brian schweitzer. >> settle down. settle down, montana. settle down. we've got work to do. settle down. [cheers and applause] i know mitt romney. we were governors at the same time. both elected straight from the business world. we traveled together to iraq and afghanistan, spend a week in a war zone with a guy and you really get to know him.

we traded stories about our early years. his as a missionary in france and mine as a soil scientist in libya and saudi arabia. we talked about family, religion, business, energy, war and peace and the future of america. i'll it will you this: mitt is a good man, a good family man and a local american. [ applause ] but -- [ laughter ] -- and you knew there was a but -- he brought the wrong agenda to massachusetts and he is the wrong guy to be president of united states. [cheers and applause] now governor mitt romney saddled massachusetts taxpayers with an additional $2.6 billion in debt and left them with the most debt

per capita of any state in america. in montana, that dog don't hunt. remember those words, i might ask you to say them. governor mitt romney cut higher education by 14% in his first year which meant that college education sky rocketed for students in massachusetts. now i guess that's okay if you can afford it. but for the rest of us, that dog don't hunt. now governor mitt romney raised taxes and fees by $750 million a year. now i'm going to let you in on a little secret, when a politician doesn't want to be honest about a tax hike, he calls it a fee.

now mitt raised taxes -- i mean fees on driver's licenses, on school bus rides, on mental health services, and even on milk. [audience boos] but here is the one that gut the burr under my saddle, he quadrupled the fee for a gun license. now -- just maybe that's okay for a guy who hunts varmint but for the rest of us, that dog don't hunt! mitt, you can't just etch-a-sketch away your record. taxes up, cost of college up,

debt up, help me out here, new business starts down, manufacturing, down, median household income down, economic growth, down. you know if private equity milt milt -- mitt romney met governor mitt romney woe do what he says he likes to do, woe fire him and outsource his job -- he would fire him and outsource his job. let me tell you how we get'er done in montana. clinton arithmetic. yeah. clinton arit ma tick. we've had record budget surpluses every year i've been governor, averaging more than

$400 million in surplus. evening during the great recession we invested more new money in education than ever before, frozen tuition at our colleges for the longest period ever and get this: we increased the percentage of adults with college degrees faster than any other state. well, we cut more taxes for more people than any governor in montana history and we vetoed republican tax increases. and our bond rating was upgraded. now montana is moving in the right direction and so is america. when president obama took office the economy was in freefall losing more than 800,000 jobs a month. since then he has helped create

4.5 million private sector jobs and 29 straight months of job growth. stock market has doubled. energy production sup. imports from foreign country are down. the number of rigs drilling for oil in the united states has more than quadrupled. manufacturing jobs are coming back and not just because we're producing a record amount of natural gas lowering electricity prices but because we have the best trained, hardest working labor force in the history of the world. [cheers and applause] we're demanding more from our schools. but we're backing up that demand by investing more in teachers, increasing financial aid and doubling funding for pell grants. now, while he was doing all of

that, president obama cut our taxes. he cut taxes 18 times for small businesses. he cut taxes by $3600 for the typical middle class family. now that dog does hunt. governor romney, he said that finding osama bin laden was and i'll quote him "not worth moving heaven and earth." [audience boos] well, tonight bin laden isn't on earth, sure isn't in heaven and thanks to the courage of american special forces and the bold leadership of our president, osama bin laden is at the bottom of the ocean. [cheers and applause]

all for -- all four of my grandparents were immigrants. they homesteaded the montana prairie with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and faith in god, and the hope in their hearts that their kids and grand kids would have a better ture. they delivered on that hope. and so has president obama. [cheers and applause] now -- now it's our turn to deliver, not just for the president but for our kids, for our grandkids. this election is about their education, their health care, their freedom, their dignity, their hope and their future. are we going to deliver? are we going to keep america moving forward? [audience says yes] >> are we going to hire the guy to finish the job for four more

years? how many years? >> four more years! >> how many years? >> four more years. >> you got it. let's get to work, america. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. >> ifill: that's brian schweitzer the 57-year-old second term governor of montana. everybody seems to be work on a big response and that's what we got from him. very folksy as well. next up former florida governor charlie crist. he siewz used to be a republican -- >> good evening. thank you. what an incredible night. optimism is in the air. and what an honor to be here with you to stand with president

barack obama. [cheers and applause] half a century ago, ronald reagan, the man whose optimism was inspiring to me to enter politics he famously said he did not leave the democratic party but the party left him. listen, i can relate. i didn't leave the republican party, it left me. [cheers and applause] then again, my friend jeb bush recently noted reagan himself would have been too moderate, too reasonable for today's g.o.p. we face serious challenges in our country. we must create good middle class jobs so we can have an economy that is built to last. we must rebuild our roads and bridges and improve our public schools. and particularly important to me and my state of florida is the challenge of saving medicare and

social security so we can keep our promise to our seniors. but there are commonsense solutions within our reach. if we only have leaders who are willing and enthusiastic to find common ground. no political party has a monopoly on that kind of leadership. buts a former life-long republican, it pains me to tell you that today's republicans and their standard barriers, mitt romney and paul ryan, just aren't up to the task. [cheers and applause] they are beholden to the my way or the highway bullies, indebted to billionaires who bank roll their ads and allergic to the very idea of compromise. ronald reagan would not have stood for that. barack obama does not stand for that. you and i will not stand for

that. [cheers and applause] i'll be honest with you, i don't agree with president obama about everything but i've gotten to know him. i've worked with him and the choice is crystal clear. when he took office the economic crisis had already put my state of florida on the edge of disaster. the foreclosure crisis was consuming homeowners, the tourists we depend on couldn't visit and the vital construction industry had come to a standstill. president obama saw what i saw. a catastrophe in the making and he took action. [cheers and applause] one of his first trips to office brought him to fort myers, florida where i was proud to support him and his plan to keep our teachers, police and firefighters on the job. [cheers and applause]

well, that hug caused me more grief from my party than you can ever imagine. but even as the republican party fought tooth and nail to stop him, this president showed his courage, invested in america and saved our florida. [cheers and applause] two years later, florida and the gulf coast faced the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history. this time when a ruptured well spilled nearly five million barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico, president obama came to the rescue again. leading a massive cleanup effort and demanding accountability from those responsible. my friends, he didn't see a red state. he didn't see a blue state. he simply saw americans who needed help. and once again -- once again, i

saw the leader our country needs. you know -- [cheers and applause] i used to play quarterback down the road from here at wake forest university. [cheers and applause] go deacons! my dad always told me, charlie, it tooks a cool head to win a hot game. my friends our country is in the middle of a hot game. we face challenges at home and aboard. our poll trikdz defined by discord and discontent. never has it been harder for a president to keep a cool head and never has it been more important. i look around florida, i see a state bursting with diversity and opportunity. a state that looks like america's future. when i look at the republican ticket today i see two candidates who would break the fundamental promise of medicare and social security and cut investments on the middle class

that are so important to our recovery. and then i look at barack obama. i see a leader way cool head, a caring heart, and a open mind. a president who has demonstrated through his demeanor, his grace, and his deeds that he is uniquely qualified to heal our division, rebuild our nation. that's the leader florida needs. that's the leader america needs. that's the reason i'm here tonight. not as a republican. not as a democrat but simply as an american who understands that we must come together behind the one man who can lead the way forward in these challenging times, my president, your president, barack obama. god bless you and god bless america. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> woodruff: charlie crist who was the governor of florida. he was a republican and you heard him say he didn't leave

the republican party but the republican party left him. we want to bring in our presidential historian michael beschloss and richard norton smith. one thing he spoke about was a division between the two parties he talked about -- he is particularly disliked inside the republican party. he talked about how the republican party has gone too far to the right. republicans talk about how the democrats are too far to the left. michael beschloss bring us sense of historical perspective. when has this country been so divide the politcally? and how did it country work through it? >> if you are asking literally it's 1861 and they did it with a civil war. fortunately we're not that bad off. one way to look is look at congress. there's a good study that just came out that remarked on the fact that the divide between the two parties, house and to some extend and senate as well, is

greater perhaps than it has been in memory. that is something that in recent years is a development very different from the whole of american history. you know, the founders originally they wanted us to duke it it over big issues, argue as strenuously as possible but at the end of day have a tank of ale together. what they hoped for has not come to pass. >> woodruff: richard? >> the single biggest change in american politics, i would argue, is that 50 years ago we had parties that had wings. parties that were proud of the fact that they mered america. there were liberal republicans and there were conservative democrats. it's interesting franklin roosevelt in his time, barry goldwater in his team, each believed that we needed to have -- >> woodruff: going have to

