President Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night in a lengthy speech closing out the Democratic National Convention. Obama argued he has rescued the economy from disaster and planted the seeds for a continued recovery. He vowed to create one million new manufacturing jobs by 2016 and to double exports by 2014. On foreign policy, Obama highlighted the killing of Osama bin Laden, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and the planned drawdown from Afghanistan. In a theme he touched on throughout his speech, Obama said the “change” he promised four years ago would take time but is surely underway.

President Obama: “Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future.”

Commenting on his opponent Mitt Romney, Obama criticized Republicans for a tax plan favoring the wealthy.

President Obama: “When Governor Romney and his friends in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy — well, what did Bill Clinton call it? You do the arithmetic. You do the math. I refuse to go along with that. And as long as I’m president, I never will. I refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut.”