Okay, so this is totally unrelated to LD or adhd and all that, but I am so jazzed that Shawn is an Obama supporter!

I found this on the Yale Daily News Blog.

I found this image AMNewYork.com (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

I'll admit, I was nervous that Shawn would turn out to be a right winger (like Mary Lou Retton). It turns out she as awesome as I audaciously hoped.

An Awe-Inspiring Beautiful "Starry Night" it was........

Friday, August 29, 2008

Yesterday, my husband, my daugthers, and I experienced history in the making!! We were one of the fortunate 85,000 people in the U.S. that had the privilege to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. We are strong Obama supporters, and we have shown our support through monetary donations, and just as importantly spending time volunteering for the campaign. My husband spent hours and hours this summer working for the campaign through canvassing, making hour-less phone calls, and registering individuals to vote. He was inspiring to my girls and I, and we decided we wanted to participate too, as a family. Therefore our daughters made hours of phone calls talking to unaffiliated voters, which is quite amazing considering they are only 10 and 12 years old; and, I made phone calls and registered voters. With our commitment and dedication to the campaign we were honored to receive four tickets to the DNC.

Amazing, simply amazing; so much so I don't think words can truly describe............ We were participants of history in the making, and I couldn't be more proud to have had our daughters to share in such a memorable event right by our side. What an agenda we were privy to! We were in clear view of so many incredibly awe-inspiring people! Al Gore, Joe Biden, Howard Dean, Martin Luther King III, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, and so many other well-spoken political figures, but the climax of the evening was when Barack Obama walked on the stage!!!! A beautiful man! What an inspiration to our country, to our world, and to our children! His speech was pure perfection as always, with a bit more power in his inflection as he spoke to demonstrate his vigor and readiness to take over the presidency. "Enough!" he stated. Yes, I agree 'enough!' We must listen to Obama and the democratic party and get our country back on track! I want to feel proud to live in our country again, and four more years of the same........no way!! "Eight is enough!"

(Pictures to come!! :) )

YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!

I saw 2 great speeches today—one given by Al Gore, and the other given by Barak Obama (due to the time difference I was asleep in the UK well before the close of the Democratic National Convention yesterday evening). In fact, I watched Obama's speech twice, once online in the morning before work, and then again on the BBC with Nerak this evening. If you haven't seen it yet:

watch it here

Needless to say, I was extremely impressed. This is a man with the vision, judgment, and intelligence to restore balance and reason to Washington, and pull us away from the failed policies of 8 disastrous years of Bush/Cheney and the Neo-conservatives. The speech was exceptional: substantial and policy-laden and although—like all candidates—he made a lot of promises that are unlikely to be fully kept, his vision and desires are dead right (after all, the American president is not a dictator who can simply legislate policy at whim). Obama is the man for our times. It was a great moment.

It's pretty telling that the McCain camp's main criticism of Obama so far is that he's too popular.

The other speech I mentioned viewing at the beginning of this post was by Al Gore. For some reason, he seems to attract nothing but hatred and disdain from certain quarters, but I've become a real admirer of his beginning with his efforts to create global awareness about climate change. His is one of the most informed public voices out there, and the speech he gave at the convention just reinforced that fact.

watch it here

Never in the past have I been so energized and excited about a presidential candidate. It's time for a new generation of leadership. (McCain doesn't even know how to surf the web enough to read this blog—talk about being out of touch, how is that even possible in this era!) I'm looking forward to November, I'm looking forward to CHANGE. Nerak and I have agreed, half-jokingly, that if McCain is elected (ugh) we won't be moving back to the states for at least 4 more years (and then we'd have to see). Seriously though, to quote from Obama's speech, '...in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same, old politics with the same, old players and expect a different result."

Monday kicked off the Democratic Convention in Denver with the "One Family" theme (read: biographical introduction.) The first major event on the bill was an 8-minute Ken Burns video tribute to Ted Kennedy and introduced by Caroline Kennedy. At the conclusion of the video, Ted Kennedy surprised the convention by appearing in person and delivering a ten minute speech (news of the possibility had leaked out throughout the day). While the fact of the speech was somewhat of a spoiled surprise, the content of it was rather surprising. This was not delivered as a valedictory address, even though it is almost certainly Kennedy's final convention. Instead of reflection, he focused mainly on electing Obama and worked in a familial defense of lofty goals ("when John Kennedy called of going to the moon, he didn’t say it’s too far to get there. We shouldn’t even try.") He pledged to be on the floor of the Senate in January helping to guide President Obama's agenda through Congress. He mixed in twists of his and his brothers' greatest rhetorical hits ("pass the torch...", "and the dream lives on..."). He looked and sounded better than expected, but had apparently been treated at a local hospital for exhaustion earlier that day, and had been wheeled to the base of the stage to deliver the speech.