interrupt richard. my apologies we're going to interrupt and good down to the floor for john kerry, the senator from massachusetts. we'll come back to you later. >> thank you. thank you. in this campaign we have a fundamental choice. ll be protect our country -- will we protect our country and our allies, advance our interests in our deals, do battle where we must and make peace where we can? or will we entrust our place in the world to someone who just hasn't learned the lessons of the last decade. we've all learned, mitt romney doesn't know much about foreign policy but he has all these neoconadvisors who know all the wrong things about foreign policy. he would rely on them. after all, he is the great outsourcer. but i say to you: this is not the time to outsource the job of

commander in chief. [cheers and applause] our opponents -- our opponents like to talk about american exceptionalism but all they do is talk. they forget that we're exceptional not because we say we are but because we do exceptional things. we break out of the great depression, win two world wars, save lives fighting aids, pull people out of poverty, defend freedom, go to the moon and produce exceptional people who even give their lives for civil rights and for human rights despite -- and despite -- and despite what you heard in tampa, an exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet. [cheers and applause] that -- that is a responsibility -- that say -- is

a sponlts -- responsibility of the scriptures and the responsibility of leader of free world. the only exceptional thing about the republicans is almost without exception they oppose everything that has made america in the first place. an exceptional nation demands exceptional leadership. it demands the leadership of an exceptional president and my fellow americans that president is barack obama. [cheers and applause] just measure the disaster and disarray that he inherited. a war of choice in iraq had become a war without end and a war of necessity in afghanistan had become a war of neglect. our alliances were shredded, our moral authority in at that timers, america was isolated in the world. our military was stretched to

the breaking point. iran marching toward a nuclear weapon, unchecked and osama bin laden was still plotting. it took president obama to make america lead like america again. it took president obama to restore our moral authority. it took president obama to ban torture. the president understands that our values don't limit our power they nag any of phi it. they showed that global leadership is a strategic imper imperative for america. in the a fair we doctor favor we do to other countries and president obama kept his promises. he promised to end the war in iraq and he has. and our heros have come home. he promised to end the war in afghanistan responsibly and he

is, and our heros are coming home. he promises to focus like a laser on al qaeda and he has. and our forces have eliminated more of its leadership in the last three years than in all the eight years that came before. [cheers and applause] and after more than -- after more than ten years without justice for thousands of americans murdered on 9/11, after mitt romney said it would be naive to go to pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took president obama against the advice of many to give that order and finally rid this earth of osama bin laden. [cheers and applause] ask osama bin laden if he is better off now than he was four

years ago! [cheers and applause] barack obama promised always to stand with israel, to tighten sanctions on iran and take nothing off the table. again and again the other side has lied about where this president stands and what this president has done but prime minister netanyahu set the record straight. he said "our two countries have exactly the same policy. our security cooperation is unprecedented, and when it comes to israel, my friends, i'll take the word of israel's prime minister over mitt romney anyway. [cheers and applause] president obama promised to work with russia, to reduce the

threat of nuclear weapons and sign an historic treaty that does just that. he promises to lock down materials around the world and he has done just that. he refused to accept the false choice between force without diplomacy and diplomacy without force. when a brutal dictator promised to hunt down and kill his own people like rats, president obama enlisted our allies, built the coalition, shared the burden, so that today without a single american casualty moammar gaddafi is gone and the people of libya are free. [cheers and applause] so on one side -- so on one side of this campaign we have a president who has made america lead like america again. and what is there on the other side?

an extreme and expedient candidate who lacks the judgment and vision so vital to the oval offense, the most inexperienced foreign policy two-some to run for president and vice president in decades. it isn't fair to say that mitt romney doesn't have a position on afghanistan. he has every position. he was against -- he was against setting a date for withdrawal then he said it was right and then he left the impression that maybe it was wrong to leave this soon. he said it was tragic to leave iraq and then he said it was fine. he said we should have intervened in libya sooner and ran down a hallway to run away from reporters asking questions. then he said the intervention was too aggressive and then he said the world was a better place because the intervention succeeded.

talk about being for you before you were against it! mr. romney -- mr. romney here say little advice: before you debate barack obama on foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself! [cheers and applause] president mitt romney -- president mitt romney, three very hyperlet call word -- hypothetical words that mystified our allies this summer. an overseas trip for him is what you call it when i trip all over

your self-overseas. i wasn't a goodwill mission it was a blooper reel. but -- but a romney ryan foreign policy would be anything but funny. everything president of both parties for 60 years has worked for nuclear arms control but not mitt romney. republican secretary of states from kissinger to baker, powell to rice, president bush, 71 united states senators all supported president obama's new start treaty, but not mitt romney. he has even blurted out the preposterous notion that russia is the number one geopolitical foe. folks, sarah palin said she could see russia from alaska. mitt romney talks like he has only seen russia by watching "rocky iv." i tell you.

-- so here is the choice -- here is the choice in 2012, mitt romney out of touch at home, out of his depth aboard, and out of the mainstream, or barack obama a president giving new life and truth to america's indispenseible role in the world, a commander in chief who gives our troops the tools and training they need and more the honor and help they have earned when they come home. a man -- a man -- a man who will never ask other men and women to fight a war without a plan to win the peace. [cheers and applause] and let me say -- let me say something else. let me say something else: no

nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to troops overseas in his acceptance speech. mitt romney -- mitt romney was talking about america. they are on the frontlines every day defending america and they deserve our thanks. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting u.s.a.] some of us -- some of us -- some of us from a prior war remember coming home was not always easy. president obama has made it his mission that we welcome our troops home with care and concern and the respect they deserve. that is how an exceptional nation says thank you to its

most exceptional men and women. mitt romney says he believes in america and that he will restore american exceptionalism. i have news for him: we already have an exceptional america in its president and we believe in barack obama. thank you and god bless america. [cheers and applause] >> ifill: john kerry, senator from massachusetts, the nominee of his party in 2004, the year that barack obama gave his keynote speech delivering a pretty harsh foreign policy indictment against mitt romney and paul ryan, mocking the republican nominee, invoking asking -- turning the question around which republicans have been asking are you better off four years ago he said ask osama bin laden if he is better off than he was four years and calling romney-ryan the most inexperienced foreign policy twosome to run for president and

vice president in decades. >> ifill: we'll talk about that and much more after we come back after this short break. we'll be back live in a few moments. you can continue watching our broadcast on the livestream.

>> woodruff: welcome back to the pbs coverage of the 2012 democratic national convention. i'm judy woodruff. >> i'm gwen ifill, the democrats did not get a free ride this week. we will talk about that and first we want to ask mark shields you heard john kerry with amazing speech. >> first, i was compared to bill clinton's speech there are two ways to deliver hash attacks

clinton more effective. styleisticly he makes good points. romney has been desperate to establish difference with obama and said silly things. on the other hand if he talks to advisors, the romney advisors and the obama advisors were not in a period of polarization. there is a lot of agreement. >> seeing the defense despite an aboutface and john kerry if he had been thatte energized in the 2004 campaign it might have had a different result. that was a john kerry i had not seen with a confidence and intensity and passion not there. and actually makes fun of himself. he said before mitt romney was for it he was against it which was reminiscent of john kerry's own misstatement in that 2004 campaign, concerning aid to iraq that voted for it before he voted against it.

>> well, we are we want to go now to hari sreenivasan and when we were in tam park a reminder, we talked with dick durbin and today hari sreenivasan sat down with bob mcdonald here in charlotte. >> as part of the rebut tall team you've watched the campaign roll its narrative out for the past few days. what do you think? >> both parties try to showcase the best and brightest points and the surrogates and the principles during the campaigns. a lot of it is aimed at the independent voters on tv. but a lot is enthusing the base the people that are there. the bottom line what i see is bill clinton gave a great speech. michelle obama gave a very personal and good speech for her husband. president obama is will give a wonderful speech tonight he is very good. and at the end of the day this is what happen what matters.

