Obama passes torch to Clinton, warns election a test of democracy
President Barack Obama on
Wednesday implored Americans to
help Hillary Clinton beat Donald
Trump, warning the 2016 race was not
just about politics, but the nature of US
democracy.
Speaking before a rapt Democratic
convention in Philadelphia, Obama
praised Clinton's caliber and readiness
for the White House while painting
her Republican rival as a know-
nothing authoritarian.
The election, Obama said, was "not just
a choice between parties or policies;
the usual debates between left and
right."
"This is a more fundamental choice,"
he said.
In the city where America's founding
fathers signed the Declaration of
Independence, Obama declared the
November election a "fundamental
choice" about what the country is and
the very "meaning of our democracy."
Obama spearheaded a day-long effort
by Democrats to depict Trump as unfit
to be commander-in-chief, contrasting
the political neophyte with his more
experienced Democratic rival.
Trump, he said, was "betting that if he
scares enough people, he might score
just enough votes to win this election."
The wealthy real estate mogul has run
on a hard-right platform of banning
Muslims from entering the United
States and building a border wall to
keep Hispanic migrants out.
Earlier in the day, he launched a pre-
emptive attack against Obama, calling
him "the most ignorant president in
our history."
The president fired right back.
Punching at Trump's campaign slogan,
he insisted "America is already great.
America is already strong. And I
promise you, our strength, our
greatness, does not depend on Donald
Trump."
"Our power doesn't come from some
self-declared savior promising that he
alone can restore order as long as we
do things his way. We don't look to be
ruled."
Voicing optimism about the future,
Obama said "anyone who threatens
our values -- whether fascists or
communists or jihadists or homegrown
demagogues -- will always fail in the
end."
- No one more qualified -
Acting as a character reference for his
secretary of state of four years, with
whom he battled in the 2008
primaries, Obama said Clinton was
uniquely qualified to succeed him.
He said the 68-year-old former first
lady and senator knew what it's like to
be in the room when tough epoch-
making and presidency-breaking
decisions were taken -- like the move
to strike Osama bin Laden.
"I can say with confidence there has
never been a man or a woman -- not
me, not Bill (Clinton), nobody -- more
qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve
as president of the United States of
America," he said.
At the end of his speech, Clinton -- the
first woman to win the presidential
nomination of a major US political
party -- joined him on stage to
deafening shouts from the party
faithful. The pair embraced and
waved to the crowd.
- Taking Trump on -
Earlier in the day a series of
Democrats had sought to zero in on
disunity in the Republican party and
zero in on disgruntled voting blocs.
Vice President Joe Biden trashed
Trump's claim to be a champion of the
middle class, laying into the mogul's
reality television show catchphrase:
"You're fired!"
"Think about that," said Biden, his
voice growing angrier. "Think about
that. Think about everything you
learned as a child no matter where
you were raised. How can there be
pleasure in saying 'You're fired'?
"He's trying to tell us he cares about
the middle class? Give me a break!
That's a bunch of malarkey!"
Clinton's vice presidential running
mate Tim Kaine made a folksy appeal
to more centrist voters, deriding a
"slick-talking, empty-promising, self-
promoting one-man wrecking crew!"
A host of Democrats zeroed in on
Trump's comments that seemed to
invite Russian cyber espionage against
Clinton.
"As someone who was responsible for
protecting our nation from cyber-
attacks, it is inconceivable to me that
any presidential candidate would be
that irresponsible," said former CIA
director Leon Panetta.
It was left to Obama to draw all these
disparate strands together into a
comprehensive argument as to why
Clinton should succeed him.
- Dimming limelight -
Now in the twilight of his second term,
Obama faces ever-dwindling
opportunities to address the nation,
mold his legacy and influence the 2016
race.
But on Wednesday, he had a prime-
time chance, appearing before
thousands of delegates and tens of
millions of viewers at home.
The White House said Obama had
been working on the roughly 45-
minute speech for weeks.
Yet this touchstone presidential
moment had been a decade or more in
the making.
The address bookends Obama's career-
launching address to the Democratic
convention in 2004, his contentious
2008 primary battle with Clinton and
his eight years in office.
Obama made a familiar case for what
has been achieved during his two
terms, highlighting America's recovery
from the Great Recession, the Iran
nuclear deal and reforms to health
care.
But this was also a passing of the party
torch.
"I have confidence as I leave this stage
tonight that the Democratic Party is in
good hands," Obama said, appearing
to become emotional.
