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标题: Speech at Chicago (11月6日) -Obama [打印本页]

作者: trilogyhr 时间: 2008-11-24 11:28
标题: Speech at Chicago (11月6日) -Obama
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. Video Watch Obama's speech in its entirety ?

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 self-reliance 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. 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 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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