About an hour later, Michelle Obama delivered the keynote address of the evening. Along with Bill Clinton, it seemed as though she had the lowest bar for success. The caricature of Michelle Obama was so disconnected from any version of reality, that she would've had come on stage carrying a burning American flag and punch a working-class white guy on her way out to not clear the hurdle. But even with the expectations in check, she excelled. Her speech was personal, effective, and distinctively patriotic. At the conclusion, the Obama daughters joined their mother on stage as Barack Obama appeared via satellite from Kansas City Missouri. The kids hammed it up with the mic a bit, a few "hi daddy" lines that landed somewhere between adorable and a bit too precious.

Tuesday was possibly the weakest day of the convention. Mark Warner delivered the keynote, and was predictably boring. The word "predictably" is important here. See, that's the spot that Obama had four years ago, and it's safe now to call that speech a success. But he was the exception to the rule, and the general failure is always due to a poor choice of speaker. Why do they go out of their way to showcase the party's most lackluster personalities in this spot? 1996 was Evan Bayh, 2000 was Harold Ford Jr., and now add Mark Warner to the list. Stylistically, he's the Democratic equivalent of Mitt Romney. He spent the first half of his speech talking about car phones and reminding the audience of how rich he is (he tries to play it as a Horatio Alger type story, but he looks too neat for the part). Completely stupid casting on the part of the planners, especially when moments before Warner took the stage, Montana governor Brian Schweitzer wowed the crowd with a barnburner that was only seen by C-Span viewers because he wasn't the friggin' keynote speaker. Anyone who has seen Schweitzer in interviews knows he can give a good talk. Big mistake, but moving on...

Hillary was up next with what was obviously the most anticipated speech of the evening. I was truly impressed with her speech, and not just because she delivered on the unity front. It was actually the best speech I think I've ever seen her give. She took some shots at McCain, and was the only speaker throughout the convention to successfully deliver the obligatory "Poor George" type line: "it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart." But her oratory moved from scrap and fire mid-speech to really building to the kind of crescendo she rarely reached on her campaign: (quoting Harriet Tubman)

If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they're shouting after you, keep going.
Don't ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

The next day, some pundits argued that it was a tepid, impersonal endorsement of Obama. I didn't think so... I really liked it.

The afternoon of the third day was taken up with an eager media, an anxious Party, and a lot of speculation over what Bill Clinton would say. As with Michelle Obama, a pretty low bar was set. He had to try not to repeat his earlier observation that Obama is Ready to be President 'cause the Constitution makes it so. But as with Michelle Obama (actually far more than Michelle Obama), Clinton over-delivered. It was a classic Clintonian speech, in all the good ways. He was clear in his condemnation of the Republican Party made more effective by a folksy delivery that was trademark without crossing the line into self-parody. When he stepped to the podium and the hall erupted, Classic Clinton confessed "I love this." No one doubts that. What I found interesting about his speech was his generosity. I think it was the only time I've heard him deliver a speech on behalf of a candidate that wasn't really an excuse for self-promotion and defense of his legacy. Nice speech.

Joe Biden capped off the evening, and scored the cutaway shot of the convention. As he told the boyhood story of his mother advising him to "bloody the nose" of neighborhood bullies, the camera found his elderly mother, tears in her eyes, mouthing the words "that's true." Biden was confident, fiery and likable - basic Biden - but the speech itself did not seem to be particularly well-written. I give it a c+ on text, and a B+ on delivery.

So, 75% done, no gaffes, no embarrassments, only one poor speech (damn you, Warner!), and several highlights. But the buzz all week was the lack of red meat, an absence of attack dog. Actually, I can personalize that buzz rather than attributing it in a "some say" manner. I wanted us to hit harder. I didn't want a repeat of the '04 convention. I wanted the catharsis of seeing us hit them as hard as Zell Miller hit us four years ago. So going into day four it was a very good convention, but still lacking...

