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Obama Delivers Victory
Speech in CQ Transcripts Services
Thank you to the (inaudible)
of my life, Michelle Obama. Thank you to Malia and Sasha
Obama, who haven't seen their daddy in a week. Thank you to Pete Skidmore
for his outstanding service to our country and being such a great supporter
of this campaign. (APPLAUSE) Over two weeks ago, we saw
the people of Well, tonight, the cynics
who believed that what began in the snows of (APPLAUSE) After four -- after four
great contests, in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the
most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans that we've seen
in a long, long time. (APPLAUSE) You can see it in the faces
here tonight. There are young and old, rich and poor. They are black and
white, Latino and Asian and Native American. (APPLAUSE) They are Democrats from (APPLAUSE) And in nine days, in nine
short days, nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying
that we are tired of business as usual in (APPLAUSE) But if there's anything,
though, that we have been reminded of since Iowa, it's that the kind of
change we seek will not come easy, partly because we have fine candidates in
this fiat, fierce competitors who are worthy of our respect and our
admiration. (APPLAUSE) And as contentious as this
campaign may get, we have to remember that this is a contest for the
Democratic nomination. (APPLAUSE) And that all of us share an
abiding desire to end the disastrous policies of the current administration. (APPLAUSE) But there are real
differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a
change of party in the White House. We're looking to fundamentally change the
status quo in (APPLAUSE) It's a status quo that
extends beyond any particular party and right now that status quo is fighting
back with everything it's got, with the same old tactics that divide and
distract us from solving the problems people face, whether those problems are
health care that folks can't afford or a mortgage they cannot pay. So this will not be easy. Make
no mistake about what we're up against. We're up against the belief that it's
all right for lobbyists to dominate our government, that they are just part
of the system in But we know that the undue
influence of lobbyists is part of the problem and this election is our chance
to say that we are not going to let them stand in our way anymore. (APPLAUSE) We're up against the
conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from
longevity in (APPLAUSE) We're up against decades of
bitter partisanship that cause politicians to demonize their opponents
instead of coming together to make college affordable or energy cleaner. It's
the kind of partisanship where you're not even allowed to say that a
Republican had an idea, even if it's one you never agreed with. That's the kind of politics
that is bad for our party, it is bad for our country, and this is our chance
to end it once and for all. (APPLAUSE) We're up against the idea that
it's acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election. But we
know that this is exactly what's wrong with our politics. This is why people
don't believe what their leaders say anymore. This is why they tune out. And this election is our chance
to give the American people a reason to believe again. (APPLAUSE) But let me say this, South
Carolina. What we've seen in these last weeks is that we're also up against
forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that
prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation. It's the politics that uses
religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon, a politics that tells us
that we have to think, act and even vote within the confines of the
categories that supposedly define us, the assumption that young people are
apathetic, the assumption that Republicans won't cross over, the assumption
that the wealthy care nothing for the poor and that the poor don't vote, the
assumption that African-Americans can't support the white candidate, whites
can't support the African-American candidate, blacks and Latinos cannot come
together. OBAMA: We are here tonight
to say that that is not the America we believe in. (APPLAUSE) I did not travel around this
state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South
Carolina. I saw South Carolina. (APPLAUSE) I saw crumbling schools that
are stealing the future of black children and white children alike. I saw
shuttered mills and homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from all
walks of life and men and women of every color and creed who serve together
and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag. (APPLAUSE) I saw what America is and I
believe in what this country can be. That is the country I see. That is the
country you see. But now it is up to us to help the entire nation embrace
this vision. (APPLAUSE) Because in the end, we're
not just against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we're
also struggling with our own doubts, our own fears, our
own cynicism. The change we seek has always
required great struggle and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our
own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we're
willing to work for it. So let me remind you tonight
that change will not be easy. Change will take time. There will be setbacks
and false starts and sometimes we'll make mistakes. But as hard as it may seem,
we cannot lose hope, because there are people all across this great nation
who are counting on us, who can't afford another four years without health
care, that can't afford another four years without good schools, that can't
afford another four years without decent wages because our leaders couldn't
come together and get it done. Theirs are the stories and
voices we carry on from South Carolina. The mother who can't get Medicaid to
cover all the needs of her sick child. She needs us to pass a health care
plan that cuts costs and makes health care available and affordable for every
single American. That's what she's looking for. (APPLAUSE) The teacher who works
another shift at Dunkin' Donuts after school just to make ends meet, she
needs us to reform our education system so that she gets better pay and more
support and her students get the resources that they need to achieve their
dreams. (APPLAUSE) The Maytag worker who's now
competing with his own teenager for a $7 an hour job at the local Wal-Mart,
because the factory he gave us life to shut its doors, he needs us to stop
giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas and start putting
them in the pockets of working Americans who deserve it and put them in the
pockets of struggling homeowners who are having a tough time and looking
after seniors who should retire with dignity and respect. That woman who told me that
she hasn't been able to breath since the day her nephew left for Iraq or the
soldier who doesn't know his child because he's on his third or fourth or
even fifth tour of duty, they need us to come together and put an end to a
war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged. (APPLAUSE) So understand this, South
Carolina. The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or
genders. It's not about rich vs. poor, young vs. old. And it is not about
black vs. white. (APPLAUSE) This election is about the
past vs. the future. It's about whether we settle for the same divisions and
distractions and drama that passes for politics
today or whether we reach for a politics of common sense and innovation, a
politics of shared sacrifice and shared prosperity. There are those who will
continue to tell us that we can't do this, that we can't have what we're
looking for, that we can't have what we want, that we're peddling false
hopes. But here is what I know. I know that when people say we can't overcome
all the big money and influence in Washington, I think of that elderly woman
who sent me a contribution the other day, an envelope that had a money order
for $3.01... (APPLAUSE) ... along
with a verse of scripture tucked inside the envelope. So don't tell us change
isn't possible. That woman knows change is possible. (APPLAUSE) When I hear the cynical talk
that blacks and whites and Latinos can't join together and work together, I'm
reminded of the Latino brothers and sisters I organized with and stood with
and fought with side by side for jobs and justice on the streets of Chicago. So don't tell us change
can't happen. (APPLAUSE) When I hear that we'll never
overcome the racial divide in our politics, I think about that Republican
woman who used to work for Strom Thurmond, who is now devoted to educating
inner city children and who went out into the streets of South Carolina and knocked
on doors for this campaign. Don't tell me we can't
change. (APPLAUSE) Yes, we can. Yes, we can
change. Yes, we can. (CHANTS) Yes, we can heal this
nation. Yes, we can seize our future. And as we leave this great state with a
new wind at our backs and we take this journey across this great country, a
country we love, with the message we carry from the plains of Iowa to the
hills of New Hampshire, from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast,
the same message we had when we were up and when we were down, that out of
many, we are one; that while we breath, we will hope. And where we are met with
cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will
respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people
in three simple words --yes, we can. Thank you, South Carolina. I
love you. (APPLAUSE) |