header graphic

Obama for America

"2012 Presidential Election: Volunteer for Barack Obama's Campaign" +
  2:12 web video from Nov. 4, 2011.





[Music]

TEXT: Election Night, November 4, 2008

[Cheers] Obama: I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to.  It belongs to you.  It belongs to you.  I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.  We didn't start with much money or many endorsements.  Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston... 
 
It drew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy...

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers... 

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead... 

This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change.  And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.  It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice...

For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime [music up tempo] there's new jobs to be created, new schools to build and threats to meet, alliances to repair.  The road ahead will be long; the climb will be steep.  We may not get there in one year or even in one term.  But America I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.  I promise you, we as a people will get there.

America, we have come so far.  We have seen so much.  But there is so much more to do.

[Chants: Yes we can]
 


Notes: Excerpts from Obama's victory speech three years ago at Grand Park in Chicago.  A dozen accomplishments are highlighted:

Saved over one million jobs in the U.S. auto industry
20 consecutive months of job creation
Took the fight to Al Qaeda
Reduced and secured nuclear weapons
Passed health reform, lowering costs and insuring 32 million
Ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Nominated first Latina to Supreme Court
Doubled college grants, now for 9 million students
New protections against credit card companies
New 54.5 mpg fuel standards, saving $8,200 per family
Reined in Wall Street / Ended taxpayer bailouts
Ending the war in Iraq