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US Democrats nominate Kerry for president Kerry was awarded his party's nomination well past the end of television prime time on Wednesday and spent part of the day working on the acceptance speech he will give Thursday, a speech that advisers recognize as one of the most important of his political career. Kerry went over the top at 11:37 p.m. after the roll call of states was scripted to allow Ohio to cast the decisive votes. The Buckeye State was chosen because Democrats see it as a linchpin in their electoral strategy in November. In a change from past conventions, Edwards will be formally nominated on Thursday, but Wednesday night belonged to him and his vigorous address in support of Kerry.
Edwards is a first-term North Carolina senator and former trial lawyer who began the presidential campaign as a dark horse candidate but who caught fire in the Iowa caucuses and earned his spot on the ticket by his performance on the campaign trail. Adhering to the night's theme of security and strength, Edwards called Kerry "decisive" and "strong" and asked, "Is this not what we need in a commander in chief?" Edwards challenged Republican criticism of Kerry as someone who does not share the values of most Americans. "When a man volunteers to serve his country . . . and puts his life on the line for others, that's a man who represents real American values," he said. "This is a man who is prepared to keep the American people safe and to make America stronger at home and respected in the world." Recounting his own rise from humble roots in small-town North Carolina, Edwards, 51, said the core of the Democratic campaign "is to make sure all Americans have exactly the same kind of opportunities that I had -- no matter where you live, no matter who your family is, no matter what the color of your skin is, this is the America we believe in." He produced a thunderous ovation when he said the nation must confront the effects of racism and that Democrats should never shrink from discussing the issue. "This is not an African American issue. This is not a Latino issue. This is not an Asian American issue," he said. "This is an American issue. It's about who we are, what our values are, what kind of country we live in." Edwards promised that he and Kerry would create more jobs, stop tax breaks
for companies that ship jobs overseas, raise the minimum wage, expand access to
health care, lower health insurance premiums and reorient the tax code to help
working Americans. "We're going to reward work, not just wealth," he said.
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