Republicans are fast becoming an endangered species in New York’s Congressional delegation.

Democrats are aiming for a Yankee grand slam next week, hoping to pick up four more Republican seats to turn the delegation a deep-blue 27-2.

“When I first came to Congress there were 13 Republicans” in the delegation, said Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who is retiring after a decade in the House and whose seat is in danger of falling into Democratic hands. “There are now six and coming out we’re likely somewhere between two to four.”

A blue tide has been washing over the state for the past two election cycles. In 2006, Democrats took back the governorship for the first time in 12 years and are now threatening to take the state Senate next week for the first time in 46 years — and that chamber’s flipping could have huge implications down the line for redistricting.

“The Republican Party has totally fallen apart and there’s a lack of leadership on a statewide level,” said a New York Republican consultant.

John McCain loves New York for its campaign cash, but New Yorkers? Maybe not so much.

During an NBC interview, his running mate, Sarah Palin, was asked to define the "elitists" the GOP ticket scorns, and said, "Anyone who thinks that they're better than someone else."

McCain chimed in: "I know where a lot of 'em live ... in our nation's capital and New York City."

Americans are tired of the same old divisions and while John McCain might say one thing on the campaign trail about "unity" and "coming together as a nation," he offers more of the same divisive politics of the last eight years.

President Bill Clinton received an extended, thunderous applause from the crowd and gave the assembled delegates plenty to cheer about. Senators John Kerry, Evan Bayh and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle also delivered speeches tonight.

Find those speeches and more here.

Tomorrow, we head to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium for Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

What a year we Democrats have had. The primary began with an all-star line up and came down to two remarkable Americans locked in a hard fought contest to the very end. The campaign generated so much heat it increased global warming.

In the end, my candidate didn’t win. But I’m very proud of the campaign she ran: she never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all our children. And I’m grateful for the chance Chelsea and I had to tell Americans about the person we know and love.

I’m not so grateful for the chance to speak in the wake of her magnificent address last night. But I’ll do my best.

Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama.

That makes two of us.

Actually that makes 18 million of us – because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.

Here’s why.

Our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American Dream is under siege at home, and America’s leadership in the world has been weakened.

Middle class and low-income Americans are hurting, with incomes declining; job losses, poverty and inequality rising; mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing; health care coverage disappearing; and a big spike in the cost of food, utilities, and gasoline.

Our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation; a perilous dependence on imported oil; a refusal to lead on global warming; a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders; a severely burdened military; a backsliding on global non-proliferation and arms control agreements; and a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe.

Clearly, the job of the next President is to rebuild the American Dream and restore America’s standing in the world.

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.

He has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. He has the intelligence and curiosity every successful President needs. His policies on the economy, taxes, health care and energy are far superior to the Republican alternatives. He has shown a clear grasp of our foreign policy and national security challenges, and a firm commitment to repair our badly strained military. His family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world. The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him. And in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park.

With Joe Biden’s experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama’s proven understanding, insight, and good instincts, America will have the national security leadership we need.

Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Ready to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States.

He will work for an America with more partners and fewer adversaries. He will rebuild our frayed alliances and revitalize the international institutions which help to share the costs of the world’s problems and to leverage our power and influence. He will put us back in the forefront of the world’s fight to reduce nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and to stop global warming. He will continue and enhance our nation’s global leadership in an area in which I am deeply involved, the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, including a renewal of the battle against HIV/AIDS here at home. He will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort. But in a world troubled by terror; by trafficking in weapons, drugs and people; by human rights abuses; by other threats to our security, our interests, and our values, when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them.

Barack Obama also will not allow the world’s problems to obscure its opportunities. Everywhere, in rich and poor countries alike, hardworking people need good jobs; secure, affordable healthcare, food, and energy; quality education for their children; and economically beneficial ways to fight global warming. These challenges cry out for American ideas and American innovation. When Barack Obama unleashes them, America will save lives, win new allies, open new markets, and create new jobs for our people.

Most important, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

Look at the example the Republicans have set: American workers have given us consistently rising productivity. They’ve worked harder and produced more. What did they get in return? Declining wages, less than ¼ as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage. I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce. Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of? What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by unprecedented multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well connected? What about Katrina and cronyism?

America can do better than that. And Barack Obama will.

But first we have to elect him.

The choice is clear. The Republicans will nominate a good man who served our country heroically and suffered terribly in Vietnam. He loves our country every bit as much as we all do. As a Senator, he has shown his independence on several issues. But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America’s leadership in the world, he still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented.

They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty – and millions more losing their health insurance.

Now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same: More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. More band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. More going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let’s send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm.

My fellow Democrats, sixteen years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity.

Together, 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.

