DENVER — DENVER - Barack Obama took off the gloves last night.
Sometimes accused of being too high-minded and elitist, the Democratic presidential nominee used a rock-star stage in Mile High stadium to get down and dirty, striking back hard - and repeatedly at John McCain.
As might be expected, the Illinois senator used his acceptance speech to portray McCain as the face of President Bush's unpopular administration. But he did it with a touch of humor, after pointing out that McCain had voted with Bush more than 90 percent of the time.
"I don't know about you," Obama said, "but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change."
Shouting "Enough!," he questioned McCain's judgment, portrayed the Republican as "grasping at the ideas of the past" and lacking fresh ideas for the future.
Obama accused his opponent of being out of touch with the economic struggles of ordinary Americans. He said McCain, who celebrates his 72nd birthday today, advocates pro-business policies not because he "doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it."
But it was on national security -- McCain's greatest strength, and one of his own weakest points - that Obama hurled his most audacious challenge.
"If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have," Obama said.
He followed with a selective reading of McCain's and his own positions, lacing them with applause lines. He charged that the Arizona senator "stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war" and then tried to turn around one of McCain's signature lines.
"John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives," he said. "If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need."
Introduced by a biopic that sought to humanize him, including a film clip of his wife, Michelle, recalling the time she met that guy with a funny name, Obama strode to the podium unannounced. A crowd of more than 70,000 gave a tumultuous roar and broke into chants of "Yes, We Can," the campaign's slogan.
Obama, whose patriotism has been called into question by some of his opponents, cast his life story as the embodiment of the American dream.
"We love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight," he said.
