Gr00vus
Footballguy
Which poll numbers?
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*** Official Barack Obama FBG campaign headquarters *** (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter adonis
- Start date
He won't be able to run on "hope....change'' anymore when it's exposed as nothing more than a liberal agenda.It should be a great race.
Pooch
More Yang than Yin
I guess you're one of the few that actually supported his gas tax policy and also don't care that he publicly admitted he doesn't really understand economic issues.Enjoy the ride.
adonis
Footballguy
So wouldn't the same thing be true for McCain?And look honestly, Obama took more flack this campaign than any of the other candidates in either party, combined, times 2.He has been hit from all angles, michelle obama, rev wright, ayers, inexperience, ties to Trinity, his pastor went on national television and threw him under a bus saying he was lying....hillary and company hit on this all they could, it was news for months. The negativity was almost totally on Obama for the past few months, and little to nothing negative has been thrown at Hillary (sniper?) or McCain (ties to lobbyists that got thrown out in like 2 days).Those who can't see that Obama, for the past few months, has been in a very tough fight, haven't been paying attention. Those who think McCain has even begun to sniff the challenge he'll meet in November and the general campaign, must suffer from myopia.The current state of events, with the democrats being nearly split behind either Obama or Clinton, with Obama taking almost 100% of the negative press (aside from calls for clinton to quit), puts Obama at his weakest state, most high negativity ratings, while CLinton and McCain benefit from negative attention being turned elsewhere.Its' in this climate that the polls you reference were taken. At the height of obama's struggles, after a long tough primary, and over a long period of time where McCain really has had almost no press. Why are you convinced that they mean much of anything? The only polls I would trust today are those of democrats in general, across all 50 states, regarding who'd they prefer, Obama or Hillary. That's because the entire country has seen them square off for over a year now, and they've gone campaigning in all 57 states
, and their cases have been made. Even then, i'd need to see multiple polls done, and average them all together to truly trust their results.
Voltaire
Footballguy
Really? He wants to change America's foreign policies, and McCain doesn't. 60% of Americans agree with the big O.
adonis
Footballguy
You think Clinton left his "hope...change" issue unexposed? Haha, you really haven't been paying attention have you.She tried to run based on experience, but people aren't hungry for experience, they're hungry for change. Once she switched to being a "fighter", she gained traction. Maybe McCain will pick that route, but you're silly to suggest that Obama is just all hope and change and no substance. You're reusing talking points from last year. You need to upgrade to the latest RNC talking points. Package 1.0001, they're just getting started.Obama's already on revision 35.2315 of his candidacy. McCain only recently started culling his campaign for weak links. He's just now getting started. You think Obama has much left ot be exposed? I don't think so, all republicans can do now is to smear Michelle with unsubstantiated rumors, to imply racism on the part of the black people in the race.It's ridiculous rather, to find the first black candidates in american politics with a chance to win the presidency, and the republicans are accusing them of being racists. It's STRAIGHT out of the RNC playbook of taking weaknesses, and then accusing your opponent of having those very weaknesses.Obama...is being accused...of being racist, because of tapes no one has seen or heard, supposedly said by Michelle Obama. It's so ridiculous it's insane.
Gr00vus
Footballguy
Actually I doubt it. McCain doesn't have much credibility within his own party, let alone the general public. He's gone from contrived "maverick" to courting the deepest recesses of the neo-con talking points. He's flip flopped repeatedly during the past 10 years - his public statements and voting record are all over the place and continually at odds with each other. Now he's making the mistake of gladly painting himself into the corner of being the establishment and more of the same. He's ancient. He's been divorced and is on his second marriage to a rich trophy wife.Any half way decent campaign will pick this guy apart in no time.
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Voltaire
Footballguy
These are some good points. We will have a very close election unless the Republicans make the same mistakes that Hillary did. And, at least for right now, they are.
commisholio
Come out with your pants down!
Obama's over the top today. I am really looking forward to a presidential campaign where I actively like the candidate I'm supporting. It will be a refreshing change from the last couple of election cycles.
urbanhack
Fight The Power!
How can Obama be the frontrunner in the face of national numbers like these recent primaries? Obama is getting leveled in primary after primary in the demographics that will decide the election, he's getting destroyed by McCain in national polling on all of the key issues that you said matter, he's winning most of the key swing States in the polls including Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri, Florida, and even New Hampshire, and the only thing people can say about Obama's chances is that he has to win because Republicans are going to have a bad year. There is nothing but innuendo to support such a claim. So I reiterate, what are you guys basing your claim that Obama is the clear frontrunner in this election. It appears to be based solely on the very vague Republican/Democrat component of this and not on any other significant polling data. It is not a coincidence that in the face of horrific polling data in and out of primaries this year, Rasmussen has been the one polling service that is typically within a couple points of being accurate and the others are way off base. I truly believe there is media bias creeping into many of these polling outfits, just like when John Kerry was running and Al Gore before him.urbanhack said:
Voltaire
Footballguy
SurveyUSA has been far and away the most accurate polling company through the primaries.
