Transcript: Obama's acceptance speech
Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama-as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
http://tiny.cc/L9gmj (http://tiny.cc/L9gmj)
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, Hispanic, 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.
I actually thought that McCain's speech was pretty moving as well.
Me too. Snortin' McCain seems like a decent man, better than many of his supporters.
McCain's speech was by the man who did not get trapped inside trying to win at all costs--choosing Palin, courting racist crowds, making whatever accusations would stick, worse and worse as he got more desparate. He ran a bad, awful campaign, and lost, but in defeat he gathered his rags of honor and spoke decently.
Palin turned out to be a disaster. I heard already that she refused to be prepped for interviews and they ended up very badly. She thought Africa was a country. He would have lost anyway, but not by quite such a landslide. And don't say "courting racist crowds". That is the old baloney that if a white person does not like Obama, he or she must be a racist. That thinking is in itself, racist. Overwhelmingly, blacks voted against Mccain. Does that mean they are racist? Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.
I think the better man won but what a choice. We could pick the guy with little to no experience or the guy with too much experience who wants to bomb Iran.
Quote from: "Stonehenge"That is the old baloney that if a white person does not like Obama, he or she must be a racist. That thinking is in itself, racist. Overwhelmingly, blacks voted against Mccain. Does that mean they are racist? Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.
I think the better man won but what a choice. We could pick the guy with little to no experience or the guy with too much experience who wants to bomb Iran.
McCain/Palin's crowds were yelling out things like "terrorist" and calling Obama an "Arab" or "Muslim," as though following Islam in and of itself is a crime or makes one prone to criminal actions. McCain had to take the mic from one of these lunatics, and correct her, while cameras rolled. The line these people were fed by Faux News and other places is that he was some kind of extremist, "palled around with terrorists," a line far easier for them to swallow because of his skin color and his middle name. You and I know left from right, and think clearly, but the yahoos showing up for their rallies are just fucking scary to me.
Obama won because he ran a good campaign, and the country was screaming for change from the disaster of Bush. I remember when Jesse Jackson ran back in the '80s. Wrong man, wrong time. Jackson was too associated with MLK, and the times were too conservative. At least for most. These days are both better and worse than then. McCain ran a disastrous campaign, the kind Democrats usually run when they lose. Think Gore, Kerry, Dukakis. I hope he serves out his current Senate term and then retires. He's earned it.
More racist dreck from the cheap seats. Sure, there are black racists. No doubt about it. That doesn't make racism right.
Btw, I remember reading your comments concerning a desire to use the "N" word a long while back, Stoney. And your lament on how it was too bad the word is so politically incorrect. Remember those rants? I do.
The post election results showed McCain backers to be made up mostly of neocons, evangelical christians and poor, uneducated rural whites. Take your pick.
lw
Cenacle, I agree that some in Mccain's crowds may have been bad people. You said yourself he did not encourage it and in fact discouraged those kinds of remarks. Likewise, Obama no doubt had some bad folks in his crowds but did not encourage divisive rhetoric, much to his credit. We can't blame either one for who showed up at the rallies or for what "faux" news said.
I disagree with Jackson, he would not have made a good president or a good anything. I'm sure you will agree that skin color does not make for a good candidate just as it does not rule anyone out. Jackson has a long and sordid history, no need to go into it here. It would be hard to think of a worse presidential candidate than him though I'm sure there are some.
Never said Jackson would have made a good president, I was pointing out that Obama ran a good campaign and he was lucky the times were ready for him.
If Obama's crowd had been shouting some of the same crap those yahoos were at McCain's rallies, and especially Palin's, it would have been reported. There just wasn't that kind of behavior. It's more than having a favorite candidate, or opposing the other guy, it's hatred. It's this feeling that your lousy lot in life is the fault of someone else, not a specific person but a kind of person, a group. I hear it all the time. "The Orientals are taking over." "The Jews run the world's banks." "Blacks are radical Muslims."
The worst thing about this is, is that it works to the advantage of the people in power, the ones who don't run for office. They love when we divide by color or religion or ethnicity, and fight like dogs in a cage. Keeps them in power, that nobody ever points at them as being the true bastards at the lever of all these disasters. It's sorrowful. It's shit.
Quote from: "Stonehenge"I think the better man won but what a choice. We could pick the guy with little to no experience or the guy with too much experience who wants to bomb Iran.
Washington carries no current deficit in EXPERIENCE regarding our many politicians, representatives, and executive leaders. As an institution, it is a self perpetuating entity of which adequate experience is the highly exclusive membership card to gain admittance. If anything we have an overwhelming surplus in experience, which has not worked to our collective benefit over the last decade (or more). No, experience is definitely NOT in any great deficit...
One ideal however has been in scarce supply running one of the most alarming deficits in US history within the Executive Office for the last EIGHT YEARS:
INTELLIGENCE...
