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[/h2][h2]Full text of Barack Obama's speech[/h2]November 4, 2008
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.
[h4]Related links[/h4]
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this definingmoment, 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 mostof us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and
GovernorPalin 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-electof 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 mylife, 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 tothe
White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that mademe 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 campaignteam 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 ofWashington 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 grewstrength 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 payand 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 ofAmericans 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 notperished 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 thatlies 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 ofAfghanistan 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 themortgage, 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 andthreats 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 amtonight 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 governmentcan'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 aboveall, 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 chancefor 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 onlyourselves, 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 MainStreet 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 rememberthat it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the
RepublicanParty 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 whilethe
Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal thedivides 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 havestrained 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 yourvoices, 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 ourworld 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 willdefeat 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 weproved 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 ourideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
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.
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 andmust achieve tomorrow.
