Shauna has been a bit under the weather, so rather than going out to parties tonight we spent our evening with Grace and Marin as we collected the latest election data via the television and the internet. Although it would have been great to be out and about tonight in all actuality it was perfect to spend watch the returns come in while we ate, played, and read with Grace and Marin. Barack Obama often used the phrase "the fierce urgency of now" to describe why he was seeking the office of the President of the United States. I voted for Obama because I meet the "fierce urgency of now" every time I look into the eyes of Grace or Marin and I believe him to be the best choice to lead our nation at this time. I am hopeful about how and where he will guide us and he and the rest of the leaders elected tonight will be in my prayers as they serve this nation. As I celebrate this Barack Obama's election I remember the words of Luke 12:48: "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." The nation and the world are watching and waiting...
Here is the text of speech given tonight by President-elect Barack Obama:
"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.
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.
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 most of us cannot
begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by
this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and 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.
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 my life, 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
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 campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod,
and 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.
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 five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to
this 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; 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 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 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 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 college. There is new energy
to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats
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 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 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 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.
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 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, 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 our 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
this 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 our 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.
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."
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