US President Barack Obama has delivered his acceptance speech after being formally nominated as the Democratic candidate

for president. His speech caps off three days of Democratic pageantry as they made their case for Mr Obama's re election. Belo! is the f"ll te#t of Mr Obama's acceptance speech. Michelle, I love you. The other night, I think the entire country saw just how lucky I am. Malia and Sasha, you make me so proudbut don't get any ideas, you're still going to class tomorrow. nd !oe "iden, thank you #or being the best $ice %resident I could ever hope #or. Madam &hairwoman, delegates, I accept your nomination #or %resident o# the 'nited States. The #irst time I addressed this convention in ())*, I was a younger man+ a Senate candidate #rom Illinois who spoke about hope , not blind optimism or wish#ul thinking, but hope in the #ace o# di##iculty+ hope in the #ace o# uncertainty+ that dogged #aith in the #uture which has pushed this nation #orward, even when the odds are great+ even when the road is long. -ight years later, that hope has been tested , by the cost o# war+ by one o# the worst economic crises in history+ and by political gridlock that's le#t us wondering whether it's still possible to tackle the challenges o# our time. I know that campaigns can seem small, and even silly. Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. nd the truth gets buried under an avalanche o# money and advertising. I# you're sick o# hearing me approve this message, believe me , so am I. "ut when all is said and done , when you pick up that ballot to vote , you will #ace the clearest choice o# any time in a generation. .ver the ne/t #ew years, big decisions will be made in 0ashington, on jobs and the economy+ ta/es and de#icits+ energy and education+ war and peace , decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives #or decades to come. .n every issue, the choice you #ace won't be just between two candidates or two parties.

It will be a choice between two di##erent paths #or merica. choice between two #undamentally di##erent visions #or the #uture. .urs is a #ight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known+ the values my grand#ather de#ended as a soldier in %atton's rmy+ the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber assembly line while he was gone. They knew they were part o# something larger , a nation that triumphed over #ascism and depression+ a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products, and everyone shared in the pride and success , #rom the corner o##ice to the #actory #loor. My grandparents were given the chance to go to college, buy their #irst home, and #ul#ill the basic bargain at the heart o# merica's story1 the promise that hard work will pay o##+ that responsibility will be rewarded+ that everyone gets a #air shot, and everyone does their #air share, and everyone plays by the same rules , #rom Main Street to 0all Street to 0ashington, 2&. I ran #or %resident because I saw that basic bargain slipping away. I began my career helping people in the shadow o# a shuttered steel mill, at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas. nd by ())3, we had seen nearly a decade in which #amilies struggled with costs that kept rising but paychecks that didn't+ racking up more and more debt just to make the mortgage or pay tuition+ to put gas in the car or #ood on the table. nd when the house o# cards collapsed in the 4reat 5ecession, millions o# innocent mericans lost their jobs, their homes, and their li#e savings , a tragedy #rom which we are still #ighting to recover. 6ow, our #riends at the 5epublican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with merica, 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. nd that's because all they have to o##er is the same prescription they've had #or the last thirty years1 78ave a surplus9 Try a ta/ cut.7 72e#icit too high9 Try another.7

7:eel a cold coming on9 Take two ta/ cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning;7 6ow, I've cut ta/es #or those who need it , middle,class #amilies and small businesses. "ut I don't believe that another round o# ta/ breaks #or millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our de#icit. I don't believe that #iring teachers or kicking students o## #inancial aid will grow the economy, or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out o# &hina. #ter all that we've been through, I don't believe that rolling back regulations on 0all Street will help the small businesswoman e/pand, or the laid,o## construction worker keep his home. 0e've been there, we've tried that, and we're not going back. 0e're moving #orward. I won't pretend the path I'm o##ering is <uick or easy. I never have. =ou didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. =ou elected me to tell you the truth. nd the truth is, it will take more than a #ew years #or us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. It will re<uire common e##ort, shared responsibility, and the kind o# bold, persistent e/perimentation that :ranklin 5oosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. nd by the way , those o# us who carry on his party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate #rom 0ashington. "ut know this, merica1 .ur problems can be solved. .ur challenges can be met. The path we o##er may be harder, but it leads to a better place. nd I'm asking you to choose that #uture. I'm asking you to rally around a set o# goals #or your country , goals in manu#acturing, energy, education, national security, and the de#icit+ a real, achievable plan that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger #oundation. That's what we can do in the ne/t #our years, and that's why I'm running #or a second term as %resident o# the 'nited States. 0e can choose a #uture where we e/port more products and outsource #ewer jobs. #ter a decade that was de#ined by what we bought and borrowed, we're getting back to basics, and doing what merica has always done best1 0e're making things again. I've met workers in 2etroit and Toledo who #eared they'd never build

