Obama was filling in for U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week and had planned to deliver the graduation address at Wesleyan University. Kennedy has endorsed Obama in the nominating contest against Hillary Rodham Clinton and has campaigned for him.
"We may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready and eager and up to the challenge," Obama told the graduating class of 2008.
Obama spent much of the week criticizing McCain for opposing a college aid bill for military veterans, part of a strategy to link the conservative Republican to the deeply unpopular Bush administration. But he stepped back from the topic in the midst of the Memorial Day weekend holiday honoring fallen U.S. servicemen and women.
The Illinois senator peppered his speech with references to the Kennedy legacy: John F. Kennedy urging Americans to ask what they can do for their country, the Peace Corps and Robert F. Kennedy talking about people creating "ripples of hope."
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