Pooch
More Yang than Yin
Aren't you the guy whining about how important the polls are?Can't you read?
"Obama now edges the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, by 47%-44% among registered voters. A month ago, McCain was ahead by 47%-45%. Both leads are within the margin of error of +/— 4 percentage points."
LINK
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BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
USA!USA!commisholio said:
USA!
USA!
USA!
Gr00vus
Footballguy
Do you even know what you're talking about anymore, because you're making zero sense here.First you're complaining about no one providing any significant polling data (which I actually did a few posts up, but you seem to have ignored), then you're complaining that there's only one accurate polling service (the one telling you what you want to hear) and all the others are way off base, and there's a media bias in the polling results as well. So if there aren't any accurate polling services and they have a media bias, how can anyone provide significant polling data?You might want to get your story straight before you continue your ranting.
Can't you read or just too ignorant ?As I said, McCain is winning most of the key swing States in the polls including Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri, Florida, and even New Hampshire.
National Polling means very little when you can't win the swing states.
.
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
He gives a great speech, and is much more energenic than McCain, but it sounds like you've bought into the hype, not the substance.
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
Wouldn't it be funny if McCain couldn't find a running mate.
Trey
Footballguy
No no no. Look at my posts. I haven't bought into the hype at all. The American people, however, most definitely WILL. He presents an ideal picture with his words. Everyone wants his picture. People will vote for his picture.
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
We bought into the substance (a smart, honest and capable leader - unlike anything the 'pubes currently offer)... and we enjoy the hype.
BuddyKnuckles
Footballguy
He's had months to coalesce his party, solidify his message, and tear down the Dems. Instead, he's folundered and flip flopped, stammered and stagnated, and given some of the worst speeches in a long timeETA: What substance does McCain offer? Admitting he doesnt know about the economy? OR that he STILL cant tell the difference between Sunni and SHiite?
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cobalt_27
Footballguy
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
What a great speech. I cannot wait to see how it contrasts with the speeches coming in the Republican Convention.
Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
It was a great launch into the next phase of the campaign. His best speech since the night of the New Hampshire primary IMO.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
But if you think that an important part of being President is giving a great speech and energizing Americans, then isn't that substance? It is to me.
Keep the lack of faith Spiderman. Keep the lack of faith.
skol asylum
Footballguy
One of my favorite lines of his speech:
In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.
:whoosh:
In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.
:whoosh:
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skol asylum
Footballguy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZblcYW4Fkc
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Final Primary Night
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
As Prepared for Delivery
Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign – through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.
At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she’s a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.
We’ve certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who’s shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning – even in the face of tough odds – is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children’s Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency – an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn’t just about the party in charge of Washington, it’s about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.
All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren’t the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn’t do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – we cannot afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say – let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.
In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.
Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.
It’s not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.
It’s not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college – policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.
And it’s not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians – a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn’t making the American people any safer.
So I’ll say this – there are many words to describe John McCain’s attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush’s policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them.
Change is a foreign policy that doesn’t begin and end with a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged. I won’t stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what’s not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years – especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.
We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must. It’s time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It’s time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It’s time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda’s leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century – terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That’s what change is.
Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy – tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn’t afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That’s what the American people want. That’s what change is.
Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It’s understanding that the struggles facing working families can’t be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It’s understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.
John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy – cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota – he’d understand the kind of change that people are looking for.
Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can’t pay the medical bills for a sister who’s ill, he’d understand that she can’t afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That’s the change we need.
Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can’t even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he’d understand that we can’t afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future – an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced. That’s the change we need.
And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he’d understand that we can’t afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That’s the change we need in America. That’s why I’m running for President.
The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.
Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I’ve walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I’ve sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I’ve worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.
In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.
So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.
So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.
So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom’s cause.
So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that’s better, and kinder, and more just.
And so it must be for us.
America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Final Primary Night
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
As Prepared for Delivery
Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign – through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.
At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she’s a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.
We’ve certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who’s shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning – even in the face of tough odds – is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children’s Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency – an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn’t just about the party in charge of Washington, it’s about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.
All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren’t the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn’t do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – we cannot afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say – let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.
In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.
Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.
It’s not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.
It’s not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college – policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.
And it’s not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians – a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn’t making the American people any safer.
So I’ll say this – there are many words to describe John McCain’s attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush’s policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them.
Change is a foreign policy that doesn’t begin and end with a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged. I won’t stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what’s not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years – especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.
We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must. It’s time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It’s time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It’s time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda’s leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century – terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That’s what change is.
Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy – tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn’t afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That’s what the American people want. That’s what change is.
Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It’s understanding that the struggles facing working families can’t be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It’s understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.
John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy – cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota – he’d understand the kind of change that people are looking for.
Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can’t pay the medical bills for a sister who’s ill, he’d understand that she can’t afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That’s the change we need.
Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can’t even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he’d understand that we can’t afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future – an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced. That’s the change we need.
And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he’d understand that we can’t afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That’s the change we need in America. That’s why I’m running for President.
