Fuente: El Universal
Martes
Afirma el senador por Illinois que gracias a la gente que quiere un cambio en Washington, puede decir que será el candidato demócrata a la Presidencia de Estados Unidos
El senador Barack Obama afirmó hoy que se convertirá en el "candidato demócrata" a la Casa Blanca, tras haber conseguido los 2 mil 118 delegados que necesitaba para batir a su oponente Hillary Clinton en el proceso de primarias.
"Hoy acaba una travesía histórica y comienza otra, una travesía que traerá un nuevo y mejor día para Estados Unidos. Hoy puedo ya decirles que seré el candidato demócrata para la presidencia de los Estados Unidos", dijo Obama, el primer afroamericano con posibilidades reales de llegar a la Casa Blanca.
Desde St Paul (Minesota), que acogerá la Convención Republicana el próximo septiembre, Obama tuvo palabras de agradecimiento hacia Hillary Clinton por "haber inspirado a millones de votantes" .
"La senadora Clinton ha hecho historia en esta campaña, no sólo porque es una mujer que ha hecho algo que ninguna otra había logrado, sino porque es una líder que inspira a millones de estadounidenses con su fortaleza, su coraje y su compromiso con las causas que nos han traído hasta aquí", señaló.
Obama reconoció los múltiples logros que Clinton ha conseguido a lo largo de su trayectoria, y aseguró que "cuando finalmente ganemos la batalla por la cobertura sanitaria universal en este país, ella será la figura central de esta victoria".
"Nuestro partido y nuestro país son mejores gracias a ella, y soy un mejor candidato por haber tenido el honor de competir con Hillary Clinton" , dijo Obama.
Ante las voces que dicen que el partido demócrata ha salido dividido del largo y complicado proceso de primarias, Obama recordó que gracias a este proceso "hay millones de estadounidenses que han acudido a votar por primera vez" .
"Son muchos los jóvenes, los afroamericanos, los latinos y las mujeres de todas las edades que han votado en cifras que han roto todos los récords y que han inspirado a nuestra nación", apuntó.
"Y lo han hecho porque saben que en este momento, en que se está definiendo una nueva generación, no nos podemos permitir el lujo de seguir actuando como siempre. Debemos a nuestros hijos y a nuestro país un futuro mejor. Trabajemos juntos, unámonos en un esfuerzo común para dar un nuevo futuro a Estados Unidos".
Como prueba de que ahora compite por la presidencia de Estados Unidos con el candidato republicano John McCain, Obama acusó al senador de Arizona de querer seguir con la misma política que ha desarrollado el presidente George W. Bush.
La candidatura de McCain "no supone un cambio, cuando vemos que el senador ha dado su apoyo a George Bush el 95% del tiempo, como hizo el año pasado (en las votaciones) en el Senado", dijo.
Citó en concreto el respaldo que McCain ha dado a la política económica de Bush, que "ha fallado en crear empleos bien pagados, o dar seguro a los empleados, o ayudar a los ciudadanos a financiar los altos costes de la universidad, o a no dejar montañas de deudas a nuestros niños" .
Tampoco supone un cambio su postura hacia la guerra de Irak, donde defiende continuar pese a que es una contienda que "cuesta miles de millones de dólares cada mes y no ayuda a los estadounidenses a estar más a salvo".
"No es una opción dejar a nuestras tropas en Irak por los próximos 100 años, especialmente en un momento es que nuestras tropas están trabajando por encima de sus posibilidades, nuestra nación está aislada, y todos las demás amenazas que se ciernen sobre nuestro país son ignoradas", señaló.
Ahora, dijo, ha llegado el momento de retirarnos de Irak, pero "debemos tener tanto cuidado en nuestra retirada como lo tuvimos en nuestra entrada. Pero está claro que debemos salir. Ha llegado la hora de que los iraquíes asuman la responsabilidad sobre su propio futuro", apuntó.
John McCain "ha pasado mucho tiempo haciendo viajes a Irak, pero quizás debería pasar más tiempo en viajes a las ciudades de Estados Unidos que están castigadas por la economía, para entender cuál es el tipo de cambio que la gente quiere".