another merican car. Today, they can't build them #ast enough, because we reinvented a dying auto industry that's back on top o# the world. I've worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs back to merica , not because our workers make less pay, but because we make better products. "ecause we work harder and smarter than anyone else. I've signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions o# new customers , goods that are stamped with three proud words1 Made in merica. #ter a decade o# decline, this country created over hal# a million manu#acturing jobs in the last two and a hal# years. nd now you have a choice1 we can give more ta/ breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here, in the 'nited States o# merica. 0e can help big #actories and small businesses double their e/ports, and i# we choose this path, we can create a million new manu#acturing jobs in the ne/t #our years. =ou can make that happen. =ou can choose that #uture. =ou can choose the path where we control more o# our own energy. #ter thirty years o# inaction, we raised #uel standards so that by the middle o# the ne/t decade, cars and trucks will go twice as #ar on a gallon o# gas. 0e've doubled our use o# renewable energy, and thousands o# mericans 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. nd today, the 'nited States o# merica is less dependent on #oreign oil than at any time in nearly two decades. 6ow you have a choice , between a strategy that reverses this progress, or one that builds on it. 0e've opened millions o# new acres #or oil and gas e/ploration in the last three years, and we'll open more. "ut unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this country's energy plan, or endanger our coastlines, or collect another >* billion in corporate wel#are #rom our ta/payers. 0e're o##ering a better path , a #uture where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal+ where #armers and scientists harness new bio#uels to power our cars and trucks+ where construction workers build homes and #actories that waste less energy+ where we develop a

hundred year supply o# natural gas that's right beneath our #eet. I# you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in hal# by ()() and support more than ?)),))) new jobs in natural gas alone. nd yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet , because climate change is not a hoa/. More droughts and #loods and wild#ires are not a joke. They're a threat to our children's #uture. nd in this election, you can do something about it. =ou can choose a #uture where more mericans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. -ducation was the gateway to opportunity #or me. It was the gateway #or Michelle. nd now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle,class li#e. :or the #irst time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards #or teaching and learning. Some o# the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading. Millions o# students are paying less #or college today because we #inally took on a system that wasted billions o# ta/payer dollars on banks and lenders. nd now you have a choice , we can gut education, or we can decide that in the 'nited States o# merica, no child should have her dreams de#erred because o# a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. 6o #amily should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don't have the money. 6o company should have to look #or workers in &hina because they couldn't #ind any with the right skills here at home. 4overnment has a role in this. "ut teachers must inspire+ principals must lead+ parents must instil a thirst #or learning, and students, you've got to do the work. nd together, I promise you , we can out,educate and out, compete any country on -arth. 8elp me recruit @)),))) math and science teachers in the ne/t ten years, and improve early childhood education. 8elp give two million workers the chance to learn skills at their community college that will lead directly to a job. 8elp us work with colleges and universities to cut in hal# the growth o# tuition costs over the ne/t ten years. 0e can meet that goal together. =ou can choose that #uture #or merica. In a world o# new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. :our years ago, I promised

to end the war in Ira<. 0e did. I promised to re#ocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on AB@@. 0e have. 0e've blunted the Taliban's momentum in #ghanistan, and in ()@*, our longest war will be over. new tower rises above the 6ew =ork skyline, al Caeda is on the path to de#eat, and .sama bin Daden is dead. Tonight, we pay tribute to the mericans who still serve in harm's way. 0e are #orever in debt to a generation whose sacri#ice has made this country sa#er and more respected. 0e will never #orget you. nd so long as I'm &ommander,in,&hie#, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. 0hen you take o## the uni#orm, we will serve you as well as you've served us , because no one who #ights #or this country should have to #ight #or a job, or a roo# over their head, or the care that they need when they come home. round the world, we've strengthened old alliances and #orged new coalitions to stop the spread o# nuclear weapons. 0e've reasserted our power across the %aci#ic and stood up to &hina on behal# o# our workers. :rom "urma to Dibya to South Sudan, we have advanced the rights and dignity o# all human beings , men and women+ &hristians and Muslims and !ews. "ut #or all the progress we've made, challenges remain. Terrorist plots must be disrupted. -urope's crisis must be contained. .ur commitment to Israel's security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit o# peace. The Iranian government must #ace a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. The historic change sweeping across the rab 0orld must be de#ined not by the iron #ist o# a dictator or the hate o# e/tremists, but by the hopes and aspirations o# ordinary people who are reaching #or the same rights that we celebrate today. So now we #ace a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to #oreign policy, but #rom all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era o# blustering and blundering that cost merica so dearly. #ter all, you don't call 5ussia our number one enemy , and not al Caeda , unless you're still stuck in a &old 0ar time warp. =ou might not be ready #or diplomacy with "eijing i# you can't visit the .lympics without insulting our closest ally. My opponent said it was 7tragic7 to end the war in Ira<, and he won't tell us how he'll end the war in #ghanistan. I have, and I will. nd while my opponent would spend more money on military