Day four could've been disastrous on so many levels. The convention moved to Invesco Field, a strategy that seemed smart a month or so ago, but in the wake of the successful McCain "celebrity" ads started to seem unwise. Throughout the day, the McCain surrogates dubbed it the Temple of Doom and mocked the columns that provided the backdrop. I could envision Obama's entire acceptance speech turning into some kind of punchline. There were two pieces of fate on our side before the speech began: 1) the weather was gorgeous - fairly crucial in an outdoor arena; and 2) the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington? Who scripted this?

Al Gore was the first major speaker of the night. He was extremely hard-hitting, but unsurprisingly so, considering the kinds of speeches he's made in recent years. The first half played as a policy speech on energy and global warming and the speech developed into a broad indictment of the past eight years. More than enough red meat.

There were also some rock concert-y moments: Sheryl Crow, John Legend with Will.i.am (playing the YouTube sensation "Yes We Can") and Stevie Wonder. Actually, one of the MSNBC highlights of the week (after mostly making headlines for the repeated on-air scraps between their anchors) took place during Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." A split screen between the crowd at Invesco field and the MSNBC panel captured Norah O'Donnell, Eugene Robinson, and Rachel Maddow grooving to the song, while Pat Buchanan laughed along wearing dark shades.

But that was all just part of the fun, festival-like pre-speech atmosphere, which - yes - included beach balls bouncing throughout the crowd. At 10:00pm, Dick Durbin introduced a five-minute video intro for Obama. At the conclusion of the video, Obama walked onto the stage.

This is the part where I have to make that choice between hyperbole and understatement.

Just the scene itself was like nothing I've ever seen in politics before. Yeah, a lot of it was predictable: we knew there would be the "Yes We Can" chants, we knew the noise would be deafening, we know Obama can deliver a good speech. But I don't know that I was prepared for the visuals of 84,000 people waving flags, many with tears rolling down their cheeks. It was all too genuine to imagine being the subject of the Obama-worship narrative the McCain campaign has made its theme. Then again, I'm probably underestimating the Republican Party.

The speech was much feistier than speeches Obama has delivered in the past. He spoke McCain's name over 20 times, once even addressing him directly: "So I've got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first." He hit notes of economic populism, and somehow managed to offer specifics on his policies without losing any rhetorical flourish. At the end of his speech he stepped back from the podium, the music swelling - Brooks and Dunn "Only in America"... an interesting choice that Obama has used on the campaign trail for months - and was joined onstage by his family, Joe Biden, and Biden's family. Now, there's nothing unusual about the ticket uniting onstage following the acceptance speech. But, again, the visuals. It was something to see.

According to the Nielsen ratings, Obama's speech was viewed by 38 million Americans - not counting PBS or C-Span viewers. 38 million. That's twice as many viewers as Kerry's speech drew four years ago. It's also apparently more viewers than tuned into the American Idol finale, the Academy Awards, or the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. How much ya wanna bet the McCain team plays up that American Idol parallel.

The crazy-making days continued today with McCain's unexpected selection of Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The history behind the pick is obvious and probably deserves its own post - but I'll leave that for another time. At first thought though, it does seem to raise the need for Hillary Clinton to be a very active Obama surrogate. Palin's introductory appearance praised both Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro, suggesting this pick is entirely about bringing over women voters and, in particular, disappointed Hillary supporters.

Wow... who knew I could turn the presence of a woman on a major-party ticket for the second time in U.S. history into a post-script on a history-making week. What a week.

Listen To The Entire Show Here

Obama Accepts Nomination Before Record 84,000

Gore Backs Obama, Invokes 2000 Loss

McCain to Announce VP Candidate

Pentagon Disputes UN Account of Afghan Civilian Massacre

“Free Gaza” Boats Begin Return from Historic Mission

Ex-Marine Acquitted in Killing Iraqi Prisoners

Gitmo Suicides Came Before News of Pending Release

Putin Accuses US of Stoking Georgia Conflict

Hurricane Gustav Kills 59 in Haiti

Ex-Argentine Junta Generals Sentenced to Life Terms

Jailed Lobbyist Abramoff Could See Early Release

Israeli Peace Activist Abie Nathan Dies at 81

I’ve been writing a lot and reading even more about how going green and become environmentally friendly can be a money-saver and good will creator for small firms.  But another kind of environmental concern has gotten my attention:  a warning about the nation’s innovation ecosystem.