monday we have the announcement that gas prices doubled and we have the highest labor in the country. and we have the highest deficit. when the speeches are done tonight tomorrow we will get the jobs report and it will show 43 months in a row over 8% unemployment. 23 million americans are out of work. at the end of the day, the speakers are nice and this is a serious election in serious times. and it comes down to whether or not president obama's policies have worked and when you look at the numbers by any real measure you have to say they have not worked. >> so the campaign seemed to be painting two different visions of america. based on perhaps similar experiences that people have undergone over the last couple of years. the romney campaign says perhaps are you not better off than you were four years ago and the obama campaign is saying listen it is tough but we inherited a deep mess and we are climbing out of it and things are

positive. how do i make sense of that? >> the president is right, he did not create the problem. he just made it worse. and all you have to do is look at the debt numbers and the job numbers and where he started and where he is now. and president clinton team player did a good job saying we are better off now obama's going to say the same thing. we are not and americans don't believe it. every public poll i've seen from 52-70% say we are not better off and we think america is on the wrong track overwhelmingly. it is a real hard case to make. >> is it inaccurate for the obama campaign to say these jobs when you look at how many jobs we were losing month after month compared to what we are making now, i mean is it inaccurate for them to say we are on a better trajectory? >> yes. why? because it's not enough jobs. 23 million people unemployed or

underemployed and giving up looking for a job. that is an unacceptable matter. yes we have created jobs but it's inadequate. we are at the lowest number of entrepreneurs new business start ups in 30 years. why? because if you ask small business people it's the tax policies of this administration antibusiness and some ways anti-free enterprise approach. the president said if you built a business did you not make that happen. that is just not resonating with entrepreneurs around the country. >> you know, that leads to to ask about that we built that or you built that that phrase has become a central theme. i saw it in tampa. when you see the rest of the speech in context, it doesn't seem like that is what he was saying but that is what the republicans are riding on is essentially a speech out of context. this leads me to the larger question of the next 60 days how am i going to believe anything

that either side says on the tv commercials in a state like virginia? >> and that is a fair question. people have to say look at the results. because when you strip it all away, talk really is cheap. i know that from virginia people want results. we balanced the budget without raising taxes our unemployment rate is the lowest in three years. we have tried to produce things with republicans and democrats shared credit, shared policies and we are getting things done. it's not true at the federal level. we have more combat, more of a toxic political atmosphere in washington less actual results, we have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy three times in the last couple of years and the president has not led. >> one of the narratives i've heard over the past couple of nights that the republicans are waging a war on women. you heard it from different women's rights groups and lilly ledbetter how does mitt romney combat that and advance his position and what kind of a president he would be for women?

>> first of all it is a contrived argument. if you have a lousy record, if your unemployment rate is 83% and your debt is the highest in american history and gas prices doubled and college tuition is up and the american household is down $4,000, of course, you will change the subject. and the subject is mitt romney a war on women that does not exist. women are not buying it. they care about security for their kids and getting a job and they care about reducing the debt for their future. they care will less lower gas and energy prices and that is why the most recent polls have the president's disapproval rating higher among women than it was a couple months ago. it's just not working. >> thank you for your time, governor. >> thank you. and for a virginia democrat back to the floor and ray suarez. >> i'm with brian moran, the chairman of the virginia

delegation. mr. moran earlier this week there was a lot of discussion inside this party about how to handle the question are you better off than you were four years ago? after a burst of government spending, virginia's doing by many measures pretty well. how come the democrats are not yet able to close the debt? >> i think they have been closing the sale. i might have been a hiccup but we are full voice saying we are better off than we were when president obama became the president of the united states in january of 2009. we were losing 750,000 jobs per month. now we're creating 29 straight months of private sector job growth 4.2 million new jobs. so we are doing better but we are looking forward here tonight, though, is yes, the accomplishments and the litany of accomplishments within the past four years. the delegates are ready to fire it up and americans need to hear where are we going to go and i know president obama will tell the american people honestly

where we will move forward in the next four yey deserves reelection. >> virginia's unemployment rate is lower than the national average yet the polls are tight at the top of the ticket and with the senate race. >> we have a great senate race. jim cane a results-oriented governor. we will win for him and the president. we made history in 2008. we had not voted for a democrat in 64 years. you are not -- it is a lot of work. we are going to do it again in 2012, though. >> thanks a lot. my pleasure to be with you. brian moran of the virginia delegation. back to you. >> all right. roy, thank you. back here in the skybox, mark shields and columnist david brooks. they are here. historians michele and richard norton smith are back in washington and richard, i rudely interrupted you when you were about to make a point. i was asking the two of you to comment on the little bit about what we heard from charlie christ how devitted the parties

are and we heard your colleague michael say it has not been this divided since 1861 and you were starting to weigh-in. i've seen tweets from people who heard what michael said and do you agree with him? >> the point i was making was go back to 1960 an election that lots of people look back on fondly as a model exercise in modern american democracy. it was in many ways a consensus election because it was a consensus society, shaped by the cold war, by the common experiences of the great depression, ww2, and at the same time each part broadly liberal and broadly conservative each party was a coalition. it was an ideological, geographical, demographic coalition. and in such a mere held up to the country. in his own time fdr and barry goldwater from different ends of

the political spectrum each argued that was illogical. we needed more coherent ideologically defined parties. we needed a purely liberal party and a purely conservative party. we got it. and you can see the result. >> michael, i have heard you have heard many times. this is the worst anyone has seen this par sinship and the division. is that true? do we sometimes overstate it what we are seeing it's like the worst. >> every election is the most important election in american history. sometimes true and sometimes not. i would like to correct, i did not -- if i gave the impression i thought that the only year more divided than this was 1861, i did not mean that. i was trying to suggest there were other moments in history that were worse. much greater divisions in the 1930s oversize of government and the approach to world war

ii. but this is interesting because political scientists always argued or many of them, it could be a good thing to have two parties that stood for things very different and with this intense debate. their argument was if you had two parties that stood for something different voter participation would go up and more people would be eager to get into the process. with what they did not bargain for is the debate would become so ugly and based on personalities. >> come back to mark and david here in the studio with us, because we had the article in the "usa today" and kerry attack the republicans on national security issues and pointing out that mitt romney did not thank the troops in the speech in tampa. this seems like it's different than we've seen before. >> conventions have been partisan. the differences in peoples' minds, andy gives an example when pollsters would ask 15

years ago what state is the country in. the people's perception was unrelated to their partisan affiliation. now it's entirely determined by the partisan affiliation. if you are a republican and there is a democrat in power you think the economy is terrible. if you are a democrat and the republicans are in power you think the economy is terrible. your perception of inflation, unemployment, is determined by your politics. it's not facts leading to the party affiliation it's party affiliation determining what facts you see and that is the cognitive loop we are stuck in. >> and that changes the way people have to run for president, and run for office. >> i was thinking as richard spoke about 1960, john kennedy and linden johnson carried, texas, louisiana, arkansas, georgia, south carolina. i mean think about that. and did not carry california. did not carry ohio. did not carry oregon. all the states that now either are democratic or states that democrats have to carry.

so what changed is the ideological they were broadly coalition. you had to appeal to white, southern protestant democrats to carry civil rights happened. civil rights divided the two parties no doubt about it. the emergence of the republican party in the south as the -- always been conservative but conservative and democrats nationally. so you know we have this purity between the two parties. the problem is when they do get elected, we heard tom davis earlier today say that the caucus is rabid. the democratic house congress is rabid. there is rabid is too strong for the democrats but the republicans for tom davis, the former chairman of the republican house campaign committee to say there is a rabid feeling in the republican so you wonder if this election even as recall emmanuel spoke

republicans will become congenial with bill clinton they didn't they impeached him. i'm not as optimistic. and i wonder if richard and michael are. >> i was struck when i interviewed tom davis that he was so stark in his assessment no matter what happens if president obama is reelected it is not going to change. >> it's difficult, judy, to see what about the political culture would change. as i said, the last night of a convention any convention is all about hope and we can all hope that that might be the case. but it's difficult cable tv is not going to moderate the internet is not going to become responsible, big money is not going to disappear. i mean all of these ans factors that contribute to this intense

polarization, it's very difficult to see them being rolled back. >> michael, quick final word? yeah, i agree with richard, no matter how hard people try if barak obama is reelected with the republican house and senate, you can imagine what this is going to be like. they are going to say we in the house and senate are the ones who are expressing the will of the people. they might well say that their job is to obstruct the second term president as much as possible. >> david, are you leaning in. i want to offer hope. it's about what question you frame. if you frame a big government to small government debate. if a leader comes up and phrases a different debate we get a different breakdown. >> and back to the floor because walking out to greet the crowd and getting a raucous reception is dr. jill biden, the second lady, i guess, of the united states. joe biden's wife.

teacher at a community college in northern virginia. educator. >> hello. what a night. what a crowd! thank you angie. i'm so proud of how far you've come. i'm so proud to stand before you tonight not only as the wife of our vice-president, but as a full-time teacher and a military mom. [applause] i'm here for our son,jñ for all of our troops, veteran and military families. four years ago beau stood on this stage to introduce his father and soon afterwards he deployed to iraq for a year with the delaware army national guard. [applause]vñul

tonight, thanks to the leadership of president obama and my husband joe, the war in iraq is over. [applause] i'm also here tonight for my students. students like angie who work so hard to create a better life for themselves and their families. i've been a teener for more than 30 years. teacher for more than 30 years and to this day i continue to teach full-time at a community college in northern virginia. not long after joe was elected vice-president, people started questioning whether i could keep teaching.

