President
Barack Obama
Election Night
McCormick Plaza
Chicago, IL
November 7, 2012
[White House Transcript]
12:38 A.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: 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. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
I
want to thank every American who participated in this election.
(Applause.) Whether you voted for the very first time or waited
in
line for a very long time -- (applause) -- by
the way, we have to fix that. (Applause.) Whether you
pounded the
pavement or picked up the phone -- (applause) -- whether you held an
Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard, and you made a
difference. (Applause.)
I
just spoke with Governor Romney, and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan
on a hard-fought campaign. (Applause.) 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 a legacy that we honor
and applaud tonight. (Applause.)
In
the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor
Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country
forward. (Applause.)
I
want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America’s
happy warrior -- (applause) -- the best Vice President anybody could
ever hope for -- Joe Biden. (Applause.)
And
I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry
me 20 years ago. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) Sasha and
Malia, before
our very eyes, you're growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful
young women, just like your mom. (Applause.)
And I’m so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now,
one dog
is probably enough. (Laughter.)
To
the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics --
(applause) -- the best. The best ever. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
I
know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even
silly.
And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who 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 at 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
worked his way through college, and wants to make sure every child has
that same opportunity. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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, and
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. (Applause.)
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 -- (applause) -- 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. (Applause.)
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 world has
ever known -- (applause) -- 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.
(Applause.) To the young boy on the South Side of Chicago who
sees a
life beyond the nearest street corner. (Applause.) To the
furniture
worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a
scientist, an engineer or 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.
(Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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. 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. (Applause.)
Tonight,
you voted for action, not politics as usual. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
But
that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizen in our
democracy does not end with your vote. America has 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. (Applause.) 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,
culture are 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; that the
freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for comes with
responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and
charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes
America great. (Applause.)
I
am hopeful tonight because I have seen this 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 re-enlist 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
And
I saw it just the other day in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the
story of his eight-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.
(Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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.
(Applause.) 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.
(Applause.)
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 founding -- 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, abled, disabled, gay or
straight -- you can make it here in America if you’re willing to
try.
(Applause.)
I
believe we can seize this future together -- because we are not as
divided as our politics suggest; 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. (Applause.) 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.
(Applause.)
Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United
States. (Applause.)
END
12:58
A.M. CST