While there are a lot of jabs about Gore and the invention of the Internet, an early Web innovator is sounding an alarm about the health of the environment for innovation in the United States.   Judy Estrin has written a book based on an extensive tech innovation background.  Estrin co-founded Bridge Communications in 1981 which merged into 3Com five years later. In 1988 Estrin was involved in start-up Network Computing Devices and became its CEO in 1993.  Estrin’s third start-up, Precept Software, was launched in 1995 and acquired three years later by Cisco.   She went on to help launch other firms and also serves on FedEx and Walt Disney; but she is a new author too!

In her new book, “Closing the Innovation Gap”, Estrin says innovation is crucial to social, economic and cultural development.  Estrin interviewed over 150 technology innovators as part of the research for the book and concludes a short-term outlook and a reliance on quick fixes and fast profits have diluted the curiosity and patience that sustain true innovation and create the potential for future economic growth.

Estrin calls not only on business leaders, but government and non-profit movers and shakers to save the innovation ecosystem of the nation.  Her suggestion for reform is to focus on four challenges - creating energy or reducing its use; understanding climate change; improving health care; and improving personal and national security.

To learn more about Estrin and her ideas for reigniting the spark of innovation and creativity, click here.

Contrast the above speeches--speeches that inexplicably generate feelings of hope and prosperity--with that of Dubya, who I refuse to recognize as our current President, since the election was decided not by the people but by the idiots who formed the "majority" in Bush v. Gore.

I mean, seriously.  If I called Dubya a moron, he'd probably think he was getting some kind of award.  I will be eternally amazed at how the Republican party was able to leverage Dubya's stupidity into a beneficial qualification for the presidency.  Why would anyone want an average Joe to act as the leader of this country (or the world)?  Seriously, if you were sick, would you seek help from the local drunk?  If you needed someone to do your taxes, would you head to the state prison and find a parolee destined for release on April 1?

CNN: That's why I came here tonight: to tell you why I feel so strongly that we must seize this opportunity to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America.

Eight years ago, some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties and it didn't really matter who became president. Our nation was enjoying peace and prosperity, and some assumed we would continue both, no matter the outcome.

But here we all are in 2008, and I doubt anyone would argue now that election didn't matter.

Take it from me, if it had ended differently, we would not be bogged down in Iraq; we would have pursued bin Laden until we captured him.

We would not be facing a self-inflicted economic crisis; we would be fighting for middle income families.

We would not be showing contempt for the Constitution; we'd be protecting the rights of every American regardless of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

And we would not be denying the climate crisis; we'd be solving it.

Today, we face essentially the same choice we faced in 2000, though it may be even more obvious now, because John McCain, a man who has earned our respect on many levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them, the same policies all over again. Full story

Sen. John McCain has taken center stage the day after Obama's coronation at the Democrat Convention by announcing his VP at high noon. It's Sarah Palin she has it all, good looks right out of central casting, intelligent speaker, family values and governor of Alaska. She is an environmentalist and understands drilling for oil is a must for U.S. energy independence.

She has positive energy and wit. She will be able to out debate Biden and show that the Republicans trust a women for high office. She has a  real life, not a life-long  politician like Biden and so many other Big Brother Democrats. 

The mother of five is an avid runner. Here is an article from the WSJ in September:

WSJ. Magazine
Gov. Sarah Palin: Midnight runs and caribou dinners

Brian Adams for WSJ. Magazine

Gov. Sarah Palin has always been a runner. Her parents were marathoners and high school track and cross-country coaches. "Running was a family affair," she says. "I didn't have much choice. Thankfully, I've never tired of it."

Gov. Palin, a mother of five kids, says exercise is still very much a "family thing." She and her husband, Todd, also an athlete, named their first son Track because he was born in that sport's season. Gov. Palin (above, near Mendenhall Glacier, outside of Juneau) and her family live in Wasilla, about 45 miles north of Anchorage.

Workout

"Conventional running is my sanity," Gov. Palin says. Having recently given birth to her fifth child, the governor is trying to get back to her old workout routine. She was running 7 to 10 miles almost every day but switched to aerobics classes at her gym when she became pregnant. She has worked her way back up to running three miles every other day.

In the summer, when it's always light, she'll sometimes run as late as midnight. In the dead of winter, when it's dark, she sneaks in an afternoon run, or else grudgingly runs on the treadmill at home or at the gym in the evening. Gov. Palin keeps dumbbells at home, but she says most of her upper body strength comes from snowmobiling with her family. "It's the best upper body workout you could ever have," she says. "You're maneuvering through hundreds of pounds of powder." (Todd is a four-time champion of the Tesoro Iron Dog, the world's longest snowmobile race.)