not joe. he was there standing by my side saying, of course you should. it's who you are, jill. for me, being a teacher isn't just what i do. it's who i am. [applause] these issues are personal to me and for the 37 years i've known joe i've seen firsthand just how personal they are to him, too. joe often tells people that i didn't agree to marry him until the fifth time he asked me. the truth is i loved him from the start. i saw in him then the same character that i see in him today. i've seen joe's character in his optimism. for families who have lost a loved one, kids struggling to

find their way, workers out of a job, joe always works to give people a sense of hope. [applause] i've also seen joe's character in his determination. two decades ago when joe startet working on the violence against women act, domestic violence was often treated as a private family matter rather than the crime it is. but joe knew that he had to bring this issue out into the open. and in the year since that bill has passed, i've had women tell me that their sisters or their friends wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for joe. [applause]

finally, i've seen joe's character in his heart. when i first met him, joe had already seen just how fragile life could be. when he was 29 years old, joe lost his first wife and baby daughter in a tragic car accident while they were out getting their christmas tree. and their boys were critically injured. joe's life was shattered. but through his strong catholic faith and his fierce love for our boys, joe found the strength to get backup. that's joe. [applause] that optimism, that determination, that big, strong heart that drives him forward everyday, it's what he learned as a young boy growing up with

two hard-working parents in scranton, pennsylvania. it's what makes him such a loving and supportive father of our three children, beau, hunter and ashley and it's what drives him today as he and president obama fight to strengthen the middle class they grew up in. for as long as i've known him, joe has never given up. never failed to see the possibilities and never had any doubt about who he is fighting for. and as long as he has the privilege of serving this nation, i know from the bottom of my heart, that he will continue to fight for you everyday. thank you, god bless our troops and god bless our military families. thank you. [applause]

>> dr. jill biden making an interesting case after women speaking and talking about how great it is to be a mom she talked about how great it was to be a teacher and work for a living. >> she did and reminded us of the history the personal history. earlier tonight her husband's name was put in nomination to his son beau. now we see a video telling the story of joe biden and we are going to watch it. >> i like best about this country, the people. there isn't anything we cannot do. there still is that feeling in america. that is the part i love about it. my mother thought the most important virtue is courage. she thought everything else flowed from that and she said bravery resides in every heart and some days it's likely to be summoned. over the last four years

americans summoned the bravery that lives in our hearts, one by one, family by family, community by community fighting through the worst economic crisis since the great depression. proving once again there is just no quit in america. joe biden understands this. it's what you learn growing up in scan ton, pennsylvania and dell -- scranton, pennsylvania and delaware. >> it was a neat place that is completely normal. four kids, three bedrooms mom and dad and of the 16 years i lived in that house, there was a relative at least 14 of those years living with us full-time. my parents never doubted for a second i could be president or vice-president. there is this notion that nobody is better than you. you are no better than anyone else but nobody is better than you. and in this country you can be anything you want to be. >> and i think that sense of optimism is what he feels for

america. >> his parents tote him the truths that make the country special. basic beliefs that defined what it's meant to be middle class for generations. >> middle class wasn't a number. it wasn't your net worth. it was more value set. the idea that everyone in this country who works at it, can do well, who can own a home not rent it. be able to live in a safe neighborhood. send their kid to school. help take care of their parents. maybe save enough that they can take care of themselves and don't have to rely on their children. that is what this is about. >> announcer: for too many middle class families this dream is falling out of reach. the pain of the great recession has cut deep. >> the longest walk a parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to the child's bedroom and say honey i'm sorry but you cannot play in the little league team or you can't sing in the

choir or you can't you know, go to roosevelt high school. i lost my job. we've got to move. >> my dad made that walk. think how many people have made some version ofóñgn that walk al across america. and they are not looking for a handout. they are looking for a shot. just a shot to get back in the game. and i think we owe them that shot. >> announcer: giving the middle class a shot has been the cause of this white house. from the moment they took the oath of office, the challenges have been enormous. for this president and vice-president it's been a partnership forged in fire. >> it's turned out to be a singular opportunity to be able to work with a guy like barak obama because we trust each other. it's completely candid relationship. i asked him why he wanted me and he said to help him govern so

it's been very rewarding and most rewarding watching him. this guy has an incredible amount of character. he has a backbone like a ram rod he makes judgments based on the country. >> joe has been a great partner and a great vice-president. he cares about the middle class. he knows what it's like to struggle. and he has carried that passion to the white house. >> announcer: every step of the way they have met the challenge. preventing an economic collapse, rescuing the auto industry, passing historic healthcare reform, eliminating bin laden, and e7bding the war in iraq. and through it all, they have put the interests of the nation first. >> really and truly, barack and i are about growing the economy from the middle out. because when you do it that way everybody does well. poor folks have a ladder up. there is a way into the middle

class. those who are striving to get to the middle class and the wealthy do very well. because the middle class have money in their pockets. they can go out and purchase things that make the economy grow. it not only is sort of the american way, it's also economically the best way to grow a country. give them a tax system that is fair and education provide an environment where they can flourish. >> maybe it's because he never has forgotten where he came from and has not lost sight where we need to go. >> he has such a sense of justice and fairness to him and i think that makes him fight harder for people. >> maybe it's because he is known loss and pain in his own life that he is not blind to the suffering of others. >> i think that is one of the things that joe has that a lot of people don't have, the sense of intuition. he intuitively feels someone's pain. he did know what it feels like

to lose a wife and then the unspeakable, to lose a child. and i think that's why people connect with him. >> he has always shown he has been a man that supports the working class. >> he cares for me. is here for us and is listening. >> roger, hey, roger this is jo. this is for you. >> announcer: maybe it's because he never doubted the american people and never doubted america's future. >> it's never been a safe bet to bet against america. i know i get criticized for saying that to foreign leaders but i will not stop saying. it's never been a good bet to bet against america. >> fight for the middle class and nobody i would rather have59 in the fight than joe biden. >> he is the husband of a teacher who knows teachers should be lifted up and not torn down. he is the son of an auto man who

never doubted the american auto industry would roar. he is the author of the violence against women act who has had the courage to stand against the abuse of power his whole career. he is the father of an iraq war veteran who believes our one sacred obligation is to take care of those who served this nation. i can say with absolute certainty, i am more hospital mystic about america's chances today than i have been my entire life. grit, determination, resilience, optimism. that's been the story of america. the story of ordinary people. with extraordinary courage. overcoming extraordinary obstacles. and always, always moving towards a better day. joe biden knows that story. he has lived it. our vice-president, joe biden. [applause]

[♪] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the vice-president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] [applause]

>> oh, my fellow democrats. and my favorite democrat. jilly, i want you to know that beau and hunt and ashley and i are so incredibily proud of you, kid. we admire the way you with every single young person and they are not all young, walk into your classroom you not only teach them, you give them confidence. you give me confidence. and the passion, the passion she brings to trying to ease the burden on the families of our warriors. jilly they know you understand them. and that makes a gigantic difference. [applause] and, folks, i tell you what, it

was worth the trip to hear my wife say what i've never heard hearsay before. she's always loved me. [laughter] if that is the case why in the heck did it take five times of asking you and that is true. five times. i don't know what i would have done kiddo had you on the fifth time said no. i love you. you are the love of my life and the life of my love. [applause] we've got three incredible kids. and beau, i want to thank you for putting my name in nomination to be vice-president of the united states. i accept. [applause] i accept.

with great honor and pleasure, i accept. thankbwh you. thank you, my fellow democrats. and i say to my fellow americans, my fellow americans, four years ago a battered nation turned away from the failed policies of the past and turned to a leader who they knew would lift our nation out of the crisis. a journey, a journey we have not finished yet. we know we still have more to do. but today i say to my fellow citizens in the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetime, this generation of americans has proven itself as worthy as any generation before

us. [applause] for we pos&i$ that same grit, that same determination, that same courage that is always defined what it means to be an american. has always defined all of you. together we are on a mission we are on a mission to move this nation forward. from doubt and downturn to promise and prosperity. a mission i guarantee you we will complete, a mission we will complete. [applause] folks, tonight what i really want to do tell you about my friend, barak obama. [applause] no one could tell it as well or

eloquently as michelle as you did monday night. but i know him to state the obvious from a different perspective. i know him and i want to show you i want to show you the character of a leader who had what it took when the american people literally stood on the brink of a new depression. a leader who has what it takes to lead us over the next four years to a future as great as our people. i want to take you inside the white house. to see the president as i see him everyday. because i don't see him in soundbytes. i walk 30 paces down the hall into the oval office and i see him, i watch him in action. four years ago the middle class was already losing ground.

