Barack Obama Acceptance Speech
Thank you, everybody.
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 presidency of the United States.
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…
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
Tonight, I say to the people of America, 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.
The record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. I don’t know about you, but I am not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.
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 $5 million 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 100 million Americans? You are on your own.
It’s time for us to change America. And that’s why I’m running for president of the United States.
I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.
What is that American 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 obligations to treat each other with dignity and respect.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but it should 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 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. That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
And I’ll invest $150 billion 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 5 million new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.
Now is the time to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy.
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.
John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but he won’t even follow him to the cave where he lives. even after we learned that Iraq has $79 billion in surplus while we are wallowing in deficit, 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.
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
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high – patriotism has no party … I’ve got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first.
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 naysayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me; it’s about you.
IT’S ABOUT YOU.
“Enough,” to the politics of the past, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same, old politics with the same, old players and expect a different result. at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.
Change happens – 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.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
The Future of America Its YOU
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