Brian Adams for WSJ. Magazine

Gov. Palin in Juneau, Alaska

Diet pitfall

"My family and I eat a healthy diet heavy in wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit," she says. "I guess my biggest pitfall is breakfast. I know it's the most important meal of the day but I still haven't bought into it. I hate to admit it, but a skinny white-chocolate mocha is my staple in the morning."

Workout gear

"My ideal fantasy is to be running on a hot dusty road just wearing running shorts and some kind of top that wicks away sweat. But in reality I'm running in 20-below temperatures, so I wear layers of fleece and always a good outdoor waterproof trail shoe. Right now I've been running in Nike Air Structure Triax. And I always wear sunglasses. My kids tell me to put them on so I don't freak people out when they see me with a goofy hairdo and no makeup."

While I'm working out

"I'm thinking about my next speech. I usually write my best speeches and letters [in my head] while out running. That is my inspired time."

Postworkout food

"Nothing. I just drink water."

Workout pitfall

"Being pregnant every few years. If I get lazy and go weeks or months without exercising it's not because of circumstances but because I'm being less disciplined. Shame on me."

Visit http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/

Drill here, drill now!

Obama pitted himself against John McCain, repeatedly countering attacks from his GOP rival while casting the election as a choice between change and failure, as he addressed 80,000 cheering people at Invesco Field in Denver and millions of primetime television viewers.

Former Vice President Al Gore started his speech at Invesco field last night by talking about how the world would be different had he ended up in the White House in 2000. He then said that the choice between Obama and McCain is more obvious now because McCain is just recycling the policies of Bush/Cheney.

Having decided on his running mate, John McCain will soon begin making calls to the people who were on his short list for Vice President to inform them of his choice. He will introduce his running mate to the nation today at a rally in Dayton, OH.

The spinning core of tropical storm Gustav is expected to move back over open water today, a day after bearing down on Southern Jamaica. The storm is expected to strengthen to a hurricane and head for Texas and Louisiana. New Orleans has said that a mandatory evacuation might be necessary.

And still wondering where Jesse Jackson and Sharpton are... and when newly reprogrammed mommy will emerge.

Where did they do with Al Gore? haha   O yeah...  And then there's Jimmy Carter that referred to Obama as... that boy?  What?

Still don't wanna live in China or in that America... and hopefully straight Mex McCain will dump Carly Fiorina and grow some conservative values... yeah right.

Will seriously watch what Nader can put together this time....

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Thanks for checking out my posting. Check out the latest at http://mrobvious.wordpress.com
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From The New York Times

DENVER — Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party presidential nomination on Thursday, declaring that the “American promise has been threatened” by eight years under President Bush and that John McCain represented a continuation of policies that undermined the nation’s economy and imperiled its standing around the world.

The speech by Senator Obama, in front of an audience of nearly 80,000 people on a warm night in a football stadium refashioned into a vast political stage for television viewers, left little doubt how he intended to press his campaign against Mr. McCain this fall.

In cutting language, and to cheers that echoed across the stadium, he linked Mr. McCain to what he described as the “failed presidency of George W. Bush” and — reflecting what has been a central theme of his campaign since he entered the race — “the broken politics in Washington.”

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

But Mr. Obama went beyond attacking Mr. McCain by linking him to Mr. Bush and his policies. In the course of a 42-minute speech that ended with a booming display of fireworks and a shower of confetti, he offered searing and far-reaching attacks on his presumptive Republican opponent, repeatedly portraying him as the face of the old way of politics and failed Republican policies.

He said Mr. McCain was out of touch with the problems of everyday Americans. “It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care,” he said. “It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.”

And he went so far as to attack the presumed strength of Mr. McCain’s campaign, national security. “You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won’t even follow him to the cave where he lives,” he said.

The speech loomed as arguably Mr. Obama’s most important of the campaign to date. It was an opportunity to present himself to Americans just now beginning to tune in on this campaign, to make the case against Mr. McCain and to offer what many Democrats say he has failed to offer to date: an idea of what he stands for, beyond a promise of change.

To that end, he emphasized what he described as concrete steps he would take to address the anxieties of working-class Americans, promising tax cuts for the middle class and pledging to wean the country from dependence on Middle East oil within 10 years to address high fuel prices.

