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Obama's Acceptance Speach
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Hello,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 first time in their lives, because they believed that this
time must be different, that their voices 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 just a collection of individuals or 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’ve been told for so long
by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about
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 date in this election at this defining moment
change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily
gracious call from Sen. McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s
fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves.
He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot
begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by
this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him; I congratulate
Gov. Palin for all that they’ve 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 the train home to
Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding
support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our
family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady Michelle
Obama.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And
you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the new
White House.
And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s
watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss
them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters,
thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am
grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of
this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I
think, in the history of the United States of America.To my chief
strategist David Axelrod who’s been a partner with me every step
of the way.To 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. 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 $5 and $10 and $20 to the
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.It drew strength from
the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching
heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and 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 the Earth.
This is your victory.
And 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 the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the
mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s
college education. There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be
created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get
there in one year or even in 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
the 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 to join in the work of
remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221
years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused
hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot 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 can’t happen without you, without
a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of 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’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and
pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s 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 selfreliance and individual liberty and national unity.Those
are values that 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 tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help.
AndI 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 the world, our stories are singular, but
our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is
at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the 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 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.
That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union
can be perfected. What we’ve 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’s 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, 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 doubts 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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