Obama For President Announcement
By Barack Obama
Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.
We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I
know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you
believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe
there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be
hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to
settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one
people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.
That's the journey we're on today. But let me tell you how I
came to be here. As most of you know, I am not a native of this great
state. I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man
then, just a year out of college; I knew no one in Chicago, was without
money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a
job as a community organizer for $13,000 a year. And I accepted the
job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea -
that I might play a small part in building a better America.
My
work took me to some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. I joined with
pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged
by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced weren't simply
local in nature - that the decision to close a steel mill was made by
distant executives; that the lack of textbooks and computers in schools
could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand
miles away; and that when a child turns to violence, there's a hole in
his heart no government could ever fill.
It was in these
neighborhoods that I received the best education I ever had, and where
I learned the true meaning of my Christian faith.
After three
years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to
understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil
rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came
to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend
on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with
these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state
Senator.
It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is
America converge - farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all
of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table,
all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here -
friends that I see in the audience today.
It was here we
learned to disagree without being disagreeable - that it's possible to
compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be
compromised; and that so long as we're willing to listen to each other,
we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.
That's
why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken.
That's why we were able to give health insurance to children in need.
That's why we made the tax system more fair and just for working
families, and that's why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said
could never, ever be passed.
It was here, in Springfield, where
North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the
essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that
through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.
And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln
once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes
and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my
candidacy for President of the United States.
I recognize
there is a certain presumptuousness - a certain audacity - to this
announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of
Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of
Washington must change.
The genius of our founders is that
they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should
take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of
tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face
of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the
face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out
of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads
to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to
let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty
stream.
Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and
done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more - and it
is time for our generation to answer that call.
For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.
That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his
defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he
moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions
who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and
South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from
every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln
was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges
of this millennium together, as one people - as Americans.
All
of us know what those challenges are today - a war with no end, a
dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many
children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck
despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've
heard them. We've talked about them for years.
What's stopped
us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies
and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the
smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the
petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our
preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our
sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.
For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't
matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising
health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told
that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived
war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all
else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts,
we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're
distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party,
or gay people, or immigrants.
And as people have looked away in
disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The
cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our
government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the
checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you
get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're
here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's
time to turn the page.
We've made some progress already. I
was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most
sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.
But Washington has a
long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set
priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government
will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more
money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of
us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility - for
instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a
more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and
sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this
hard work together. Let us transform this nation.
Let us be
the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age.
Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources
they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give
them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability.
Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific
research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner
cities and rural towns all across America.
And as our economy
changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are
sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their
companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking
Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their
organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again.
Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single
person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to
a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child
care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do
this.
Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health
care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by
providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology
to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here,
right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the
end of the next president's first term.
Let's be the
generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can
harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the
production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for
capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming
into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an
incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world.
Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we
did here.
Most of all, let's be the generation that never
forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists
with everything we've got. Politics doesn't have to divide us on this
anymore - we can work together to keep our country safe. I've worked
with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and
destroy some of the world's deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work
together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can
tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our
intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate
victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances
and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions
around the globe.
But all of this cannot come to pass until
we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this
war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve
for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been
broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to
start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of
American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the
heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will
bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know
that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure
the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.
Finally, there is one other thing that is not too late to get right
about this war - and that is the homecoming of the men and women - our
veterans - who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their valor by
providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let
us be the generation that begins this work.
I know there are
those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the
skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties
make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All
of us running for president will travel around the country offering
ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those
qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country.
But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is
swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and
the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as
before, left to struggle on their own.
That is why this
campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about
what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the
vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your
energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we're doing right,
and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about
reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common
purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of
millions of voices calling for change.
By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.
But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.
He tells us that there is power in words.
He tells us that there is power in conviction.
That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.
He tells us that there is power in hope.
As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard
to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered
from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."
That is our purpose here today.
That's why I'm in this race.
Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.
I want to win that next battle - for justice and opportunity.
I want to win that next battle - for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.
I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.
And
if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny
calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching
before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off
our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe
past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and
march with you, and work with you. Together, starting today, let us
finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of
freedom on this Earth.
