[Talk] barack-obamas-victory-speech
http://tinyurl.com/5cuosx
Below are Barack Obama’s remarks as prepared for delivery tonight
in Chicago:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a
place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the
dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions
the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and
churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who
waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in
their lives, because they believed that this time must be
different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat
and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay,
straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a
message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red
States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United
States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by
so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can
achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once
more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did
on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has
come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He
fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even
longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured
sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine,
and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and
selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all
they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to
renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned
from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on
the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to
Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe
Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding
support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of
our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady,
Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you
have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White
House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother
is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss
them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David
Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history
of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for
what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs
to – it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t
start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not
hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of
Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches
of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little
savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty
dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who
rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their
homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less
sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and
scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from
the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and
proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the
people, by the people and for the people has not perished from
this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you
didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the
enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate
tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the
greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst
financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we
know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq
and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There
are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children
fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay
their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new
energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build
and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not
get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have
never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you – we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t
agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we
know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always
be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to
you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you
join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been
done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by
block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not
end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we
seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that
cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot
happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and
responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work
harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us
remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s
that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street
suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one
people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship
and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so
long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first
carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a
party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty,
and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the
Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a
measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that
have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more
divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though
passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of
affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to
earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I
need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from
parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in
the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular,
but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership
is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will
defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support
you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still
burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true
strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or
the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our
ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America – that America can change.
Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved
gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told
for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a
woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the
millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in
this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106
years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there
were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like
her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and
because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her
century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and
the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the
people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes
dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach
for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the
land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new
jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the
world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and
a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in
Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who
told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a
world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this
year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and
cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the
best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can
change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is
so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our
children should live to see the next century; if my daughters
should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what
change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This
is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of
opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the
cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that
fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we
breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt,
and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that
timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United
States of America.
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