With the speech, Mr. Obama closed out his party’s convention here and prepared for a quick shift of public attention to the Republicans as Mr. McCain moved to name his running mate and his party got ready for its convention in St. Paul on Monday.

He delivered it in a most unconventional setting, becoming the third nominee of a major party in the nation’s history to leave the site of his convention to give his acceptance speech at a stadium. In this case, it was Invesco Field, set against the Rockies and about a mile from the arena where he had been nominated the night before. His aides chose the stadium to signal a break from typical politics and to permit thousands of his supporters from across the country to hear him speak.

And it came on a night that offered — by the coincidence of scheduling — a reminder of the historic nature of the Obama candidacy: 45 years to the day after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the Mall in Washington. Mr. Obama is the first African-American to be nominated for the White House by a major party, a fact that, for all its significance, has been barely mentioned over the course of this four-day gathering.

Even in invoking the anniversary of the King speech, Mr. Obama only alluded to race. But he quoted a famous phrase from Dr. King’s address to reinforce a central theme of his own speech. “America, we cannot turn back,” Mr. Obama said. “Not with so much work to be done.”

Mr. McCain marked the occasion of the speech by releasing a television advertisement in which, looking into the camera, he paid tribute to Mr. Obama and his accomplishment. “How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day,” Mr. McCain said. “Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it. But tonight, Senator, job well done.

The advertisement stood in stark contrast to a summer of slashing attacks on Mr. Obama by Mr. McCain that apparently contributed to the tightening of this race. And the softer tone did not last; Mr. Obama was still on the stage, watching the fireworks, when Mr. McCain’s campaign issued a statement attacking him.

“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama,” said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain.

In his speech, Mr. Obama scored Mr. McCain for raising questions about his patriotism, and trying, he said, to turn a big election into a fight on small squabbles.

I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain,” Mr. Obama said, an American flag lapel affixed to his left lapel. “The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.”

“So I’ve got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first,” he said, prompting the crowd to break into a chant of “U.S.A., U.S.A.”

Mr. Obama looked completely at ease and unintimidated by his task or the huge crowd that surrounded him. And he chastised Mr. McCain for trying to portray him as a celebrity, an attack aides say has been particularly damaging, offering a list of people who he said had inspired him, from his grandmother to an unemployed factory worker he met on the campaign trail.

“I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine,” he said. “These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on behalf of them that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.”

Mr. Obama delivered his speech on a day of considerable political churn. Even as Mr. McCain was paying tribute to Mr. Obama on television, his aides disclosed that he made a choice for vice president and would announce it on Friday, timing intended to draw attention away from Mr. Obama on a day in which he and his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., would be starting a joint campaign swing.

Mr. Obama’s audience began lining up to go through security and enter the stadium eight hours before he was to speak. As seats filled, they watched a series of musical performances, including by Stevie Wonder, who sang, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.”

But the table for Mr. Obama was also set by speeches from some of the best-known Democratic leaders. They were led by Al Gore, the former vice president who confronted a question that has, fairly or not, hovered over Mr. Obama as he struggles in his contest with Mr. McCain.

“Why is this election so close?” Mr. Gore asked. “Well I know something about close elections, so let me offer you my opinion. I believe this election is close today mainly because the forces of the status quo are desperately afraid of the change Barack Obama represents.”

Mr. Obama used much of his speech to link Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush — a line of attack that his aides view as their strongest going into the fall — and signaled that he saw next week’s Republican convention, when Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush are to appear together, albeit briefly, as a way to press that line of attack.

“Next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third,” he said. “And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On Nov. 4, we must stand up and say: ‘Eight is enough.’ ”

Speaking in generally broad terms, Mr. Obama offered a contrast between Republican and Democratic views of the role of government.

“We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500,” he said, “but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job — an economy that honors the dignity of work.”

The outdoor acceptance speech was by any measure a risky gambit by a campaign that has shown a taste for taking chances and breaking with convention, as his aides acknowledged. Bad weather could have soaked the moment. Mr. Obama’s first question to aides when they proposed this was, “Will it rain?” It did not; the day was dry, if hot.

When John F. Kennedy held his outdoor rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in June 1960, half the seats were empty, as a dispatch in The New York Times noted in dismissively describing the event as a “fresh air vaudeville.” The stadium here was packed by 5:15 mountain time, three hours before Mr. Obama was to take the stage, after a week in which Democrats and Obama supporters had been hustling for tickets.