and then the bottom fell out. the financial crisis hit like a sledgehammer on all the people i grew up with. you remember the headlines. you saw some of them in the previews. highlights, highest job losses in 60 years. headlines, economy on the brink. markets plummet worldwide. from the very moment president obama sat behind the desk resolute in the oval office he knew, he knew he had not only to restore the confidence of a nation but he had to restore the confidence of the whole world. [applause] and he also knew, he also knew that one, one false move could bring a run on the banks or a credit collapse to put another

several million people out of work. america and the world needed a strong president with a steady hand and with the judgment and vision to see us through. day after day, night after night, i sat beside him as he made one gutsy decision after the other to stop the slide and reverse it. i watched him. i watched him stand up, i watched him stand up to intense pressure and staredown enormous, enormous challenges. consequences of which were awesome. but most of all, i got to see firsthand what drove this man. his profound concern for the average american. he knew, he knew that no matter

how tough this decisions he had to make were in that oval office, he knew that families all over america sitting at their kitchen tables were literally making the decisions for their family that were equally as sequential. you know, barack and i, we have been through a lot together these four years. and we learned about one another, a lot about one another. and one of the things i learned about barack is the enormity of his heart and i think he learned about me the depth of my loyalty to him. [applause] and there is another thing. another thing is that bound us together the past four years. we had a pretty good idea what all those families, all you

americans in trouble were going through. in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles. barack as a young man had to sit at the end of his mother's hospital bed and watch her fight for their insurance company at the very same time she was fighting for her life. when i was a young kid in third grade, i remember my dad coming up the stairs and my grand pop's house where we were living sitting at the end of my bed and saying joey, i'm going to have to leave for a while. to go down to wilmington, delaware with uncle frank. there are good jobs down there and in a little while, little while i will be able to send for you and mom and jimmy and val. and everything is going to be fine. for the rest of our lives my sister and my brothers for the

rest of our life, my dad never failed to remind us that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it's about your dignity. it's about respect. it's about your place in the community. it's about being able to look your child in the eye and say "honey, it's going to be ok." and mean it. and know it's true. when barack and i were growing up, there was an implicit understanding in america that if you took responsibility you would get a fair shot at a better life. and the values, the values behind that bargain were the values that shaped both of us. and many, many of you.

and today those same values are barack's guiding star. folks i've watched him. he has never waiverred. he never, never backs down. he always steps up. and he always asks in everyone of the critical meetings, the same fundamental question, how is this going to affect the average american? how is this going to affect people's lives? that's what is inside this man. that's what makes him tick. that's who folks, because of the decisions he has made, and the incredible strength of the american people, america has turned the corner. the worst job loss since the great depression we've since

created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months. look, folks, president obama and governor romney they are both, they are both loving husbands. they are both devoted fathers. but let's be straight. they bring a vastly different vision and a vastly different value set to the job. and tonight, tonight although you've heard people talk about it, i want to talk about two things from a slightly different perspective from my perspective. i want to focus on two crises and show you the character of the leadership that each man will bring to this job. because as i said i have had a ring side seat. the first of these a lot has

been talked about and god love jennifer, wasn't she great? wasn't she great? i love jennifer. [applause] but the first story i want to talk to you about is the rescue of the automobile industry. and let me tell you, let me tell from you this man's ring-side seat. let me tell you about how barak obama saved more than a million american jobs. in the first days, the first days that we took office, general motors and chrysler were literally on the verge of liquidation. if the president did not act, if he didn't act immediately, there wouldn't be any industry left to save. so we sat hour after hour in the oval office, michelle remembers what he must have thought when

he came backup stairs. we sat, we sat hour after hour. we listened to senators. congressman, outside advisors, even some of our own advisors. we listened to them say well we shouldn't step up. the risk, the risks were too high. the outcome was too uncertain. and the president he patiently sat there and he listened. but he did not see it the way they did. he understood something they didn't get. and one of the reasons i love him, he understood that this wasn't just about cars. it was about the people who built and made those cars. and about the america those people built. [applause] and those meetings, and those meetings he i often thought about my dad.

my dad was an automobile man. he would have been one of the guys all the way down the line not in the factory floor not along the supply chain but one of the guys selling american cars to american people. i thought about what this crisis would have meant for the mechanics and the secretaries and the salespeople who my dad managed for over 35 years. and i know for certain, i know for certain that my dad were he here today he would be fighting like heck for the president because the president fought to save the jobs of those people my dad cared so much about. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, my dad respected barak obama and would have respected barak obama had he been around. for having had the guts to stand up for the automobile industry when so many others just were prepared to walk away.

you know, when i look back, when i look back now, when i look back on the president's decision, i think of another son of another automobile man, mitt romney. mitt romney grew up in detroit. my dad managed his dad -- well his dad ran an entire automobile company, the american motors. yes, what i don't understand is inspite of that he was wig to let the detroit go bankrupt. i don't think he is a bad guy. no, no, i don't think he is a bad guy. i'm sure he grew up loving cars as much as i did. but what i don't understand what i don't think he understood, i don't think he understood, that saving the automobile worker, saving the industry what it meant to all of america not just

auto workers. i think he saw it the bain way. i think he saw it in terms of balance sheets and write offs. folks, the bain way may bring your firm the highest profits. but it's not the way to lead our country from the highest office. [applause] when. [applause] when things hung in the balance, when things hung in the balance literally hung in the balance the president understood this was about a lot more than the automobile industry. this was about restoring america's pride. he understood. he understood in his gut what it would mean to leave a million people without hope or work if

he did not act. and he also knew, he also knew and understood the message it would have sent around the world. if the united states gave up on an industry that helped put america on the map in the first place. [applause] conviction, resolve, barak obama. that's what saved the automobile industry. [applause] conviction, resolve, barak obama. look, i heard my friend john kerry, this president, this president has shown the same resolve, the same steady hand in his role as commander in chief. look, which brings me to the

next illustration i want to tell you about. the next crisis he had to face. in 2008, 2008 before he was president, barak obama made a promise to the american people. he said "if i -- if we had bin laden in our sights, we will, we will take him out." he went on to say, "that has to be our biggest national security priority." look, barak obama understood that the search for bin laden was about a lot more than taking a monsterous leader off the battlefield. it was about so much more than that. it was about writing an un-- righting an unspeakable wrong. literally. it was about healing an

unbearable wound in america's heart. and he also knew he also knew the message we had to send around the world. if you attack innocent americans we will follow you to the end of the earth. [applause] most of all, most of all, most of all, president obama had an unyielding faith in the capacity and the capability of our special forces. literally, the finest warriors in the history of the world. the finest warriors in the

history of the world. so we sat originally only five of us we sat in the situation room beginning in the fall the year before. we listened, we talked. we heard. and he listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. he asked again the tough questions. he listened to the doubts that were expressed. but when admiral looked him in the eye and said "sir, we can get this job done." i sit next to him at looked at your husband and i knew at that moment he had made his decision. and his response was decisive. he said do it and justice was done.

[applause] folks, governor romney did not see things that way. when he was asked about bin laden in 2007 here is what he said. he said it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just to catch one person. but he was wrong. he was wrong. because if you understood that america's heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the president did and you would move heaven and earth to hunt him down and to bring him to justice.

look four years ago, four years ago, only thing missing at this convention is my mom. four years ago my mom was still with us sitting up in the stadium in denver. i quoted her. i quoted her one of her favorite expressions. she used to say to all her children she said "joey, bravery resides in every heart. and the time will come when it must be summoned." ladies and gentlemen, i'm here to tell you what i think you already know. that i watch it up close. bravery resides in the heart of barak obama. and time and time again, i witnessed him summon it this man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel.

and because, because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made, because of the determination american workers and the unparalleled brave riff our special forces, we can now proudly say what you've heard me say the last six months, osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. [applause] that is right. folks, we know, we know we have more work to do. we know we are not there yet. but not a day has gone by in the last four years when i hadn't been grateful as an american that barak obama is our president, because he always has the courage to make the tough decisions.

