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Obama Acceptance Speech Calls for Change, Brushes Over Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"

By Kathleen Gilbert

DENVER, CO, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama took full advantage of his historical position as the first black presidential candidate in his acceptance speech last night, which hinted, among familiar preaching for "change", that the event was on a par with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech exactly 45 years before.

"The change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington," he told supporters. "Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time."

Obama's much-anticipated acceptance speech was presented before a massive crowd of some 80,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field, where he was greeted with a rock-star-like reception. It took the senator several minutes to begin his speech, as the crowd drowned him out with a sustained applause, during which Obama repeatedly thanked his supporters.

The speech covered a variety of themes, addressing platform issues such as the economy, the war in Iraq, tax reform, and life issues, recalling personal memories, and eulogizing  the "American promise" and the responsibility to "march into the future" away from "broken politics and failed policies."

Obama only briefly touched on the issue of abortion, downplaying his extreme position on the issue, instead seeking common ground in the face of widespread opposition. "We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country," he said. 

On homosexual "marriage," Obama continued in the same vein, asking Americans to unite in granting marriage-like rights to homosexuals. Obama has said he is opposed to same-sex "marriage," but in favor of "civil unions": "I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination."

Obama challenged McCain's similarity to Bush on issues such as the war in Iraq, stressing a need for change: "Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time?  I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change."

Surrounded by pillars softly lit to recall Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech presented outside the Lincoln Memorial, Sen. Obama concluded with a reference to the "young preacher from Georgia" as his predecessor in the crusade for change: "'We cannot walk alone,' the preacher cried.  'And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.  We cannot turn back.'  America, we cannot turn back.  Not with so much work to be done. . . . At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future."

Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan said Obama's speech "lacked lift but had heft," referring to a change in rhetorical style that had once garnered criticism for being low on substance.

Noting the overall impression of the event, Noonan mused that the soft, bittersweet orchestral score was "like the music they play in the background in a big movie just after a big battle, when everyone's absorbing what happened."  "A muted affair," she said, "But not one without power." 

David Freddoso, however, writing for the National Review, criticized Obama's speech for glossing over many of his most extreme views, claiming, "America did not see the real Barack Obama last night."

On abortion, Freddoso observed, "The man who misled the public for four years about his vote to let a Chicago-area hospital continue leaving premature abortion survivors to die, and who promised that his first act as president will be to re-legalize partial-birth abortion, offered this calm plea to the nation: 'We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.'"

"Many voters," he concluded, "will be fooled by last night's speech. If Obama wins, they should not be surprised, three years from now, to hear themselves saying something similar:  'This is not the Barack Obama I thought I knew . . . '"

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