Obama vows to reverse Bush-McCain legacy

US: Barack Obama launched a sharp assault on Republican presidential rival John McCain on Thursday with a promise to reverse the economic failures of the past eight years and restore America’s global reputation.

The first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. party linked McCain directly to President George W. Bush and said their failed Republican policies were responsible for a faltering U.S. economy and a decline in U.S. standing in the world.

“We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight,” Obama told a flag-waving crowd of about 75,000 supporters in Denver’s open-air football stadium as he accepted the Democratic nomination on the last night of the party convention.

“On Nov. 4th, we must stand up and say: ‘Eight is enough,’” Obama said. The speech opened a two-month sprint to the Nov. 4 general election against McCain, who tried to steal a share of the limelight with word he had chosen his running mate and would appear with the choice on Friday in Ohio.

DENVER, Friday, Reuters