Obama's primary victory on June 3rd was truly an historic occasion, but lost in the cheers and adulation of the crowd and the bright lights was the sobering fact that Obama had limped across the finish line to victory, barely beating Hillary Clinton in the popular vote and delegate totals. His associations with Jeremiah Wright had exacted their toll, and the young political phenomenon who had taken the world by storm in February and March was, by June, a visibly weakened figure, hit by revelations about his past and an intensifying public scrutiny of his ideological views. The rise of the Messiah had begun to slow...
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Tonight, after 54 hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end. Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said—because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another—a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign—through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for president. At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come. |
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That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight |
A graceful nod to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Nice. Especially after some fairly nasty (South Carolina) and silly (kindergarten essay) kerfuffles between the candidates. |
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We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning—even in the face of tough odds—is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as first lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency—an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton. |
Other than raw ambition and the lust for power ... |
There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn't just about the party in charge of Washington, it's about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation. |
Look through this litany of special-interest groups. Who's missing? Whites. Working-class, blue-collar whites – the kind who voted in droves for Clinton as the campaign drew to a close. And let's not forget the bitter clingers. |
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All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn't do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment—a moment that will define a generation—we cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say—let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America. |
Nobody says nothing better than Barack Obama ... Just one question ... so we can't afford to keep doing what we're doing? Agreed. But how will a new wave of government entitlements and the sharply higher taxes needed to pay for them make a better future for our children? How will increasing people's dependency on government make them better people? |
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In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign. Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign. |
This is a criticism all the more aptly made of Mr. Obama – a Senator who campaigns as a political unifier, yet has virtually no record of bipartisanship. Barack Obama is a member of the hard left, who hardly ever crosses the aisle. |
It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year. It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college—policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt. |
Four more years of Bush economic policies would be just fine by us. It means four more years of low inflation, low levels of unemployment, and solid economic growth, even with the doldrums we're in now. |
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And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians—a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't making the American people any safer. So I'll say this—there are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them. |
Did Obama talk to any Iraqi politicians before he wrote this? We think the Maliki government is well aware of U.S. bench-marks. Meanwhile Obama has made quite a show of looking for reasons to leave Iraq ever since the war began. |
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Change is a foreign policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged. I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years—especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored. |
The first sentence is a matter of opinion. It also puts Obama at odds with most of his Senate colleagues, who voted for military intervention. McCain's "100 years" comment has been wilfully taken out of context. He was talking of a U.S. presence in Iraq – not a century-long shooting war. Sixty-plus years after World War 2 our troops are still in Europe, a policy few liberals object to. |
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We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in—but start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It's time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It's time to refocus our efforts on al-Qaeda's leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century—terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That's what change is. |
What an insult to this country. What an insult to the Iraqis. Someone should give Obama a copy of War & Decision by Doug Feith – a vivid and eye-opening account of the serious and thoughtful deliberation that went into the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq. As for the Iraqis, they are taking responsibility for their future. The barriers to self-governance which they face are formidable – and they aren't shrinking from them. |
Change is realizing that meeting today's threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy—tough, direct diplomacy where the president of the United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That's what the American people want. That's what change is. |
Few things grate as much as hearing this callow freshman senator criticize a highly capable administration while it is engaged in the great work of defending America's interests. All these petty little finger-wagging points Obama makes prove nothing but his own inexperience. Tough diplomacy? You need guns for that. Courage and conviction to lead? What in the HELL do you think President Bush has shown since 9/11, Mr. Obama? |
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Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It's understanding that the struggles facing working families can't be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It's understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was president. |
An economy taxed at the rates Obama envisions would destroy wealth. The tax breaks he so deplores create enormous new wealth which benefits all Americans – not just "the rich". |
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John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy—cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota—he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for. |
Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota – all controlled over virtually controlled by liberals – all suffering because of it. |
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Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand that she can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass a health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That's the change we need. |
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Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future—an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need. |
Don't get us started on oil prices, Senator. Your party, beholden as it is to radical environmental interests, is directly responsible for the high price of oil. |
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And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for president. |
Please, Senator – we don't need to subsidize even more liberal indoctrination for pre-schools and college students. Don't ask us how, but we got along just fine educating ourselves without the help of liberal Democrats for a very long time in this country, before you guys came along and ruined the schools with political correctness and lower academic standards. |
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The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon—that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first. |
Let's talk about wedges and bludgeons for a moment. First, there's never been an election without them, anywhere in the world. Elections, even peaceful ones, are a form of combat. Fear, unfortunately, is part of that. A key question that must be answered in any election is just what it is the voters should be afraid of. Global warming or the Islamist threat? Corporate America or Big Government? Nuclear weapons or Soviet expansion. People disagree about these things. So you say you won't use religion as a wedge, patriotism as a bludgeon? That's because you can't. Democrats are weak on these. Republicans are strong. So you'll use other things – race and class. And don't talk about demonizing opponents. Over the last eight years your party has engaged in the most outrageous, vitriolic demonization of a sitting President in living memory. And while it's nice to hear you say we're Americans first – based on the recent history of your party, it's hard to believe you're sincere. |
Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I've walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I've sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I've worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington. |
Good for you, Senator – but forgive us for wanting a little more information about your past before we take you at your word. |
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In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again. |
We arrive at the least objectionable part of your speech. Bravo, Barack (seriously)! Except for the part about false divisions. There're a great many ideas and philosophies and beliefs held by people which truly prevent them from uniting politically with others. It's just a fact of life. |
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So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union. So it was for the greatest generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity. So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause. So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better, and kinder, and more just. And so it must be for us. |
Nothing false about peoples' divisions here! |
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America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love. |
That's it! A new direction for the country we love! Let's change everything about it! What better proof of love is there than that? |
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The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment—this was the time—when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. |
Mere printed words cannot capture the delirious energy of this moment – and for that we're indeed fortunate, lest we swallow whole all the foolish grandiosity on display. This is the moment when we began to provide care for the sick? We've never done that before? What do we have hospitals for? What about the one your wife works at? Good jobs to the jobless? How will we do that when we're so busy punishing the people who create those jobs with all those taxes you talk about? The rise of the oceans slowing? Why do you care, Senator? Even if we accept all the bogus science your side peddles on global warming, the IPCC says the oceans will only rise a centimeter or two in the next century. We had a similar sea-level rise last century and we got through it okay. Ending a war? That depends. How do you want to do it? If you plan to end it by winning it, count us in. But you're always talking about defeat and retreat. Sorry, Senator. No deal. |
Link to text of Barack Obama's Democrat Primary Victory Speech
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