Obama

Full text: Obama's victory speech
Democrat Barack Obama has become the first African-
American to win the White House. Here are his remarks
to a huge crowd in his home city of Chicago:
CHANGE HAS COME
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
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 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.
PARTNERS IN THE JOURNEY

A little bit earlier this evening I received an
extraordinarily 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. We are better off for the service
rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him, I congratulate 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.
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
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 sister Maya,
my sister Auma, all my other brothers and sisters - thank
you so much for all the support you have given me. I am
grateful to them.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, the unsung hero
of this campaign, who built the best political campaign in
the history of the United States of America. My chief
strategist David Axelrod, who has been a partner with me
every step of the way, and 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.
VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE
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 $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 grew strength 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 organised, 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.
THE TASK AHEAD
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 their child's college education. There is new energy to
harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build
and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
REMAKING THE NATION 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 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 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.
ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE
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 cannot happen without you, without
a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
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 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, and I will be your president too.
AMERICA IN THE WORLD
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 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.
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.
A HISTORY OF STRUGGLE
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 colour 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 harbour 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.
THIS IS OUR MOMENT
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.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-
/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7710038.stm
Published: 2008/11/05 07:02:28 GMT
© BBC 2012
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