Written by
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE
— His re-election in doubt, President Barack Obama acknowledged slow progress
toward solving the nation's economic woes Thursday night but declared in a
Democratic National Convention speech, "Our problems can be solved, our
challenges can be met."
"The
path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place," he said in
excerpts of his prime-time speech released in advance.
His
speech was the final act of his national convention, and the opening salvo of a
two-month drive toward Election Day in his race against Republican rival Mitt
Romney. The contest is close for the White House in a dreary season of economic
struggle for millions.
With
unemployment at 8.3 percent, Obama said the task of recovering from the
economic disaster of 2008 is exceeded in American history only by the challenge
Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced when he took office in the Great Depression in
1933.
"It
will require common effort, shared responsibility and the kind of bold
persistent experimentation" that FDR employed, Obama said.
In
an appeal to independent voters who might be considering a vote for Romney, he
added that those who carry on Roosevelt's legacy "should remember that not
every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from
Washington."
The
convention's final night also included a nomination acceptance speech from Vice
President Joe Biden, whose appeal to blue collar voters rivals or even exceeds
Obama's own.
The
president was to be introduced by first lady Michelle Obama, who also spoke on
the convention's opening night as the Democrats sought to capitalize on her
popularity.
Delegates
who packed into their convention hall were serenaded by singer James Taylor and
rocked by R&B blues artist Mary J. Blige as they awaited Obama's speech.
Actress
Eva Longoria was on the program, as well. "No empty chairs," she
said, a reference to actor Clint Eastwood's mocking reference to Obama at
Romney's Republican National Convention last week in Florida.
As
part of the excerpts released in advance, Obama's campaign said he would set a
goal of creating one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016 and push
for more aggressive steps to reduce American dependence on foreign oil.
He
also called for curtailing the growth of college costs by half over the next 10
years. According to the Department of Education, the price of undergraduate
tuition and room and board at public institutions rose by 42 percent in the
decade that ended in 2010; the increase at private not-for-profit institutions
was 31 percent.
Still,
he said, "The truth is it will take more than a few years for us to solve
challenges that have built up over a decade."
The
campaign focus was shifting quickly — to politically sensitive monthly
unemployment figures due out Friday morning and the first presidential debate
on Oct. 3 in Denver. Wall Street hit a four-year high a few hours before
Obama's speech after the European Central Bank laid out a concrete plan to
support the region's struggling countries.
Convention
planners shoehorned a few more seats into the Time Warner Cable Arena for
Obama's remarks, pushing capacity to about 15,000. Even so, the decision to
scrap plans to hold the night's session in a 74-000-seat football stadium meant
a far smaller crowd than the president's campaign hoped would hear him speak
and present an enthusiastic show of support on television.
Officials
blamed the switch on weather concerns, and there was heavy rain at
mid-afternoon. Perhaps typical of delegates and their feelings, Grifynn Clay of
Snohomish, Wash., said, "I would've enjoyed the stadium, but if it was
pouring I would not want to be in there for the six hours of speeches."
The
economy is by far the dominant issue in the campaign, and the differences
between Obama and his challenger could hardly be more pronounced.
Romney
wants to extend all tax cuts that are due to expire on Dec. 31 with an
additional 20 percent reduction in rates across the board, arguing that job
growth would result. He also favors deep cuts in domestic programs ranging from
education to parks, repeal of the health care legislation that Obama pushed
through Congress and landmark changes in Medicare, the program that provides
health care to seniors.
Obama
wants to renew the tax cuts except on incomes higher than $250,000, saying that
millionaires should contribute to an overall attack on federal deficits. He
also criticizes the spending cuts Romney advocates, saying they would fall
unfairly on the poor, lower-income college students and others. He argues that
Republicans would "end Medicare as we know it" and saddle seniors
with ever-rising costs.
After
two weeks of back-to-back conventions, the impact on the race remained to be
determined.
You're
not going to see big bounces in this election," said David Plouffe, a
senior White House adviser. "For the next 61 days, it's going to remain
tight as a tick."
Romney
wrapped up several days of debate rehearsals with close aides in Vermont and is
expected to resume full-time campaigning in the next day or two.
In
a brief stop to talk with veterans on Thursday, he defended his decision to
omit mention of the war in Afghanistan when he delivered his acceptance speech
last week at the Republican National Convention. He noted he had spoken to the
American Legion only one day before.
He
also said he had no plans to watch Obama on television.
"If
the president is going to report on the promises he made and how he has
performed in those promises, I'd love to watch it," Romney said. "But
if it's another series of new promises that he's not going to keep, I have no
interest in seeing him because I saw the promises last time."
It
will likely be a week or more before the two campaigns can fully digest
post-convention polls and adjust their strategies for the fall.
Based
on the volume of campaign appearances to date and the hundreds of millions of
dollars spent already on television advertising, the election appears likely to
be decided in a small number of battleground states. The list includes New
Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada and Iowa, as well as Florida and
North Carolina, the states where first Republicans and then Democrats held
their conventions. Those states hold 100 electoral votes among them, out of 270
needed to win the White House.
Money
has become an ever-present concern for the Democrats, an irony given the
overwhelming advantage Obama held over John McCain in the 2008 campaign.
This
time, Romney is outpacing him, and independent groups seeking the Republican's
election are pouring tens of millions of dollars into television advertising,
far exceeding what Obama's supporters can afford.
"We've
got 17 angry, old, white men who are pouring in millions of dollars, carpet
bombing every candidate in sight," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois,
referring to wealthy Republicans who have written checks for a million dollars
or more to Americans for Prosperity and Restore Our Future.
Officials
disclosed that former President Bill Clinton, who made a forceful convention
speech advocating Obama's re-election on Wednesday night, would campaign
aggressively for the Democratic ticket this fall. His first appearance is set
for Florida next week.
On
Obama's conference call to supporters who were cut out of seeing Thursday
night's session, Obama exhorted them to continue their work on voter
registration and other pre-election activity.
He
said North Carolina is "Exhibit A of the unbelievable work that's being
done at the grassroots level. You guys are blowing it up when it comes to
registering voters."
Official
figures show about 30,000 Democrats have been registered to vote in the state
since 2008, but some party leaders said recent canvassing had pushed the actual
figure far higher.
On
the call, the president commiserated with those who would no longer be able to
see him speak.
"The
problem was a safety issue. I could not ask you, all volunteers, law
enforcement, first responders to subject themselves to the risk of severe
thunderstorms," he said.
A
few hours later, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour.
Romney's
campaign released its first new television ad since the convention season
began.
It
shows Clinton sharply questioning Obama's credibility on the Iraq War in 2008,
saying "Give me a break, this whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've
ever seen." Obama was running against Hillary Rodham Clinton at the time
for the Democratic nomination.
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