hardware that our !oint &hie#s don't even want, I'll 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+ schools and runways. #ter two wars that have cost us thousands o# lives and over a trillion dollars, it's time to do some nation,building right here at home. =ou can choose a #uture where we reduce our de#icit without wrecking our middle class. Independent analysis shows that my plan would cut our de#icits by >* trillion. Dast summer, I worked with 5epublicans in &ongress to cut >@ trillion in spending , because those o# us who believe government can be a #orce #or good should work harder than anyone to re#orm it, so that it's leaner, more e##icient, and more responsive to the merican people. I want to re#orm the ta/ code so that it's simple, #air, and asks the wealthiest households to pay higher ta/es on incomes over >(E),))) , the same rate we had when "ill &linton was president+ the same rate we had when our economy created nearly (F million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history, and a lot o# millionaires to boot. 6ow, I'm still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles o# my bipartisan debt commission. 6o party has a monopoly on wisdom. 6o democracy works without compromise. "ut when 4overnor 5omney and his allies in &ongress tell us we can somehow lower our de#icit by spending trillions more on new ta/ breaks #or the wealthy , well, you do the math. I re#use to go along with that. nd as long as I'm %resident, I never will. I re#use to ask middle class #amilies to give up their deductions #or owning a home or raising their kids just to pay #or another millionaire's ta/ cut. I re#use to ask students to pay more #or college+ or kick children out o# 8ead Start programs, or eliminate health insurance #or millions o# mericans who are poor, elderly, or disabled , all so those with the most can pay less. nd I will never turn Medicare into a voucher. 6o merican should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy o# insurance companies. They should retire with the care and dignity they have earned. =es, we will re#orm and strengthen Medicare #or the long haul, but we'll do it by reducing the cost o# health care , not by asking seniors to pay thousands o# dollars more. nd we will keep the promise o# Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it , not by turning it over to

0all Street. This is the choice we now #ace. This is what the election comes down to. .ver and over, we have been told by our opponents that bigger ta/ cuts and #ewer regulations are the only way+ that since government can't do everything, it should do almost nothing. I# you can't a##ord health insurance, hope that you don't get sick. I# a company releases to/ic pollution into the air your children breathe, well, that's just the price o# progress. I# you can't a##ord to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and 7borrow money #rom your parents.7 =ou know what9 That's not who we are. That's not what this country's about. s mericans, we believe we are endowed by our &reator with certain inalienable rights , rights that no man or government can take away. 0e insist on personal responsibility and we celebrate individual initiative. 0e're not entitled to success. 0e have to earn it. 0e honour the strivers, the dreamers, the risk,takers who have always been the driving #orce behind our #ree enterprise system , the greatest engine o# growth and prosperity the world has ever known. "ut we also believe in something called citiGenship , a word at the very heart o# our #ounding, at the very essence o# our democracy+ the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to #uture generations. 0e believe that when a &-. pays his autoworkers enough to buy the cars that they build, the whole company does better. 0e believe that when a #amily can no longer be tricked into signing a mortgage they can't a##ord, that #amily is protected, but so is the value o# other people's homes, and so is the entire economy. 0e believe that a little girl who's o##ered an escape #rom poverty by a great teacher or a grant #or college could become the #ounder o# the ne/t 4oogle, or the scientist who cures cancer, or the %resident o# the 'nited States , and it's in our power to give her that chance. 0e know that churches and charities can o#ten make more o# a di##erence than a poverty program alone. 0e don't want handouts #or people who re#use to help themselves, and we don't want bailouts #or banks that break the rules. 0e don't think government can solve all our problems. "ut we don't think that government is the source o# all our

