Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, keynoting the Democratic National Convention, said Tuesday night that American voters "have one shot to get it right" by electing Barack Obama president to end Republican leadership that is stuck in the past.

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"When we look around today, we see that for too many Americans that fair shot is becoming more of a long shot. How many kids have the grades to go to college, but not the money? How many families thought their home would always be their safest investment?" Warner said. "How many of our soldiers come back from their second or third tour of duty, wondering if the education and health care benefits they were promised will actually be there? 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?"

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

While Warner rebuked Bush and McCain, his address was hardly a summons to political arms against them. He mentioned McCain's name only twice, and he said he'd learned in the cell phone business that made him millions that a strategy of tearing down the competition doesn't suffice.

"I know we're at the Democratic convention, but if an idea works, it really doesn't matter if it has an R or a D next to it," Warner said. "Because this election isn't about liberal versus conservative. It's not about left versus right. It's about the future versus the past."

In his sharpest words for the Republican nominee, Warner said, "John McCain promises more of the same."

"People always ask me, 'What's my biggest criticism of President Bush?' I'm sure you all have your own. Here's mine: It's not just the policy differences, it's the fact that this president never tapped into our greatest resource: the character and resolve of the American people. He never asked us to step up," Warner said.

"Think about it: after Sept. 11th, if there was a call from the president to get us off foreign oil to stop funding the very terrorists who had just attacked us, every American would have said, "how can I do my part?" This administration failed to believe in what we can achieve as a nation, when all of us work together," Warner added. "John McCain promises more of the same."

"I don't know about you, but that's not just right," he added. "That's four more years that we can't just afford."

Obama will change all that, contended Warner, the odds-on favorite this fall to win Virginia's U.S. Senate seat. He holds a hefty lead in the polls against Republican Jim Gilmore, another former governor. The seat now is held by retiring Republican Sen. John Warner, who is no relation.

"Right now, at this critical moment in our history, we have one shot to get it right," Warner said. "And the status quo just won't cut it."

In energy, health care, education and America's world standing, there are opportunities with change and risks without them, Warner said. He said Obama is the candidate who "knows we don't have another four years to waste."

"And Barack Obama knows this too," he said. "We need leaders who see our common ground as sacred ground. We need leaders who will appeal to us not as Republicans or Democrats but first and foremost as Americans."

Watch uncut video of Warner's speech here. Read a transcript of Warner's speech here.