"Thank you for this incredible
journey," he said before his long exit
from the stage.
Wednesday implored Americans to
help Hillary Clinton beat Donald
Trump, warning the 2016 race was not
just about politics, but the nature of US
democracy.
Speaking before a rapt Democratic
convention in Philadelphia, Obama
praised Clinton's caliber and readiness
for the White House while painting
her Republican rival as a know-
nothing authoritarian.
The election, Obama said, was "not just
a choice between parties or policies;
the usual debates between left and
right."
"This is a more fundamental choice,"
he said.
In the city where America's founding
fathers signed the Declaration of
Independence, Obama declared the
November election a "fundamental
choice" about what the country is and
the very "meaning of our democracy."
Obama spearheaded a day-long effort
by Democrats to depict Trump as unfit
to be commander-in-chief, contrasting
the political neophyte with his more
experienced Democratic rival.
Trump, he said, was "betting that if he
scares enough people, he might score
just enough votes to win this election."
The wealthy real estate mogul has run
on a hard-right platform of banning
Muslims from entering the United
States and building a border wall to
keep Hispanic migrants out.
Earlier in the day, he launched a pre-
emptive attack against Obama, calling
him "the most ignorant president in
our history."
The president fired right back.
Punching at Trump's campaign slogan,
he insisted "America is already great.
America is already strong. And I
promise you, our strength, our
greatness, does not depend on Donald
Trump."
"Our power doesn't come from some
self-declared savior promising that he
alone can restore order as long as we
do things his way. We don't look to be
ruled."
Voicing optimism about the future,
Obama said "anyone who threatens
our values -- whether fascists or
communists or jihadists or homegrown
demagogues -- will always fail in the
end."
- No one more qualified -
Acting as a character reference for his
secretary of state of four years, with
whom he battled in the 2008
primaries, Obama said Clinton was
uniquely qualified to succeed him.
He said the 68-year-old former first
lady and senator knew what it's like to
be in the room when tough epoch-
making and presidency-breaking
decisions were taken -- like the move
to strike Osama bin Laden.
"I can say with confidence there has
never been a man or a woman -- not
me, not Bill (Clinton), nobody -- more
qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve
as president of the United States of
America," he said.
At the end of his speech, Clinton -- the
first woman to win the presidential
nomination of a major US political
party -- joined him on stage to
deafening shouts from the party
faithful. The pair embraced and
waved to the crowd.
- Taking Trump on -
Earlier in the day a series of
Democrats had sought to zero in on
disunity in the Republican party and
zero in on disgruntled voting blocs.
Vice President Joe Biden trashed
Trump's claim to be a champion of the
middle class, laying into the mogul's
reality television show catchphrase:
"You're fired!"
"Think about that," said Biden, his
voice growing angrier. "Think about
that. Think about everything you
learned as a child no matter where
you were raised. How can there be
pleasure in saying 'You're fired'?
"He's trying to tell us he cares about
the middle class? Give me a break!
That's a bunch of malarkey!"
Clinton's vice presidential running
mate Tim Kaine made a folksy appeal
to more centrist voters, deriding a
"slick-talking, empty-promising, self-
promoting one-man wrecking crew!"
A host of Democrats zeroed in on
Trump's comments that seemed to
invite Russian cyber espionage against
Clinton.
"As someone who was responsible for
protecting our nation from cyber-
attacks, it is inconceivable to me that
any presidential candidate would be
that irresponsible," said former CIA
director Leon Panetta.
It was left to Obama to draw all these
disparate strands together into a
comprehensive argument as to why
Clinton should succeed him.
- Dimming limelight -
Now in the twilight of his second term,
Obama faces ever-dwindling
opportunities to address the nation,
mold his legacy and influence the 2016
race.
But on Wednesday, he had a prime-
time chance, appearing before
thousands of delegates and tens of
millions of viewers at home.
The White House said Obama had
been working on the roughly 45-
minute speech for weeks.
Yet this touchstone presidential
moment had been a decade or more in
the making.
The address bookends Obama's career-
launching address to the Democratic
convention in 2004, his contentious
2008 primary battle with Clinton and
his eight years in office.
Obama made a familiar case for what
has been achieved during his two
terms, highlighting America's recovery
from the Great Recession, the Iran
nuclear deal and reforms to health
care.
But this was also a passing of the party
torch.
"I have confidence as I leave this stage
tonight that the Democratic Party is in
good hands," Obama said, appearing
to become emotional.
"Thank you for this incredible
journey," he said before his long exit
from the stage.
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