Key excerpts: Mark Warner

Mark Warner, former governor of the US state of Virginia, has given the keynote address of the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, Colorado. Here are some of the notable moments from his speech.

RACE FOR THE FUTURE

The most important contest of our generation has begun.

Not the campaign for the presidency. Not the campaign for Congress. But the race for the future. And I believe from the bottom of my heart with the right vision, the right leadership, and the energy and creativity of the American people, there is no nation that we can't out hustle or out compete. And no American need be left out or left behind.

Yes, the race for the future is on, and it won't be won if only some Americans are in the running. It won't be won with yesterday's ideas and yesterday's divisions. And it won't be won with a President who is stuck in the past.

We need a President who understands the world today, the future we seek, and the change we need. We need Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

EDUCATION

Like many of you, I was the first in my family to graduate from college. There's only one country in the world where I could have received that education, where I could have been given not just one chance, or two, but three, and where I could have succeeded. And that's this country, the United States of America. At our best, it's not your lineage or last name that matters. It's not where you come from that counts - it's where you want to go.

OPPORTUNITY

In America, everyone should get a fair shot. Barack Obama understands this - because he's lived it. And Barack Obama is running to restore that fair shot for every American. When we look around today, we see that for too many Americans that fair shot is becoming more of a long shot.

ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Two wars, a warming planet, an energy policy that says let's borrow money from China to buy oil from countries that don't like us. How many people look at these things and wonder what the future holds for them? Their children? Their country? How many?

In George Bush and John McCain's America, far too many.