His life is a 21st Century incarnation of the American Dream. His achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward the “more perfect union” of our founders’ dreams. The values of freedom and equal opportunity which have given him his historic chance will drive him as president to give all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability, their chance to build a decent life, and to show our humanity, as well as our strength, to the world.

We see that humanity, that strength, and our future in Barack and Michelle Obama and their beautiful children. We see them reinforced by the partnership with Joe Biden, his wife Jill, a dedicated teacher, and their family.

Barack Obama will lead us away from division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope. If, like me, you still believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary, Chelsea and me in making Senator Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Cheri from Nevada writes, “My husband has Parkinson’s and was forced to retire. He has been on disability for three years and Medicare doesn’t meet his prescription needs. I have to pay my own insurance premium so our Medicare expenses are quite high. Our health care system doesn’t work.”

Forty-seven million Americans are uninsured—9 million are children—and that is a national disgrace.

Democrats in Congress passed a bill to ensure that senior citizens can continue seeing the doctors they trust and another bill to provide coverage to millions of uninsured children. John McCain opposed our bill.

Barack Obama’s plan will provide all Americans with better choices and lower prices. John McCain’s health plan is just more of the same—and families like Cheri’s can’t afford more of the same.

That’s why we need Barack Obama as president.

Stephanie wrote from Georgia: “I know what it feels like to miss home with such a great force that it is in your every waking thought and breath. When I got back from Iraq, my husband and I were soon expecting our first child. When I was seven months pregnant, he left for Iraq. Our son will be a year old before he comes home.”

We must end the stress and heartache the war in Iraq has caused our military families. Barack Obama will guarantee our troops equal time at home for length of their deployments. John McCain opposes it.

Barack Obama will responsibly end the war and restore America’s leadership in the world because families like Stephanie’s can’t afford McCain’s plan to stay the course in Iraq.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will speak to the convention and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) will accept the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Other speakers include Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Check the full schedule here.

Fellow Democrats, delegates and friends. My name is Denise Williams Harris, and I represent the state of New York, the home state of Senator Hillary Clinton. I am a proud New Yorker, a proud woman of color, a proud nana and a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton.

This election has been one for the history books. It has brought great pride to the African-American community. Women everywhere are incredibly inspired by my senator. And I continue to be inspired every day by her devotion to the issues that matter to my family, my state and my country.

When I am asked if I would work for Hillary again as hard as I have worked for her during the last 18 months, my answer is a resounding: “Absolutely. Yes!” Because of her campaign, I and my troop of “Salon 19” volunteers and many others have been personally empowered and amazed by what we’ve accomplished together. We went to every state and territory; we won 23 primaries and caucuses; and we cracked the glass ceiling 18 million times!

I have been a loyal and committed Hillary supporter for almost a decade. So it is my privilege to be part of this slice of history. I proudly second the nomination of Hillary Clinton.

Apollo Pazell, Utah

Fellow Democrats, delegates and friends. My name is Apollo Pazell and I represent the great state of Utah. I am a proud son, grandson and great-grandson. A proud representative of the 723 voters of the great mining town of Copperton. A proud Democrat and a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton.

I am equally proud to be here as the third-youngest delegate and a representative of the many young voters who were galvanized to action by Hillary. I am here because my great-grandmother Kathryn is a breast cancer survivor who lost her health coverage when her husband died last year. She’s 89 years old and is currently living at home with hospice care because she cannot afford an assisted-living facility on Medicare.

I am here because I see our broken health care system through her experience, an experience shared by too many people, and I believe with all my heart that we can and must achieve health care for all—as Hillary says—“no excuses, no exceptions, no one left out!”

That’s why I supported Hillary Clinton, an expert and champion on health care, a leader who we know never gives in and never gives up. Today, I proudly second the nomination of Hillary Clinton on behalf of my two great-grandmothers, Theresa and Kathryn, both Utah residents, and both born before women had the right to vote. I am proud to be one of the 18 million standing for Hillary.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) energized the Pepsi Center with an incredible speech and was introduced by daughter, Chelsea. Senator Clinton declared: "No way. No how. No McCain."

Democratic Senatorial candidate and former Governor Mark Warner (D-Virginia) delivered a great keynote address.

Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-Montana) fired up the room and rattled off an unforgettable line about drilling in all of John McCain's many, many backyards, including the ones he cannot remember.

Watch more videos from the Democratic National Convention here and at 3pm Mountain, catch live streaming video in the most crystal-clear HD that this blogger has ever seen on the tubes.

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.

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.

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.

Tonight we need to remember what a Presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you -- the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures.

For me, it’s been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces, and your communities. Your stories reminded me everyday that America’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people -- your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles.

You taught me so much, you made me laugh, and . . . you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives. And you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism, didn’t have health insurance and discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care.

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said to me: “Take care of my buddies; a lot of them are still over there….and then will you please help take care of me?”

