"you don't deserve... another election that's governed by fear"

That's what Senator Obama said tonight in his speech observing his clinching of the 2008 Democratic Nomination in Minnesota. Hinting at the way in which the tactics of governing through crime have been present in electoral politics (at all levels of government), the presumptive Democrat nominee stated,

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of
policies and positions, and that is a good thing, that is a debate I look
forward to.

It is a debate the American people deserve on the
issues that will help determine the future of this country and the future of its
children.

But what you don't deserve is another election that's
governed by fear, and innuendo, and division.

What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is
the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon
- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to
demonize.

Senator Obama also mentioned his work to reform criminal justice in Illinois, whose "criminal justice system... sent 13 innocent people to death row." Finally, he also emphasized unifying America into a people "united by common challenges and common hopes" rather than bifurcated by fear.