Obama Claims Historic Nomination

He went on to bash McCain on a series of foreign policy matters - from the war in Iraq to the inability of U.S. forces to capture Osama bin-Laden in Afghanistan - as reflective of an outdated U.S. approach to its role in the world. "We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past," said Obama.

"John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin-Laden to the gates of hell -- but he won't even go to the cave where he lives," Obama said.

Obama argued that McCain is drastically out of step with the needs and concerns of average voters. He riffed through a laundry list of policies, from tax policy to healthcare, on which he claimed McCain was wrong, The Illinois senator concluded: "It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it."

Obama's decision to devote a substantial part of his acceptance speech to challenging the idea that the GOP is the only party that can keep the country safe suggests that Democrats are readying themselves for a general election campaign centered on national security issues..

"One of the things we have to do to change our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism," said Obama. "I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds dismissed Obama's critique of McCain and insisted that the Obama speech would have little lasting impact. "Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama," said Bounds. "The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be president."