Obama concluyó con palabras de esperanza hacia las elecciones generales de noviembre, al asegurar que "es nuestro momento, el momento para pasar página a las políticas del pasado".
"La travesía va a ser difícil, el camino será largo. Asumo este desafío con profunda humildad, y siendo consciente de mis limitaciones. Pero lo asumo con la infinita fe en la capacidad de los estadounidenses. Porque si luchamos por ello, si creemos en ello, lo lograremos".
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Obama claims Democratic nomination
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois claimed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, NBC News projected based on its tally of convention delegates. By doing so, he shattered a barrier more than two centuries old to become the first black candidate ever nominated by a major political party for the nation’s highest office.
“After 54 hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end,” Obama told cheering supporters in a victory celebration in St. Paul, Minn., at the site of the convention that will nominate his Republican opponent in the fall, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
“Tonight, I can stand here before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America.”
Obama, 46, of Illinois, hailed his Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, for having “made history in this campaign, not just because she is a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.”
“Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton,” Obama said.
But Clinton refused to give Obama the unalloyed victory he sought.
In a speech to supporters in New York, Clinton said it had been “an honor to contest these primaries with him” and declared that she was “committed to uniting our party so we move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House this November.”
But she emphasized that she had won more votes in primaries and caucuses than Obama, and she pointedly said she would “be making no decisions tonight.” Instead, she said she would consult with party leaders in the next few days to determine her next step.
Aides said that was a strategic decision to preserve her leverage to negotiate over policy disagreements and the possibility that she would join Obama’s ticket as the vice presidential nominee.
Superdelegates put Obama over the top
In a speech Tuesday night in New Orleans, meanwhile, McCain welcomed Obama to the general election campaign as a “formidable” opponent, but accused Obama of unfairly trying to tie him to the policies of President Bush. "But the American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama,” McCain said.
McCain said Obama “hasn't been willing to make the tough calls, to challenge his party ... I have.”
In his speech, Obama fired back that McCain has regularly backed President Bush in the Senate and would offer four more years of failed policies on Iraq and the economy.
“There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's polices as bipartisan and new,” Obama said. “But change is not one of them.”
Obama’s victory came on the last day of the Democratic campaign schedule, as voters in South Dakota and Montana voted in the final primaries. But it was the decisions of the last unpledged party officials, known as superdelegates, who put Obama over the top.
Throughout the day, as Obama edged closer to the number of 2,118 delegates needed to win the nomination, more and more superdelegates relentlessly ticked over into his column, leading him to claim victory early in the evening.
Other notable black candidates have run for president, but it was Obama who broke through to be embraced by one of the two major parties, 45 years after Martin Luther King Jr. declared his dream for a colorblind America.
Obama-Clinton ticket could be in the works
NBC News projected Obama as the presumptive Democratic nominee at 9 p.m. ET, as polls closed in South Dakota. NBC projected that Clinton had won the primary, but it said Obama would win at least six delegates. Combined with late superdelegate declarations, it said Obama had gone over the top.
Even though the race had been all but decided, record numbers of Democrats turned out in South Dakota, NBC affiliate KDLT of Sioux Falls reported, giving Clinton about 56 percent of their votes.
NBC later in the evening projected Obama as the winner in Montana, where he was winning roughly three-fifths of the vote in early returns.
Throughout the day, meanwhile, as superdelegates kept falling into Obama’s column, speculation increased that McCain could be facing an Obama-Clinton unity ticket.
In an afternoon conference call among Clinton and members of the New York congressional delegation, Clinton signaled an interest Tuesday in joining the ticket but stopped short of conceding, participants told NBC News. On the call, Rep. Nydia Velasquez said she believed the best way for Obama to win over Latinos and members of other key voting blocs would be to take Clinton as his running mate.
“I am open to it,” Clinton replied, if it would help the party’s prospects in November, the participants said.
Aides to Clinton told NBC News that Clinton would seek a meeting with Obama as soon as possible, perhaps as early as Wednesday, when they could cross paths twice. First they will be in Washington to address the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and later they will be in New York for a round of party fundraisers.
But Obama’s top strategist, David Axelrod, said the campaign was not yet thinking about the vice presidential pick.
“We’re just savoring the night,” Axelrod told NBC News.
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