I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn’t know what his family was going to do.

I will always be grateful to everyone from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the territories, who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush Administrtation.

To my supporters, my champions -- my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits – from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.

You never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history.

Along the way, America lost two great Democratic champions who would have been here with us tonight. One of our finest young leaders, Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney, who believed with all his heart that America and the South could be and should be Democratic from top to bottom.

And Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a dear friend to many of us, a loving mother and courageous leader who never gave up her quest to make America fairer and smarter, stronger and better. Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all.

Our heart goes out to Stephanie’s son, Mervyn, Jr, and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, who traveled to Denver to join us at our convention.

Bill and Stephanie knew that after eight years of George Bush, people are hurting at home, and our standing has eroded around the world. We have a lot of work ahead.

Jobs lost, houses gone, falling wages, rising prices. The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock and our government in partisan gridlock. The biggest deficit in our nation’s history. Money borrowed fr?m the Chinese to buy oil fr?m the Saudis.

Putin and Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

I ran for President to renew the promise of America. To rebuild the middle class and sustain the American Dream, to provide the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford the gas and groceries and still have a little left over each month.

To promote a clean energy economy that will create millions of green collar jobs.

To create a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

To create a world class education system and make college affordable again.

To fight for an America defined by deep and meaningful equality - from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families. To help every child live up to his or her God-given potential.

To make America once again a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

To bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and make our government an instrument of the public good, not of private plunder.

To restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and honor their service by caring for our veterans.

And to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

Most of all, I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years.

Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap in-to that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

This won’t be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can’t compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can’t solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

We need a President who understands that the genius of America has always depended on the strength and vitality of the middle class.

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

And 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. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.

He’ll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future. He’ll make sure that middle class families get the tax relief they deserve. And I can’t wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan in-to law that covers every single American.

Barack Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly and bring our troops home – a first step to repairing our alliances around the world.

And he will have with him a terrific partner in Michelle Obama. Anyone who saw Michelle’s speech last night knows she will be a great First Lady for America.

Americans are also fortunate that Joe Biden will be at Barack Obama’s side. He is a strong leader and a good man. He understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges abroad. He is pragmatic, tough, and wise. And, of course, Joe will be supported by his wonderful wife, Jill.

They will be a great team for our country.

Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend.

He has served our country with honor and courage.

But we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt ...home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

America is still around after 232 years because we have risen to the challenge of every new time, changing to be faithful to our values of equal opportunity for all and the common good.

And I know what that can mean for every man, woman, and child in America. I’m a United States Senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.

And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter – and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked in-to their daughters’ eyes, imagined a fairer and freer world, and found the strength to fight. To rally and picket. To endure ridicule and harassment. To brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades – 88 years ago on this very day – the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote would be forever enshrined in our Constitution.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military – you always keep going.

We are Americans. We're not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don't have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We've got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, and to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great – and no ceiling too high – for all who work hard, never back down, always keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and in each other.

Thank you so much. God bless America and Godspeed to you all.

The Bush Administration still refuses to implement laws on the books that give women access to the federal marketplace—costing them billions in lost opportunities. We cannot afford more of the same.

John McCain has already proven to be more of the same. He has consistently opposed opportunities for women in the workforce, saying they just need, and I quote, “training and education.” Senator McCain should know that women already earn more advanced degrees than men. Senator McCain should know that we deserve–and will demand–a level playing field.

John McCain would not just hold back female entrepreneurs, he would hurt all small businesses. He has pledged to continue the Bush tax cuts that favored Fortune 500 companies over entrepreneurs. In fact, only four percent of small firms saw a penny more. It’s this practice of neglecting small businesses—that has resulted in unemployment rates skyrocketing to a four-year high. We can’t afford more of the same.

Leave it to the Republicans to serve a big business agenda and call it a small business plan. They may not know the difference between Wall Street and Main Street, but Barack Obama knows that small business is big business in America.

Barack Obama will provide small-business tax incentives to encourage investment and spur innovation. He’ll introduce a health care plan that addresses the unique challenges to small firms. He’ll give entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed through programs in the Small Business Administration. Most importantly, he will break the cycle of Republican cronyism that has American business in a chokehold, and renew the country’s promise so that every American can live the beauty of their dreams.

From the single mom in rural Appalachia who wants to move from welfare to business ownership, to the Latino in the barrio who is making minimum wage but wants to be an entrepreneur, to the African-American business owner here in Denver, who can barely make ends meet. These people can’t afford more of the same from John McCain.

My sisters, my friends, Barack Obama knows that the face of American business is changing. He knows that the entrepreneurial spirit on which this country was built is now the backbone of our economy—and he will deliver the change our country needs, to make that backbone stronger than ever before. Si se puede. A votar por Barack Obama noviembre cuatro.

