In Historic Vote, Obama Officially Claims Democratic Nomination

The quote cited by the ad came from a speech in which Obama said nations like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela do not pose the same kind of threat as Russia, which could have annihilated the country.

Obama said that "strong countries and strong presidents talk to their adversaries," on May 18 in Oregon. "That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean think about it.

Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, 'We're going to wipe you off the planet.'"

"John McCain's ad is another dishonest and desperate attack that bears zero relationship to reality," Rice said, adding that Iran poses more of a threat now than eight years ago because the "failed Bush-McCain policies have let that threat grow."

The real drama is building for tomorrow night, when Obama accepts the nomination before 80,000 supporters at Invesco Field. Campaign spokesman Bill Burton confirmed he will be flanked by a row of Roman-looking columns, a design he called "simple and sober" -- and similar to the platform George W. Bush stood on at his 2004 convention. Republicans mocked the design as a Greek temple, suitable for the "celebrity" they portray Obama as.

Before the speech, Rep. John Lewis, the last survivor of the 10 people who spoke 45 years ago tomorrow alongside Martin Luther King at the civil rights march on Washington, will introduce a film on King's "I Have A Dream" speech, and put Obama into the pantheon of civil rights leaders.

"Fate, history and everything else will be on the line," an emotional Lewis said today, indicating just how much pressure Obama will be under. "It's on his shoulders. It's important for Barack Obama to take it to John McCain."

A convention program that this far has shied away from too much red meat tonight targeted McCain's biggest strength with the electorate, his foreign policy experience. Democrats will try to turn that experience against him, painting him as a bellicose, trigger-happy heir to the Bush White House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today said McCain "doesn't have the temperament to be president."

"Together, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John McCain brought more than a century of experience to our foreign policy challenges. And what did that get us? One international debacle after another," former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said.

"We deserve better than John McCain's jokes about bombing Iran or his denials that Iraq has distracted us from Afghanistan," Daschle said.

"We deserve better than a foreign policy that's more confrontational than George W. Bush, and fails to address the complex challenges of a changing world. We need leaders who recognize both our national interest and our shared challenges, who will pay attention to both allies and enemies, and who will truly make America safer and stronger. I can think of none better than Barack Obama and Joe Biden."

After the convention closes, Obama, Biden and their wives Michelle and Jill will embark on a joint bus tour through the Midwestern battleground, with stops in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. The team hopes to hammer home their economic message on the eve of the GOP convention, which begins in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday.