President Barack Obama’s speech in Chicago after his
re-election Tuesday night, as transcribed by Roll Call:
"Thank you so much.
Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the
right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves
forward.
It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because
you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the
spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great
heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own
individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as
one nation and as one people.
Tonight, in this election, you, the American people,
reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long,
we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our
hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.
I want to thank every American who participated in this
election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a
very long time. By the way, we have to fix that. Whether you pounded the
pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney
sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.
I just spoke with Gov. Romney and I congratulated him and Paul
Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it’s
only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its
future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen
to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we
honor and applaud tonight. In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting
down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this
country forward.
I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four
years, America’s happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope
for, Joe Biden.
And I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who
agreed to marry me 20 years ago. Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have
never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America
fall in love with you, too, as our nation’s first lady. Sasha and Malia, before
our very eyes you’re growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful young
women, just like your mom. And I’m so proud of you guys. But I will say that
for now one dog’s probably enough.
To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of
politics. The best. The best ever. Some of you were new this time around, and
some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you are
family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the
memory of the history we made together and you will have the lifelong
appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing all the way,
through every hill, through every valley. You lifted me up the whole way and I
will always be grateful for everything that you’ve done and all the incredible work
that you put in.
I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small,
even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that
politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special
interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at
our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks
working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home,
you’ll discover something else.
You’ll hear the determination in the voice of a young field
organizer who’s working his way through college and wants to make sure every
child has that same opportunity. You’ll hear the pride in the voice of a
volunteer who’s going door to door because her brother was finally hired when
the local auto plant added another shift. You’ll hear the deep patriotism in
the voice of a military spouse who’s working the phones late at night to make
sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a
roof over their head when they come home.
That’s why we do this. That’s what politics can be. That’s
why elections matter. It’s not small, it’s big. It’s important. Democracy in a
nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own
opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough
times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions,
stirs up controversy.
That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These
arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we
speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a
chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots
like we did today.
But despite all our differences, most of us share certain
hopes for America’s future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they
have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that lives up
to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation,
with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.
We want our children to live in an America that isn’t
burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by
the destructive power of a warming planet. We want to pass on a country that’s
safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by
the strongest military on earth and the best troops this — this world has ever
known. But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war,
to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every
human being.
We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate
America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter
who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the
south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the
furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a
scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president —
that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we share. That’s where we need
to go — forward. That’s where we need to go.
Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get
there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and
starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path.
By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and
dreams won’t end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for
the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises
needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must
begin.
Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long
campaign is now over. And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to
you, I have learned from you, and you’ve made me a better president. And with
your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined
and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that
lies ahead.
Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You
elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months,
I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties
to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit.
Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from
foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do.
But that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizen
in our democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what
can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard
and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we
were founded on.
This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not
what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s
not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the
world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold
together the most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is
shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one
another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have
fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among
those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America
great.
I am hopeful tonight because I’ve seen the spirit at work in
America. I’ve seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut
their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather
cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. I’ve seen it in the soldiers
who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs
into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them
watching their back.
I’ve seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where
leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their
differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm.
And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of
his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their
family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few
months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.
I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but
meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening
to that father’s story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes,
because we knew that little girl could be our own. And I know that every
American wants her future to be just as bright. That’s who we are. That’s the
country I’m so proud to lead as your president.
And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through,
despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about
our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to
sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that
just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in
our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit
on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.
I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing
inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that
something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to
keep working, to keep fighting.
America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made
and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the
middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that
if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come
from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re
black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich
or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if
you’re willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are
not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits
believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain
more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will
be the United States of America.
And together with your help and God’s grace we will continue
our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the
greatest nation on Earth.
Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United
States."
Source: The Treasure Blog