[applause] speaks of tough decisions, speaking of tough calls, last week, we heard that the republican convention we heard our opponents we heard them pledge that they, too, they too had the courage to make the tough calls. that is what they said. but, folks, in case you didn't notice, i say to my fellow americans in case you didn't notice, they didn't have the courage to tell you what calls they would make. they never mentioned any of that. mrs. robinson, you watched from home from the white house and you heard them talk about how much they cared so much about

medicare. how much they wanted to preserve it. that is what they told you. but let's look at what they didn't tell you. what they didn't tell you is that the plan they have already put down on paper would immediately cut benefits for more than 30 million seniors already on medicare. what they didn't tell you, is the plan they are proposing would cause medicare to go bankrupt by 2016 and what they really didn't tell you, is they if you want to know, if you want to know, they are not preserving medicare at all. they are for a new plan. it's called voucher care. look, folks, that is not courage. that is not even truthful. that is not even truthful. in tampa, they talked with great

urgency about the nation's debt and the need to act to act now. but not once, not one single time, did they tell you that they rejected every plan put forward by us, by the bipartisan simpson-bowls commission they referenced or any other respected group. to reduce the national debt. they are not for any of them. why? because they are not prepared to do anything about the debt if it contained one dollar not exaggerating, even one dollar or one cent in new taxes for millionaires. folks, that is not courage. and that is not fair. look, look. [applause] in a sense, this can be reduced to a single notion. the two men seeking to lead this

country over the next four years as i said at the outset are fundamentally different visions and different value set. governor romney believes in the global economy it doesn't matter much where american companies invest and put their money or where they create jobs. as a matter of fact, in his budget proposal, in his tax proposal he calls for a new tax. it's called a territorial tax which the experts looked at. and they acknowledge it will create 800,000 new jobs. all of them overseas. all of them. and what i found what i found fascinating the most fascinating thing i found last week was when governor romney said that as president he would take a jobs tour. with his support for outsourcing it will have to be a foreign trip.

[applause] it will. look, president obama knows that creating jobs in america keeping jobs in america, bringing jobs back to america, is what the president's job is all about. that's what presidents do. or at least supposed to do. folks, governor romney believes it's ok to raise taxes on middle classes by $2000 in order to pay for more trillion dollar tax cut for the very wealthy. president obama knows that there's nothing decent or fair about asking people with more to do less and with less to do more. governor believes that kids, kids like our dreamers, those immigrant children those immigrant children who are brought to america's shores through no fault of their own, he thinks they are a drag on the american economy. president obama believes that

even though those dreamers those kids did not choose to come here, they have chosen to do right by america and it's time for us to do right by them. governor romney looks at the notion of equal pay in company'. president obama, he knows that making sure our daughters get the same pay for the same jobs as our son is every father's bottom line. [cheers and applause] i kind of expensed all that from them but one thing truly perplexed me at the convention. the thing that perplexus me most

was the idea they kept talking about the culture of dependency. they seemed to think you create a culture of dependency when you provide a bright young qualified kid from a working class family a loan to get to college or when you provide a job training program in a new industry for a dad who lost his job because he was outsourced. folks, folks, that's not how we look at it. that's not how america's ever looked at it. what he doesn't understand is all these men and women are looking for is a chance, just a chance to acquire the skills to be able to provide for their families so they can once again hold their heads high and lead independent lives with dignity. that's all they're looking for. [applause] it literally amazes me they don't understand that, you know. i told you at the outset, the

choice is stark, two different visions, two different value sets. but at its core, the difference is able reduced to be a fundamental difference. you see, you, we, most americans have incredibly faith in the decency and hard work of the american people. and we know what has made this country. it's the american people. as i mentioned at the outset, four years ago, we were hit hard. you saw, you saw your retirement accounts drain, the equity in your homes vanish, jobs lost, they're on the line. but what did you do as americans? what you've always done. you didn't lose faith, you fought back. you didn't give up, you got up. you're the ones. the american people, you're the ones. you're the reason why we are still better positioned than any country in the world to lead the 21st century.

you never quit on america. and you deserve a president who will never quit on you. [crowd cheering] [applause] there's one more thing, one more thing our republican opponents are just dead wrong about. america is not in decline. america is not in decline. i've got news for governor romney and congressman ryan, gentlemen, never ever, it never makes sense, it's never been a good bet to bet against the american people. [crowd cheering] never. [crowd cheering] my fellow americans, america is coming back. and we're not going back.

and we have no intention of down sizing the american dream. [crowd cheering] plowsh never. never, never a good bet. ladies and gentlemen, in a moment, in a moment we're going to hear from a man whose whole life is a testament for the power of that dream. and whose presidency is the best hope to secure that dream for our children. for you see, you see, we see a future. we really honest to god, do we see a future for everyone, rich and poor does their part and has a part. a future where we depend more on

clean energy from home and less on oil from abroad. a future where we're number one in the world again in college graduation. a future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector. [crowd cheering] and a future where women once again control their own choices, their destiny and their own healthcare. [cheers and applause] and ladies and gentlemen, barack and i see a future. it's in our dna, where no one, no one is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance. [crowd cheering] folks, we see a future for

american, for america. leads not only by the example of our power but by the power of our example. where we bring our troops home from afghanistan just as we proudly did from iraq. a few future, a future where we fulfill the only truly sacred obligation we have as a nation, the only truly sacred obligation we have is to prepare those who we send to war and care for them when they come home from war. [applause] and tonight, and tonight, tonight i want to acknowledge, i want to acknowledge, as we should every night, incredible

debt we owe to the families of those 4,673 fallin angels. those 49,746 wounded, thousands critically, thousands who will need our help for the rest of their lives. folks, we never, we must never ever forget the sacrifice, and always keep them in our care and in our prayers. my fellow americans, we now, we now find ourselves at the hinge of history. and the direction we turn is not figuratively, it's literally in your hands. it has been a truly great honor

to serve you and to serve with barack who has always stood up for you for the past four years. i've seen him tested. i know his strength, his command, his faith. and i also not incredible confidence he has in all of you. i know this man. yes, recovery is not yet complete, but we are on our way. the journey of hope is not yet finished but we are on our way. and the cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. so i say to you tonight with absolute confidence, america's best days are ahead and yes we're on our way. [crowd cheering] and in light of that horizon for the values that define us, for

the ideals that inspire us, there's only one choice. that choice is to move forward boldly forward and furnish the job and re-elect president obama. [cheers and applause] god bless you all and may god protect our troops. god bless you. thank you. [crowd cheering] >> vice president joe biden with a robust defense of his partner president obama and just an old-fashioned appeal to americans, sending a message to the republicans, saying this is a country that is coming back. he says wore not going back, we have no intention of down siegz the american dream oil i'll hills wif -->> ifill: his wifel biden. show his own loyalty to the president and talk about the depth of his loyalty, questions have always been raised whether he's going to be on the ticket.

i guess tonight he will be. >> woodruff: looks as if he most certainly will be. but he harked back, he is on the ticket. mark shields is looking at me. he is on the ticket, but it was an old-fashioned appeal. and he talked about american values, he talked b yo about, yu know the line i underlined it's never ever been a good bet to bet against the american people. >> ifill: absolutely. one of the thing they love to talk about the reoccurring thing is osama bin laden and they attested to the power. did it work for you. >> it's a good speech. he's here to design to appeal to the reagan democrats, like scranton, pennsylvania off to ohio and florida. that's why the emphasis on courage, on fighting. >> i thought it was a bookend

speech to michelle obama. she speak about barack obama in a personal sense and he spoke about it in the office late at night. what you see with joe biden is what you get, what you get is what you see. that's an authentic joe biden. anybody that's been around him for the past 40 years have heard him speak. >> ifill: we have a cbs newshour special democratic national convention in sharp luvmen -- judy woodruff over hen yiefl. >gwen. >> i introduced you to a state for from illinois. he had a name that was hard to pronounce and loretta and michelle and i stood on the side of the stain in boston and wondered if you would accept his message about the future of this party, and you did. four years later, four years

later in denver i asked you to give this man our party's nomination for president, and tonight in charlotte, i ask you to join me in giving president obama four more years to finish the job he started. [crowd cheering] i was there. i was there. four more years. now i was there. [crowd chanting] of you were with met. it was a cold cold january afternoon when barack obama lifted his hand from abraham lincoln's bible and looked out on an america facing an economic collapse. these last four years have been hard. too many families are still struggling, but today our economy is beginning to recover.

jobs are returning. businesses are expanding. america is coming back. our friends, our friends and the other party gathered in tampa and gave us a message last week. they said just member, we're all in this alone. yes. [laughter] they told us the real winners, the real builders never need a helping hand. democrats know better. america knows better. history and this president have shown us. we are stronger when we are all in this together. [crowd cheering] i invite them. come to belvedere, illinois. meet 5,000 proud chrysler uaw workers. [crowd cheering] one business leader, one business leader who has been referenced a few times tonight said let them go bankrupt.

