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Obama Video Clips > 2008-08-28 - DNC 2008 Acceptance Speech
Obama DNC Acceptance Speech - Denver
Barack Obama’s speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination,
Thursday night at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver:
To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow
citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the
presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me
on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion
for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary
Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as
only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to
the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am
grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a
man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak
train he still takes home every night.
To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and
Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union
between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't
well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could
achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard
work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come
together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue
their dreams as well.
That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years,
at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women -
students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the
courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war,
our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once
more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.
More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values
plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you
can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond
is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of
George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than
this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of
retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of
hard work.
This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the
equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and
then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to
tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our
streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major
American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and
Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is
our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because
next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George
Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because
we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last
eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."
Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the
uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our
gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when
he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we
need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of
the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it
say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than
ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a
ten percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives -
on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything
but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this
President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one
of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about
the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a
"mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."
A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant
who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working
as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes
that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens
silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth
tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going
without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.
Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the
lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define
middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could
he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil
companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million
Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax
people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families
pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your
retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get
it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican
philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity
trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership
Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough
luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself
up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change
America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress
in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage;
whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you
can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in
the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when
the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000
like it has under George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have
or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can
take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips
can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy
that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living
up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that
is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and
Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in
Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to
college on the GI Bill.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the
night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while
she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still
able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student
loans and scholarships.
When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I
remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and
fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own
business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the
secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for
promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work.
She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I
could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although
she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight
is her night as well.
I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but
this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me.
And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our
promise alive as President of the United States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives
what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with
dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and
generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to
create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of
the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what
it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and
provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe;
invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt
us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and
influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves,
but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my
brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let
me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the
American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs
overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right
here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups
that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an
economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the
middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I
will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our
dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and
John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to
higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable
energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as
the day that Senator McCain took office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a
stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal
technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto
companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right
here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new
cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable,
renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation
of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new
jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a
world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the
global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a
chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids
don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit
an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more
support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.
And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving
your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college
education.
Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health
care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your
premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that
members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue
with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make
certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need
care the most.
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave,
because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and
caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are
protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for
future generations.
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work,
because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll
pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't
help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line,
eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work
better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges
with a twentieth century bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require
more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of
responsibility from
each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral
strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must
do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must
provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and
despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that
government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that
fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their
children need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of
America's promise.
And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so
must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate
about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next
Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I
stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real
threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in
Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight
against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we
must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.
John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but
he won't even go to the cave where he lives.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been
echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we
learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits,
John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a
President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas
of the past.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by
occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in
Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest
alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and
bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me
that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't
keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that
generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are
here to restore that legacy.
As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will
only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred
commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and
benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda
and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future
conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent
Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build
new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and
nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I
will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best
hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of
peace, and who yearn for a better future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to
debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for
political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our
politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each
other's character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan
playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and
so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our
battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have
fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud
flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served
the United States of America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough
choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out
ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight
years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has
also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And
that's what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of
unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be
different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in
Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping
AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex
marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters
deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of
discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who
benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer
undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of
America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength
and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that
our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our
public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of
traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any
fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a
record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run
from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we
all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem
empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop
hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I
don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of
Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring.
What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about
me. It's been about you.
For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the
politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we
can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a
different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining
moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change
comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it -
because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics
for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've
seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided
health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've
seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government
and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and
keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first
time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the
Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've
seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see
their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a
limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and
the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes
us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes
us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but
that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us
forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our
differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen,
that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters
when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise
that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise
that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from
every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before
Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've
heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear
and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every
walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That
together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the
pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many
children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to
fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to
protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk
alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into
the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words
of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.