Time to unite

Clock, Farmers' Market, Ferry Building, Embarcadero, San Francisco.

"No way, no how, no McCain!" Thank you, Hillary, for an impassioned speech. On Tuesday Sen. Clinton reminded die-hard supporters that what's more important than personal feelings is fighting for what's best for our country. "I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years. Those are the reasons I ran for president. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too," she said.

"John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatise social security. And in 2008, he still thinks it is okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work," she reminded delegates.

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton formally nominated Barack Obama. "With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let’s declare together, in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our President. Madame Secretary, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the further conduct of the roll cal vote — all votes cast by the delegates will be counted — and I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be elected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democtaric party for President of the United States.”

I stayed up until 3:45 this morning to watch Bill Clinton address the convention and was not disappointed. His spirited speech - preceded by a five-minute standing ovation - reminded me of the Bill Clinton I know and admire. "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power," he said. "Look at the example the Republicans have set. In this decade, American workers have consistently given us rising productivity. That means, year after year, they work harder and produce more.

"Now, what did they get in return? Declining wages, less than one-fourth as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage," Clinton said.

"They (Republicans) took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families’ incomes to nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5.5 million driven into poverty and millions more losing their health insurance.

"Now, in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same. Think about it: more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy; more Band-Aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured; more going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

"They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more!" Cinton said.

Kerry and Biden remind voters of key issues

John Kerry made an absolutely brilliant speech, contrasting McCain's constantly-changing positions to Obama's measured choices. He talked about why Americans can't afford four more years of Republican bad decisions and failed policies. Read the transcript here.

Vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden also made a powerful speech. Biden spoke of the need for change; of a government that addresses the needs of all its citizens, rather than favouring the privileged few. He said he's "never seen a time when Washington has seen so many people knocked down and not helped them get back up."

And on Tuesday, Sen. Bob Casey reminded convention delegates that “John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 95% of the time. That’s not a maverick. That’s a sidekick.”

“The Bush-McCain Republicans inherited the strongest economy in history and drove it into a ditch. They cut taxes on the wealthiest of us and passed the pain to the least of us. They ran up the debt gave huge subsidies to oil companies and now they’re asking for four more years? How about four more months,” Casey said.

Only 68 days until the election. We've already seen John McCain embrace Rovian-style politics. Sadly, rather than talk about the problems facing our country, he appears prepared to do and say anything - even if untrue - to try to cast doubt about his opponent. What I doubt is McCain's ability to lead; he can't even keep his facts straight and needs geography lessons. Further, it's alarming how in this campaign he's reversed his positions on nearly every issue that as a senator he endorsed - including an immigration bill he wrote!

Let's get busy. We've got the important work of winning an election!