Seeking re-election for his second term, US President Barack Obama has said that the presidential polls against his Republican challenger Mitt Romney will be a choice between two “fundamentally different visions for the future” that will impact generations to come.
“On every issue, the choice you face won’t be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future,” Obama said as he accepted the Democratic Party nomination to run for presidential elections on November 6.
Obama conceded that the path he is offering is not quick or easy.
“I never have. You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades,” he said.
“It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one.
And by the way, those of us who carry on his party’s legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government programme or dictate from Washington,” Obama said.
“Know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future,” Obama said.
“I’m asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit; a real, achievable plan that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation,” he added.
“That’s what we can do in the next four years, and that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States,” he said in his speech in front of thousands of cheering Democratic Party delegates and supporters inside the jam packed Time Warner Cable Arena, having a capacity of 20,000.
Nearly 5,000 watch parties were held across the nation yesterday where his speech was being watched and debated with interest.
Plea for re-election
Making a passionate plea for his re-election, Obama urged his countrymen to rally around a set of goals.
On manufacturing, he promised to create one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016 and double exports by the end of 2014; while in the energy sector his plan vowed to cut net oil imports in half by 2020 and support 600,000 natural gas jobs by the end of the decade.
His ambitious plan on education cuts the growth of college tuition in half over the next 10 years, recruits 100,000 math and science teachers over the next 10 years and train two million workers for real jobs at community colleges.
He called for investing in the economy with the money that was no longer being spent on war.
Obama promised to reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade.
“When all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation,” Obama said.
“Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace, decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children’s lives for decades to come,” Obama added.
Romney's economic policies
Hitting hard at the economic policies of his Romney, Obama also said that this November presidential elections, Americans have a choice either reward companies which ships jobs overseas or provide tax incentives to those who bring jobs back home.
Asserting that the US under his leadership had blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, Obama said that the country’s longest war would be over in 2014.
He also said that under him, America had revived its global leadership, as the country strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions during his term.
“We’ve strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We’ve reasserted our power across the Pacific and stood up to China on behalf of our workers,” Obama said in his address.