The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.
Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I’ve walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I’ve sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I’ve worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.
In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.
So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.
So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.
So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom’s cause.
So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that’s better, and kinder, and more just.
And so it must be for us.
America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
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Here's Obama's speech: part 1, part 2, part 3.
I'm glad Obama won the nomination and I hope he becomes President; but I have to say that something is rather off-putting about how nuts the crowd is going for him from about 1:30 to about 3:15, and then at numerous times again throughout the speech. It has too much of an us-against-them feel to it, like it's a Giants-Cowboys game or something. That kind of tribalism should be reserved for sports, not politics. When people go that nuts for a political leader, it just strikes me as a bit scary; it calls to mind . . . well, I don't even want to say which WW2-era regimes it calls to mind. My reaction here is totally not fair to Obama. It's not his fault he inspires such enthusiasm. I just get nervous when people react to government officials that way.
I'm glad Obama won the nomination and I hope he becomes President; but I have to say that something is rather off-putting about how nuts the crowd is going for him from about 1:30 to about 3:15, and then at numerous times again throughout the speech. It has too much of an us-against-them feel to it, like it's a Giants-Cowboys game or something. That kind of tribalism should be reserved for sports, not politics. When people go that nuts for a political leader, it just strikes me as a bit scary; it calls to mind . . . well, I don't even want to say which WW2-era regimes it calls to mind. My reaction here is totally not fair to Obama. It's not his fault he inspires such enthusiasm. I just get nervous when people react to government officials that way.
BuddyKnuckles
Footballguy
i'll take a bit too much enthusiasm over widespread apathy any day of the week. And dont worry about your comparison as it doesnt hold water. Someone who promotes a positive message is never comparable to that not-to-be-named early 20th Century madman
cobalt_27
Footballguy
Just because you're dull, doesn't mean you have something substantive to contribute. By the same token, just because your voice soars and captures the attention of millions, doesn't mean you're an empty vessel. To me, Obama totally brings the goods.
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
the moops
Footballguy
How about becoming the democratic presidential nominee?
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
A liberal being elected by liberals to represent liberals in an election?
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
McCain looked like a puppet up there last night. If that was his campaign kickoff, he is in for a long season. He had what, 300 old white people who barely cheered him? Compared to Obama's 17,000 inside, and another 15,000 outside - ranging from all ages and races - to listen to his speech. The stage is set. The time is right. The moment is now. America started on its path to redemption last night.
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
I swear on McCain's teleprompter it says "pause and smile" or "laugh."
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Voltaire
Footballguy
He did list some accomplisments right after that in his speech.
the moops
Footballguy
And if these liberals elect him president, would you still not consider this an accomplishment?
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
It is over-the-top and I'd probably be the same way if I were there in person. But I take it as more "OMG I can't believe we actually did it!" in response to the victory stuff; and "We're going to change America's image and turn the country around" in response to the vision message.I didn't really see it as us-against-them, at least for myself. The "them" still hasn't transferred from Clinton Machine to McCain Camp really.
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
I know! You'd think McCain could, like, totally see that!Seriously, McCain is clearly still in Primary mode with the cute little jabs. His handlers have a lot of work to get him ready for the convention and the GE.
flufhed
Footballguy
Well, then you would have REALLY been frightened by the Hillary speech. Anyone catch the woman jumping up and down in the back of the room during Hillary's speech, moving her arms around like a stoned hippie at a dead show? Yikes.But you have to understand how emotional this has to be for some people, after such a long, hard-fought campaign like this. Folks will settle down.
Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
Winning the Republican nomination is probably the most significant accomplishment of McCain's political career.
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
If he'd done it in 2000 I'd agree with you.
Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
Yeah, I suppose McCain-Feingold is probably his biggest legislative accomplishment, which happened in 2002. It's just that he doesn't want to have anything to do with that now. Just like the comprehensive immigration reform he tried to pass.
skol asylum
Footballguy
Thanks for the question you little jerk.
culdeus
Footballguy
Really I don't care who BO picks to be his running mate. I'd say no to HRC if only because she went so negative in a race she had already lost at super tuesday. She did at least 95% of her best case scenario from that point forward and never really got close. It wouldn't kill me to see her as a VP, but I'd get real sick of the email forwards and some of the jackasses here attacking both of them.
Would rather it be some low profile governor from a state BO needs to deliver, not a congressman. And I want this done fast and before McCain puts his out there.
If she wants BO supporters to give her 15 mil or whatever to #### or a VP slot then I don't see it happening. She should have quit when it was obviously over to everyone but her ever more fanatical supporters.
Giver her a "jessie jackson" night at the convention and lets move on.
Would rather it be some low profile governor from a state BO needs to deliver, not a congressman. And I want this done fast and before McCain puts his out there.
If she wants BO supporters to give her 15 mil or whatever to #### or a VP slot then I don't see it happening. She should have quit when it was obviously over to everyone but her ever more fanatical supporters.
Giver her a "jessie jackson" night at the convention and lets move on.
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