barack obama said let them go back to work, and they did. [crowd cheering] come and meet the working families all across america who now have a chance for affordable healthcare. at one time a governor thought that was a good idea in massachusetts. well, president obama and millions of american families think it's a great idea for america. with this president has focused on more than just on opportunity, he has focused on justice. i am proud to have been there. when he signed his first bill as president of the united states to end discrimination against women in the workplace in honor of lilly ledbetter. [crowd cheering] and i will tell you, i cannot remember a more touching ceremony than when this president gathers together to finally eliminate the

discrimination of don't ask/don't tell in our military. [crowd cheering] it was 11 years ago, 11 years ago i introduced a little bill known as the dream act. [crowd cheering] and i will tell you, my life has been changed by the inspiration of these young men and women who simply want to earn their way into america. we have fought the filibusters in the senate, but we're lucky, it took president obama to finally bring these young people out of the shadows into the america that they have always called home. [crowd cheering] it was 150 years ago, 150 years ago that another president from illinois brought justice to his

day with the emancipation proclamation. his critics told him he had gone way too far and he should undo what he done. but here's what abraham lincoln said, i hope to stand firm enough not to go backwards. [crowd cheering] we cannot, we cannot build a better, stronger, fairer america by going backwards. we must walk forward together. and with president obama and vice president joe biden in the whitehouse, we will. president obama, your values, your vision, your commitment to justice are still worth fighting for. thank you. [crowd cheering]

>> we've been through a lot together. but we've known tough times before. what carries us through? what helps us endure. what are the qualities so central to us and the leaders who occupy his office. >> he did some things knowing that they wouldn't be popular in the short run that would lay the

foundation for recovery. no other country in the world would give up the capacity to manufacture cars at the time. and so he did what the government's supposed to do in a case like that. >> do not rescue the automobile industry. i mean, it was overwhelming, look at the polling number. >> a country in the midst of a final crises thafinancial crisee really knew the depth of the challenges that were coming. i think he had a sense. >> my grandparents came out of the depression. they knew what it was like for people not to have. we all understand work as something more than just a paycheck. what gives you dignity, what gives you a sense of purpose. >> he said you guys got to work together and come up everybody's got to have some skin in the game who are, you got to modernize the automobile industry. >> everybody says it's never going to work. guess what. >> 80,000 more people working in

the car business than we did before the restructuring was passed. they are middle class jobs. people can raise a family on a decent wage. >> we've gone from an economy that was shedding jobs to one that consistently creating jobs at all sectors. every night he's up until 1:00, 2:00 in the morning with his big stack of briefing books and he reads the letters he gets from people all over america. they are, as he put them, some of the most informative pieces of material that he gets that keeps him grounded. anyone who has kids know that the truth is no matter what you do, your kids still think that they are the most important people in the room. so we sit around the dinner table, and he's the last person to be asked oh yeah, how was your day, dad, you know. really, he's an afterthought. >> he never starts a

conversation by saying what's the best political decision here. what will help us the most. never. >> he wasn't going to back out just because it got hard. just because it didn't pull well. that's just never been who he is, and it's certainly not how he will ever govern this country. >> when my mom got cancer, she was the a wealthy woman and it pretty much drained all her resources. >> watching your mother die is something that could have been prevented. that's a tough thing to deal with. >> the reason he pushed ahead, knowing that there could be horrible political consequences for him just as for me, is that healthcare cost is at the rate of inflation. this is a huge economic issue. because we spend 17 and-a-half% of our income on healthcare. >> anybody who gets medical care, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

you know imagine working class mom opening up that kind of bill, you know. somebody sending that to her with a straight face. that understanding of that kind of reality for millions of americans drove him to make sure that this legislation got passed. it takes a conscious effort to stay connected with what's going on in people's lives. >> this was a matter of principle for him. he ran on it. he said he was going to do it, and he did it. >> you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. he had to decide. that's one thing george bush said it was right, the president is the decider in chief. >> we're only about 50% sure that bin laden was in that

compound. if i had a 100i had 100% confide in our navy seals. >> i sat in that room with him getting feeds about what was going on in that room set. he sat there resolute, concerned, just watching. you got him. confirm it. just boom, boom, boom. then came and explained to everybody the next day in the cabinet room what happened. i mean, this is a guy who as i said has a backbone like a ram rod. >> tonight i can report to the american people and to the world. >> he took the harder and the moron rulmore honorable path ane that produced, in my opinion, the best result. when i saw what had happened, i

thought to myself i hope that's the call i would have made. it's just the right thing to do. >> we have a long way to go. with every new beginning, every home coming, every step forward, we remember who we are. >> what's really allowing this economy to heal and get us moving again is the resilience and the strength and the character of the american people. they don't quit. they don't give up. partly because of family, partly because of the sense of community, patriotism and pride in this country, they keep going.

that's that's the incredible gift the american people keep giving back to me in this job. [crowd cheering] >> thank you so much. tonight i also thrilled and so honored and so proud to introduce the love of my life, the father of our two girls and the president of the united states of america, barack obama. [crowd cheering]

>> thank you. [crowd chanting] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you very much, everybody. [crowd cheering] thank you. michelle, i love you so much. a few nights ago, everybody was reminded just what a lucky man i am. [crowd cheering] malia and sasha, we are so proud

of you. and yes, you do have to go to school in the morning. [laughter] and joe biden, thank you for being the very best vice president i could have ever hoped for and being a strong and loyal friend. [crowd cheering] madam chairwoman, delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. [cheers and applause]

[crowd chanting] now, the first time i addressed this convention in 2004, i was a younger man. a candidate from illinois who spoke about hope. not blind optimism, not wishful thinking, but hope in the face of difficulty. hope in the face of uncertainty. that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward even when the odds are great, even when the road is long. eight years later, that hope has been tested by the cost of war, by one of the worst economic crises in history.

and by political gridlock that's left us one ring whether it's still even possible to tackle the challenge of our time. i know campaigns can seem small, even silly sometimes. trivial things become big distractions, serious issues become sound bites the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. if you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am i. [crowd cheering] but when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. over the next few years, big decisions will be made in washington on jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits; energy,

education, war and peace. decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and on our children's lives for decades to come. and on every issue, the choice you face won't just be between two candidates or two parties, it will be a choice between two different paths for america, a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. ours is a fight to restore the value that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. [crowd cheering] the values my grandfather defended as a soldier in patton's army. the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber assembly line while he was gone. they knew they were part of something larger. a nation that triumphed over

fascism and depression, a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products. and everyone shared in that pride and success from the corner office to the factory floor. my grandparents were given the chance to go to college, buy their own home and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of america's story. the promise that hard work will pay off. the responsibility will be rewarded. that everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules from main street to wall street to washington dc. [crowd cheering] and i ran for president because i saw that basic bur bargain slipping away. i began my career helping people in the shadow of a shu shuttered

steel mill when things were moving over seas. in 2008 we had seen a decade with families struggling and costs kept rising. the paycheck that didn't. folks kept racking up more and more debt just to pay the mortgage or pay tuition, put gas in the car or food on the table. when the house of cards collapsed in the great recession, millions of innocent americans lost their jobs, their homes, their life savings. a tragedy from which we're still fighting to recover. now, our friends down in tampa at the republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with america. but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. they want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. and that's because all they had to offer is the same

proscriptions they've had for the last 30 years. have a surplus, try a tax cut. deficit too high, try another. feel the cold coming on, take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call us in the morning. [crowd cheering] now, i've cut taxes for those who need it. middle class families, small businesses. i don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores or pay down our deficit. i don't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of china.

after all we've been through, i don't believe that rolling back regulations on wall street will help the small business woman expand or the laid off construction worker keep his home. we have been there. we've tried that and we're not going back, we are moving forward, america. [crowd cheering] now i won't pretend the path i'm offering is quicke quick or eas. i never have. you didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear, you elected me to tell you the truth. [crowd cheering] and the truth is it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. it will require common effort and shared responsibility. and the kind of bold persistent

experimentation that franklin roosevelt pursued during the only crises worse than this one. and by the way, those of us who carry on his party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from washington. but know this, america, our problems can be solved. our challenges can be met. the path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place, and i'm asking you to choose that future. i'm asking you to rally. around a set of goals for your country, goals of manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit. real achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity. and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. that's what we can do in the next four years and that is why i am running for a second term as president of the united states. [crowd cheering]

we can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. after a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed, we're getting back to basics, and doing what america's always done best. we are making things again. i've networkers in detroit and toledo who feared they'd never build another american car. and today they can't build them fast enough because we reinvend a dying auto industry that's back on the top of the world. i've worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs

back to america not because our workers make less may, but because we make better products. because we work harder and smarter than anyone else. i've signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions of new customers, goods that are stamped with three proud words, "made in america." after and decade of decline, this country created over half a million manufacturing jobs in the last two and-a-half years. and now you have a choice. we can give more tax breaks to corporations to ship jobs overseas or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here in the

