Friday, November 7, 2008

Because, it was truly beautiful and needs to be remembered.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama - New Hampshire Primary
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
Nashua, New Hampshire
I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New
Hampshire.

A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we'd have accomplished what we did here
tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our
climb would be steep. But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change.
And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in
this election – there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in
Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch
block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit –
who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we've never
seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong
to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or
white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or
South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new
direction. That is what's happening in America right now. Change is what's
happening in America.

You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political
darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division
and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without
being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the
money and influence that's stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for
something better, there's no problem we can't solve – no destiny we cannot
fulfill.

Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health
care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses,
Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance
industry that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every
chair. Not this time. Not now. Our new majority can end the tax breaks for
corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the
pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.

We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start
putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers
are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new
majority.

We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs
to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no
return. And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops
home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our
veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use
9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it
is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats
of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and
poverty; genocide and disease.

All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all
are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it's not just
about what I will do as President, it's also about what you, the people who love
this country, can do to change it.

That's why tonight belongs to you.

It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our
improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what
obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices
calling for change. We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who
will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering
the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false
about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that
we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of
Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a
nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom
through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who
pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a
President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the
mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes
we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the
struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the
plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes
to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns
on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in
America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one
people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in
America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to
shining sea – Yes. We. Can.

Also, if you haven't seen this Yes We Can/Will.I.Am.

1 comment:

streetjust said...

“My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.”

– Barack Obama

When America overcomes it's euphoria for a man not based on his accomplishments, but instead on his skin tone then they'll finally be able to accept criticism of him without making charges of racism. That day is when America will have finally become color blind.