Obama vows to deliver better future

Delivering the most important speech of his life to more than 80,000 people at an open-air stadium in Denver, Colorado, Mr Obama left no doubt it was time for change, saying it was time for voters to stand up and say: "Eight is enough!"

"America, we are better than these last eight years," he said. "We are a better country than this."

Mr Obama, who is the first African American US presidential nominee of a major party, said: "This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive."

The 47-year-old Illinois senator said his Republican rival John McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, had "worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction" but he warned that his record was clear.

"John McCain has voted with George Bush 90% of the time," he said. "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 90% of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10% chance on change."

"One of the things we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism," he said. "So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain."

He went on: "We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies?

"The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals?

He said some critics dismissed such suggestions as "happy talk", but he added that when rivals did not have any fresh ideas, they "use stale tactics to scare the voters".