But Barack Obama cannot do it alone. Without a strong Democratic majority in the Senate, his ambitious agenda will be thwarted by the defenders of the status quo whose goals can be boiled down to a single word: no.

Without a large Democratic majority, President Obama might even have to pare back the breadth and strength of what he proposes. We know what John McCain and his friends in the Senate will do, because we've seen it far too many times in the last two years. Ninety-two times, they filibustered important legislation to change the direction of this country.

When the American people demanded change in Iraq, John McCain and his friends said no. When you demanded legislation to lower the price of gas, John McCain and his friends said no. When you demanded middle-class tax relief, John McCain and his friends said no. When Barack Obama wins in November, John McCain will go back to the Senate, and he and his friends will go back to saying no, no, no, to the change our country needs.

Can we stop them? You know the answer: yes we can. But to do it, we need your help. The opportunity is too great and the stakes too high to allow President Obama’s agenda to be blocked by the special interests and their allies in the Senate. So of course we must elect Barack Obama president, but when we do, we also must elect many more Democrats to the Senate so that we can help Barack Obama lead America on a new course.

There are 17 states where we have a good chance to beat Republicans. Many are states where for decades Democrats have struggled, but now have a chance to win. This is, ladies and gentleman, a once in a generation opportunity. So help us win in Virginia, Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico and New Hampshire where our candidates are ahead today. Help us win in Minnesota, Mississippi, Maine, Oregon, Kentucky and North Carolina, where our candidates are locked today in neck-and-neck races. Help us win in Georgia, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Idaho, where no one ever thought our candidates would run strong races—but they are.

Go to the web site of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee at www.dscc.orghttps://webmail.dscc.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://webmail.dscc.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.dscc.org/ and sign up today. Every day, a new secretive 527 or 501 front group fueled by millions of undisclosed dollars emerges from the shadows to attack our candidates, and we need your help now. The special interests and the defenders of the status quo have shown they will go to any length to stop us from changing Washington. And we need you to help us answer their attacks.

We can and we must elect a stronger Democratic majority to the Senate to overcome the obstructionism that threatens Barack Obama’s agenda, and with your support, we will.

So join us and our great group of candidates, and help us elect a Senate that will work with President Barack Obama every day for the change this country needs.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones never stopped believing in the power of the American dream because she was proof of it. Only in America could a young black woman from Cleveland, the daughter of an airport skycap and a cook, work her way through college and law school to achieve a lifetime of firsts in local government and Congress.

She shattered myths and showed us that an America that provided opportunity for all–that did not succumb to the prejudices based on race, religion, color or class or sex–was not just possible, but necessary for our survival. If she were with us today, she would ask that we come together to dare, like Sen. Barack Obama does, to dream of a more perfect union, one that is a better place for working families.

A dream that has been derailed too often in eight years by stifling deficits, an immoral war in Iraq and a tax system that rewards the rich and few. A dream that Sen. John McCain wants to further tarnish by extending President Bush’s failed economic policies with even more costly and regressive tax cuts that once again leave behind over 100 million households. We cannot let that pass.

We must renew the promise of a land that our Stephanie loved so much. We must change our national priorities, restore fairness and reinvest in the health and education of our country's true strength: its people. We must see to it that Barack Obama and Joe Biden and a strong Democratic Congress are elected this November. We must do it for Stephanie, we must do it for our great country!

My story may be unique in its particular facts and events. But, in a fundamental way, it is not. For it is part of the promise of a glorious nation where anyone who works hard enough can make the most of their God-given potential. This is the promise of America.

What has become of this promise under President Bush? Since last summer, more than 1 million Americans have lost their homes. Wages are declining, while inflation is at a 17-year high. And, this year alone, 463,000 Americans have lost their jobs.

The promise of America has also diminished for people with disabilities. Only 37 percent of Americans with disabilities are employed. Only 30 percent of blind people are employed. And, over the past 8 years, the employment gap between people with disabilities and the general population has increased.

There is only one question in this race: which candidate offers the change we need to restore the promise of America? Is it John McCain? He claims that, under President Bush, we made “great progress economically.” In 2007, he voted with the Bush Administration 95 percent of the time.

Only one candidate in this race offers the change we need to restore the promise of America: a person of integrity, honesty, and love for his country, Barack Obama. Barack Obama has the right strategy—from middle class tax cuts, to fair trade policies, to investment in infrastructure-to get our economy moving again.

And just as he fought for people with disabilities as a civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama will fight for us as president. For example, he has pledged to work with Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions that wrongly narrowed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Here is the choice America faces in 2008. John McCain offers us four more years of the broken politics, broken policies, and broken promises of the past.

I have a better idea. Let’s give them four more months—and then elect Barack Obama, who will restore prosperity; deliver the change we need; and write a new chapter in the promise of America.