problems , any more than are wel#are recipients, or corporations, or unions, or immigrants, or gays, or any other group we're told to blame #or our troubles. "ecause we understand that this democracy is ours. 0e, the %eople, recogniGe that we have responsibilities as well as rights+ that our destinies are bound together+ that a #reedom which only asks what's in it #or me, a #reedom without a commitment to others, a #reedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy o# our #ounding ideals, and those who died in their de#ence. s citiGens, we understand that merica is not about what can be done #or us. It's about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and #rustrating but necessary work o# sel#,government. So you see, the election #our years ago wasn't about me. It was about you. My #ellow citiGens , you were the change. =ou're the reason there's a little girl with a heart disorder in %hoeni/ who'll get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. =ou did that. =ou're the reason a young man in &olorado who never thought he'd be able to a##ord his dream o# earning a medical degree is about to get that chance. =ou made that possible. =ou're the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our #lag will no longer be deported #rom the only country she's ever called home+ why sel#less soldiers won't be kicked out o# the military because o# who they are or who they love+ why thousands o# #amilies have #inally been able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely1 70elcome home.7 I# you turn away now , i# you buy into the cynicism that the change we #ought #or isn't possiblewell, change will not happen. I# you give up on the idea that your voice can make a di##erence, then other voices will #ill the void1 lobbyists and special interests+ the people with the >@) million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are making it harder #or you to vote+ 0ashington politicians who want to decide who you can marry, or control health care choices that women should make #or themselves.

.nly you can make sure that doesn't happen. .nly you have the power to move us #orward. I recogniGe that times have changed since I #irst spoke to this convention. The times have changed , and so have I. I'm no longer just a candidate. I'm the %resident. I know what it means to send young mericans into battle, #or I have held in my arms the mothers and #athers o# those who didn't return. I've shared the pain o# #amilies who've lost their homes, and the #rustration o# workers who've lost their jobs. I# the critics are right that I've made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them. nd while I'm proud o# what we've achieved together, I'm #ar more mind#ul o# my own #ailings, knowing e/actly what Dincoln meant when he said, 7I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.7 "ut as I stand here tonight, I have never been more hope#ul about merica. 6ot because I think I have all the answers. 6ot because I'm naive about the magnitude o# our challenges. I'm hope#ul because o# you. The young woman I met at a science #air who won national recognition #or her biology research while living with her #amily at a homeless shelter , she gives me hope. The auto worker who won the lottery a#ter his plant almost closed, but kept coming to work every day, and bought #lags #or his whole town and one o# the cars that he built to surprise his wi#e , he gives me hope. The #amily business in 0arroad, Minnesota that didn't lay o## a single one o# their #our thousand employees during this recession, even when their competitors shut down doGens o# plants, even when it meant the owners gave up some perks and pay , because they understood their biggest asset was the community and the workers who helped build that business , they give me hope. nd I think about the young sailor I met at 0alter 5eed hospital, still recovering #rom a grenade attack that would cause him to have his leg amputated above the knee. Si/ months ago, I would watch him walk into a 0hite 8ouse dinner honouring those who served in Ira<, tall and

twenty pounds heavier, dashing in his uni#orm, with a big grin on his #ace+ sturdy on his new leg. nd I remember how a #ew months a#ter that I would watch him on a bicycle, racing with his #ellow wounded warriors on a sparkling spring day, inspiring other heroes who had just begun the hard path he had travelled. 8e gives me hope. I don't know what party these men and women belong to. I don't know i# they'll vote #or me. "ut I know that their spirit de#ines us. They remind me, in the words o# Scripture, that ours is a 7#uture #illed with hope.7 nd i# you share that #aith with me , i# you share that hope with me , I ask you tonight #or your vote. I# you reject the notion that this nation's promise is reserved #or the #ew, your voice must be heard in this election. I# you reject the notion that our government is #orever beholden to the highest bidder, you need to stand up in this election. I# you believe that new plants and #actories can dot our landscape+ that new energy can power our #uture+ that new schools can provide ladders o# opportunity to this nation o# dreamers+ i# you believe in a country where everyone gets a #air shot, and everyone does their #air share, and everyone plays by the same rules, then I need you to vote this 6ovember. merica, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won't promise that now. =es, our path is harder , but it leads to a better place. =es our road is longer , but we travel it together. 0e don't turn back. 0e leave no one behind. 0e pull each other up. 0e draw strength #rom our victories, and we learn #rom our mistakes, but we keep our eyes #i/ed on that distant horiGon, knowing that %rovidence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citiGens o# the greatest nation on -arth. Thank you, 4od bless you, and may 4od bless these 'nited States