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Five Democratic convention speeches to remember

Clint Eastwood gave the Republicans some offbeat remarks to remember this year. Will the Democrats come up with any memorable lines? Here are some past Democratic convention speeches that live on:

1896: William Jennings Bryan snares the nomination with his plea to help indebted farmers by abandoning the gold standard: “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!”

1976: Barbara Jordan becomes the first black and first woman to deliver the party’s keynote address: “My presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not be forever deferred.”

1984: How to choose? Geraldine Ferraro is the first woman on a major party’s ticket, but her speech is eclipsed in this Year of Orators. Mario Cuomo declares that President Ronald Reagan’s “city on a hill” is more “A Tale of Two Cities” — one wealthy and one struggling. In another stem-winder, Jesse Jackson says “our nation is a rainbow” and insists, “Our time has come.” Nominee Walter Mondale admits he’d raise taxes, words he rides down to defeat.

1988: Texan Ann Richards’ skewering of Vice President George H.W. Bush causes a sensation: “Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

2008: Many rank Barack Obama’s 2004 keynote address as his finest speech ever; it made him a political star. But in 2008 he made history — a black man accepting the nomination for president on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Obama tells a football stadium of supporters: “This election has never been about me. It’s been about you. ... At defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.”

At the 1984 Democratic National Convention, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo declared that President Ronald Reagan’s “city on a hill” was more “A Tale of Two Cities” — one wealthy and one struggling. Associated Press
In 1976, Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas became the first black and first woman to deliver the Democratic Party’s keynote address: “My presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not be forever deferred,” she said. Associated Press
Barack Obama made history on Aug. 28, 2008 — a black man accepting the nomination for president on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “This election has never been about me. It’s been about you. ... At defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.” Associated Press
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