Democratic Convention

Quotes of the Democratic convention

Barack Obama

"If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night!"

“I think Michelle Obama kicked off it off pretty well, don’t you think?”

“I want everybody to now understand why I am so proud to have Joe Biden and Jill Biden and Beau Biden and Mama Biden and the whole Biden family with me on this journey to take America back.”

Bill Clinton

"Everything I learned in my eight years as president and in the work I've done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job."

"Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States."

"We prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it won't work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history."

Referring to the Democratic nominee's choice of Joe Biden, Mr Clinton said: "In his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park."

“If, like me, you believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary, Chelsea and me in making Barack Obama the next president of the United States."

Hillary Clinton

"Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our president."

"No way, No how, No McCain."

"Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines."

"When Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time."

"(I am ...) a proud mother, a proud Democrat, a proud American and a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

"I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years. Those are the reason I ran for president. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too."

"The work begins anew. The hope shall rise again. And the dream lives on."

"To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the travelling pantsuits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Michelle Obama

"I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president, I come here as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the centre of my world.”

"We want our children and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."

“what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine, He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did.”

“I stand here today at the cross currents of that history – knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me.”

“He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rear view mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love."

Ted Kennedy

"There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass through we will reach our destination."

"The work begins anew. The hope shall rise again. And the dream lives on."

Al Gore

"The experience (former US President Abraham) Lincoln's supporters valued most ... was his powerful ability to inspire hope in the future at a time of impasse. In 2008, once again, we find ourselves at the end of an era with a mandate from history to launch another new beginning. And once again, we have a candidate whose experience perfectly matches an extraordinary moment of transition."

Joe Biden

“These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time.”

"These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change, the change everybody knows we need."

"As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history,"

Beau Biden

“I have something to ask of you, be there for my dad like he was for me. Be there for Barack Obama because our country needs him. … Be there because Barack and Obama and Joe Biden will deliver America the change we so desperately need.”