united states of america. [crowd cheering] we can help save factories and small businesses, double their exports. and if we choose this path we can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. you can make that happen. you can choose that future. you can choose the path where we control more of our own energy. after 30 years of enaction, we raised fuel standards that by the middle of the next decade, cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. [crowd cheering] we have doubled our use of renewable energy, and thousands of americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long lasting batteries. in the last year alone, we cut oil imports by one million barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history. and today the united states of

america is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last two decades. [crowd cheering] so now you have a choice between a strategy that reverses this progress or one that builds on it. we've opened millions of new anchors for oil and gas exploargs in the last three fours and we'll open them more. but unlike my opponent i will not let the oil countries write this countries energy plan or invade our coast line or collect $4 million in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. we're offering a better path. [crowd cheering] we're offering a better path. a future where we keep investing in wind and solar and clone coal

and new by ohio fuels to power our cars and trucks where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy, where we develop 100 year supply of natural gas that's right beneath our feet. if you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020 and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone. [crowd cheering] and yes my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet, because climate change is not a hoax more droughts and floods and wild fires are not a joke. they are a threat to our children's future, and in this election, you can do something about it. [crowd cheering]

you can choose a future where more americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete. no matter how old they are or how much money they have. education was the gateway to opportunity for me. it was the gateway for michelle. it was the gateway for most of you. and now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle class life. for the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. some of the worst schools in the country have made real begin gan math and reading. students are paying less for college today because we took on system that wasted taxpayers dollars on banks and lenders. and now you have a choice. we can gut education, or we can decide that in the united states of america, no child should have

her dreams deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. no family should have to set aside a college because they don't have the money. no company should have to look for workers overseas because they couldn't find any of them with the right skills here at home. [crowd cheering] that's not our future. that is not our future. [applause] a government has a role in this. but teachers must inspire. principals mu must lead, parents must instill a thirst for learning, and students, you got to do the work. and together, i promise you, we can out educate and out-compete any nation on earth. so help me, help me recruit 100,000 math and science teachers within ten years and improve early childhood

education. help give two million workers the chance to learn skills at their community college that will lead directly to a job. help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next ten years. we can meet that goal together. you can choose that future for america. [crowd cheering] that's our future. you know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. four years ago i promised to end the war in iraq. we did. [crowd cheering] i promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 and we have. we've blunted the taliban's

momentum in afghanistan and in 2014, our longest war will be over. [crowd cheering] a new tower rises above the new york skyline, al-qaeda is on the path to defeat and osama bin laden is dead. [crowd cheering] tonight we pay tribute to the americans who still served in harm's way. we are forever in debt to a generation who sacrificed and made this country safer and more respectable. we will never forget you. and so long as i'm commander in chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. when you take off the uniform,

we will serve you as well as you've served us because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads or the care that they need when they come home. [crowd cheering] around the world we've strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. we've reasserted our power across the pacific and stood up to china on behalf of our workers. from burma to libya to south sudan we have advanced the rights and dig teas dig tease l human beings. terrorists plots must be disrupted, europe's crises must be contained.

our commitment to israel's security must not waiver and neither must our pursuit of peace. the iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. we saw the change sweeping across the iron world is not by the hate of is extreme he is but the hopes and aspiration of people who are reaching for the same rights we celebrate here today. so now we have a choice. my opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. [laughter] but from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of plu blustering and blood ring that cost america so dearly. you don't call russia our number one enemy, not al-qaeda, russia

unless you're still stuck in a cold war mind warp. [crowd cheering] you might not be ready for diplomacy with beijing if you can't visit the olympics without insulting our closest ally. [crowd cheering] mamy opponent, my opponent saidt was tragic to end the war in iraq. he won't tell us how he will end the war in afghanistan. well i have, and i will. [crowd cheering] and while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our joint chiefs don't even want, i will use the money we're no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work. rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways because

after two wars, it's cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars. it's time to do the nation building right here at home. [crowd cheering] you can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it to the middle class. independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion. last summer i worked with republicans in congress to cut a billion dollars in spending, because those of us who believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anyone to reform it so it's leaner and more efficient and more responsive to the american people. [applause] i want to reform the tax code so that simple, fair and ask the wealthiest house 40e8dz t housey

higher income taxes on incomes over $to,000 the same rate when bill clinton was president and when our economy created 23 million new sidewalks the biggest surplus in history and a lot of millionaires to boot. now i'm still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my by partisan debt commission. no party has a monopoly on wisdom. no democracy works without compromise. i want to get this done, and we can get it done. but when governor romney and his friends in congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well, what did bill clinton call it, you do the arithmetic. you do the math. [applause] i refuse to go along with that, and as long as i'm president, i

never will. [applause] i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cuts. i refuse to ask students to pay more for college or kick children out of head start programs to eliminate health insurance for millions of americans who are moore and elderlelder -- who are poor, ely and disabled. and also most who have more can pay less. i'm not going along with that. [cheers and applause] and i will never, i will never turn medicare into a voucher. [crowd cheering] no american should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.

they should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned. yes, we will reform and strengthen medicare for the long haul but we'll do it by reducing the cost of healthcare not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. and we will keep the promise of social security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it. not by turning it over to wall street. [crowd cheering] this is the choice we now face. this is what the election comes down to. over and over we've been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way. but since government can't do everything, it should do almost nothing. if you can't afford health

insurance, hope that you don't get sick. if a company releases toxic pollution into the air your children breathe, well that's the price of progress. if you can't afford to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and borrow money from your parents. [laughter] do you know what, that's not who we are. that's not what this country's about. as americans, we believe we are endowed by our creator, with certain inalienable rights, rights that no man or government can take away. we insist on personal responsibility, and we celebrate individual initiative. we're not entitled for success. we have to earn it. we honor the strivers, the dreamers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system. the greatest engine of growth

and prosperity the world's ever known. we also believe in something called citizenship. [crowd cheering] citizenship. a word at the very heart of our founding, a word at the very he essence of our democracy. the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and of future generations. we believe that when a ceo pays his auto workers enough to buy the cars they build, the whole company does better. we believe that when a family can no longer be tricked into signing a mortgage they can't afford. that family's protected but so is the value of other people's homes, and so is the entire economy. we believe the little girl whose offered an escape from poverty

by a great teacher or a gran for college, could become the next steep jobssteafsteve jobs or tht curves cancer or the president of the united states and we should have the power to give her that chance. we know that churches and charities can often make more of a difference than a poverty program alone. we don't want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves and we certainly don't want bailouts for banks that break the rules. [crowd cheering] we don't think the government can solve all of our problems, but we don't think the government is the source of all of our problems. any more than our welfare recipients, or corporations or unions or immigrants or gays or

any other group we're told to blame for our troubles. [crowd cheering] because america, we understand that this democracy is powerless. we the people recognize we have responsibilities as well as rights, that our destinies are bound together, that a freedom which asks only what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defense. [crowd cheering] and citizens, we understand that

america's not about what can be done for us, it's about what can be done by us. together. through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self government. that's what we believe. so you see, the election four years ago wasn't about me. it was about you. my fellow citizens, you were the change. you're the reason there's a little girl with a heart disorder in phoenix who will get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. you did that. [crowd cheering] you're the reason a young man in colorado who never thought he'd be able to afford his dream of

earning a medical degree is about to get that chance. you made that possible. you're the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home. by selfless soldiers who will be kicked -- who won't be kicked out of the military because of who they love. thousands of dpam lisa have finally been able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely, welcome home. welcome home. you did that. you did that. you did that. if you turn away now, if you buy into the cynicism that the

change we thought about is impossible. well change will not happen. if you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference then the other voices will fill the void, the lobbyists, the special interests, the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those making it harder for you to vote. washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or control healthcare choices that women should be making for themselves. [crowd cheering] only you can make sure that doesn't happen. only you have the power to move us forward. you know, i recognize the times have changed since i first spoke to this convention. times have changed, and so have

i. i no longer am just a candidate. i'm the president. [crowd cheering] and that's, and that means i know what it means to send young americans into battle. for i've held in my arms mothers and fathers of those who didn't return. i've shared the pain of families who lost their homes and the frustration of workers who lost their jobs. if the critics are right that i've made all my decisions based on polls then i must not be very

good at reading. [laughter] and while i'm very proud of what we've achieved together, i'm far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what lincoln meant when he said i've been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i had no place else to go. but as i stand here tonight, i have never been more hopeful about america. not because i think i have all the answers, not because i'm naive about the magnitude of our challenges, i'm hopeful because of you. the young woman i met at the science fair who won national recognition for her biology research while living with her family at a homeless shelter, she gives me hope.