It is our deficit in intelligence which has placed us into a war with no exit strategy. It is our deficit in intelligence which deregulated Wall Street (uptick rule and naked shortselling) and the banking industry (leveraging mortgage backed securities). It is our deficit in intelligence that failed to provide any linkage with Al Queda in Iraq (to this day!) or WMDs. It is our deficit in intelligence which has turned what was once the most respected and powerful nation into a disgraceful entity deserving of criticism and shame. (I can understand Asia and the Middle East hating us, but now even Europe has lost respect for us)
The next person to walk into that sacred Oval Office needs to address this overwhelming deficit with a greater supply of personal intelligence than we have seen in the last eight years. I understand your point in comparing Obama's lack of experience to McCain's "more of the same" attitude, but honestly which ticket presented themselves with more intellect? Obama-Biden or McCain-Palin...
Thank you, caulfield. Well put.
lw
caulfield, I basicly agree with what you are saying. The experience people have brought in the past did not make them a good leader. Look at shrub, probably the worst president ever. I also agree they need more intelligence in washington. More of the kind involving good judgement rather than what you get from your spies. If you know what I mean.
I just read in the paper that Obama is planning to undo a whole bunch of shrub's rotten executive orders and similar garbage. Shrub is trying to put out even more of them in his waning days to make it hard for the new president to change things. I read about how Obama will undo the rape of the environment, or at least stop the present policies in that direction. He will allow stem cell research that the chimp wouldn't allow. And there were quite a few other things mentioned as well.
It may be that good intentions are better than any type of experience. He can not possibly do worse than shrub or Clinton or Reagan. I see no improvement on the drug front, none on Iraq or Afghanistan, based on his comments. He may have had to make certain promises to get as far as he did. I say so far so good but don't expect miracles.
stoney: I was pleasantly surprised to read your last post until I found this.....
Quote from: "Stonehenge"He may have had to make certain promises to get as far as he did. I say so far so good but don't expect miracles.
Do you care to provide evidence or links to evidence for this last statement?
From here, your quote appears to be an off the mark conjecture made with nothing but a gut feeling to support a feeble premise. "He's done OK so far, but..........."
Dude, who the fuck said to expect miracles? :cool2
I'll settle for a balanced budget, military pull out of Iraq and a few supreme court appointments slowing the far right neocon drift of the present set of justices.
Obama said nothing of legalizing weed nor lowering the accepted mean of the standardized IQ test, (not everyone can be average) so its time to just get over it, brawh.
lw
I know what you mean, lw. A common thread has been the statement that we Obama supporters are expecting hm to "save the world". "work miracles" ect.
I just know that he is a huge improvment over what we have had, thats a no brainer. He is inheriting a huge mess and many problems.
"I'll settle for a balanced budget, military pull out of Iraq and a few supreme court appointments slowing the far right neocon drift of the present set of justices."
Just that along with an end to torture and military tribunals would be huge.
Only McCain had promised to balance the budget during his initial term. Obama made no such promise and I am glad, because McCain ended up getting heavily criticized for how unrealistic the claim was. In light of the current economic atmosphere, what with unemployment on the rise and companies everywhere going bankrupt left and right, it is pretty fair to say that the Federal deficit will be on the backburner while we assess how we might tackle our frozen credit system.
I do find some humor in this fact though in that the basic underlying problem with the nation currently is a widespread addiction to debt (federal, corporate, AND personal)...
When reviewing the vast plethora of causes for our crippled economic state, I have to cringe when experts and analysts continue to offer the same reasoning regarding lack of oversight, corrupt business practices, and a deregulated market, while failing to mention one of the factors at the very foundation of our economic disease; Mainly, that we have been operating for far too long under flawed ideologies...
In my opinion, repairing the fractured pieces of our industry and mending the sickened nature of our economy will prove to be the simpler parts of addressing this complex issue. The HARD part will be in rebuilding the "American Dream" to better reflect a world that has evolved beyond our shortsighted arrogance.
Right on, caul.
Too many have been funding the American dream through debt; corporate, gubmit and personal.
The auto industry is also apparently on the ropes at present. However, seeing the endless rows of unsold gas guzzling SUV's doesn't make me feel sorry for them. Rather, it makes me wonder why there hasn't been an earlier push toward vehicles using alternative fuels or at least a substantial increase in fuel economy. The auto industry is woefully behind the times, imo.
My guess is that any company able to offer a path to viable alternative fuel options or substantial increases of fuel economy in the near future will weather this economic downturn. Those auto companies unable to quickly turn the corner into the 21st century might not be so fortunate. And that's the way capitalism is supposed to work, from what I've read.
Why reward the careless. short-sighted and greedy when they underperform in the market?
lw