President
Barack Obama
DNC Event
Private Residence
Miami,
Florida
June
13, 2011
6:23 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
everybody. (Applause.) It is wonderful to see
you. Steve, to you and Dorothea, thank you for the
incredibly gracious introduction and for opening up this
extraordinary home. We really appreciate it.
To everybody who is here, all the
co-hosts who helped make this event happen, thank you. To
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you for letting me in your
district. (Applause.) If you're in the foxhole, you want
Debbie alongside you, because not only is she charming and has
that dazzling smile, but she's tough as nails. And that's
what's needed during challenging times.
You know, when I was taking
photographs, Steve mentioned -- he said, this must be really the
toughest time to be President that I can recall. And Steve
has known some Presidents. And what I told him was that
there's no doubt that the country has gone through an
extraordinary trauma. And there are a lot of folks here
who remember my first campaign, that were big supporters during
the first campaign. We talked about the challenges that
America had been going through for the previous decade -- the
job growth had been slow, that inequality was on the rise, that
our school system had declined, that we didn’t have an energy
strategy that was appropriate for the 21st century.
All those challenges were worsened as a
consequence of the financial crisis. And so people who
were already struggling -- middle-class families who were
already treading water and trying to figure out how to get by
when their income and wages had flat-lined, even though costs of
everything from health care to college tuition to groceries and
gas had gone up -- they really took it even worse in the chin
over the last couple of years.
And my job over these first two years
has, frankly, been to clean up a big mess. And so, working
with Debbie, we were able to make sure that we yanked an economy
out of what could have been a second Great Depression, that we
stabilized the financial system. We made sure that we
ended one war and started putting another war on a path where we
could start bringing our troops home. We had to restore a
sense around the world of what American values and ideals were
all about. We had to make sure that we put in place
sensible regulations in the financial system to ensure that
another financial meltdown would not happen again. We had to
address an auto industry that was on the verge of
liquidation. We had to get the economy going again and we
had to get jobs created again.
And I could not be prouder of the track
record that we've put together under these trying times.
(Applause.) Over the last 15 months we've created over 2
million jobs. The auto industry is now profitable for the
first time in a decade and is actually hiring folks and
producing cars that not just folks here in America but all
around the world want to buy, and they've paid back most of the
money that they got from taxpayers because we had faith in the
workers and the people who are producing cars now.
The financial system is now running
again, although not as fast as we'd like, and the banks have
paid back the money that we put in place because of the strong
stewardship that we showed.
Along the way we got a few other things
done, like making sure that you could serve in our military no
matter who you love. (Applause.) We made sure that young
people could afford to go to college without amassing hundreds
of thousands worth of debt, because we made sure that subsidies
that were going to the banks were now going directly to college
students.
We appointed the first Latina to the
Supreme Court and we made sure that people get paid an equal
day's pay for an equal day's work. (Applause.)
And so even in the midst of struggles,
even in the midst of challenges, we were able to move that
proactive agenda forward. But here’s my main message to
you today. We’ve still got a lot more work to do. We
still have a lot more work to do. We may have made the
largest investment in green energy technology in our history,
but we still don’t have the kind of energy policy that would
befit the greatest nation on Earth. We’re still too
dependent on foreign oil.
We’re seeing right now the effects of a spot oil market because
we haven’t thought through how we start freeing ourselves from
dependence on foreign oil. And by the way, in the process,
we have ended up financing folks who aren’t particularly on our
side on a whole range of issues. And so we’ve got to
change course. That’s work that remains to be done.
We still don’t have a smart immigration policy in this
country. It still doesn’t make sense to think that we
attract young people from all around the world to come here,
study, get PhDs in engineering and math and science, and then we
tell them to go home, instead of having them stay here and start
businesses and create economic growth here in America, and allow
people to live in the shadows, separating families, when we know
that one of our strengths has been both a nation of -- to be a
nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. We’ve got more
work to do.
I could not be prouder of the work that we’ve done on health
care -- (applause) -- making sure that every American in this
country can find affordable, accessible health care -- which, by
the way, will also end up saving us money, because if we’ve got
a more efficient health care system, if we've got a smarter
health care system that invests in things like preventive
diseases, then we save all the money we’re spending in the
emergency room. And by the way, we give people some
security and peace of mind.
But even though we passed the law, we’ve still got to implement
it. And that’s going to require us doing the hard work not
just this year, not just next year, but over the next five years
to make sure that that system is in place and we can start
bending the cost curve on health care and save taxpayers money
along the way.
We’ve still got to make sure that around the world the progress
that we’ve made over the last two years is not lost. And
we’ve got to make sure that in certain areas that I know are of
huge interest to the people of South Florida, that America is
representing our best values and our best ideals.
In the Middle East, we will have to continue to be a stalwart
ally of Israel -- (applause) -- but we cannot give up on peace
in the Middle East, because that’s the only way that we can
achieve full security.
Our neighbors in Haiti are still going to be depending on us to
make sure that in the process of rebuilding, that we don’t
return to the bad governance that has plagued that country for
so long, and that with a new government there, we’re actually a
partner with them to make sure that all the folks who were
devastated by the earthquake are put in a position where they
can finally live out their dreams.
Around the world, people are still looking to America for
leadership. And we can provide that leadership, but it
starts at home. And so the most important thing we can do
is make sure that we are doing the things that are necessary to
grow this economy. I was just up in North Carolina meeting
with my Jobs Council and some of the CEOs of some of the top
businesses in the country -- Intel and GE were there. And
to a person, everybody said we have what it takes for America to
grow and to prosper. What’s preventing us right now is a
lack of political will that can only be provided, I believe, by
a strong Democratic Party and a Democrat in the White
House. I believe that. (Applause.)
And the reason I believe it is because the last time we had a
balanced budget, who was President? It was a Democratic
President. The last time we had the kind of growth that
lifted all boats, who was it? It was a Democratic
President. And so for us to make the tough decisions that
are required to start pulling down our deficit, getting a handle
on our debt, but doing so in a way that continues to make
investments in those things that have made America the land of
opportunity -- that’s what this next election is going to be
about. This is going to be a values debate. It’s not
just dry numbers, it’s not just budgets. It’s about who we are
as a people, and do we still have a big, optimistic, bold,
hopeful, compassionate, generous spirit, and is that reflected
in how our government operates.
I want an America where every young
person who is willing to work hard knows that they can still
make it, and that they’re going to schools that teach them the
skills they need to be the best workers in the world. And
we’re not there yet.
And I want an America where we’ve got
the best infrastructure in the world. Where we’re not
having to fly to Singapore -- excuse me, Ambassador -- or other
places to see an airport that actually works, or go to China to
see high-speed rail. I want us to know that we can still
do big things here in America.
I want an America in which we are still
looking out for our seniors. And, yes, we’ve got to make
changes so that Medicare and Social Security are there for
future generations. But we’re not going to do it by
privatizing it. We’re not going to have to do it by
voucherizing it. We’re not going to do it by shifting
costs onto folks who are the most vulnerable. We’ve got to
do it in a way that shares the burdens for all people -- because
we all benefit from this extraordinary country. And
obviously, no one has benefitted more from the opportunities of
this country than I have.
So when I see these young people who
are sitting here, my question is: What kind of country are
we going to be living -- leaving them? Are we doing right
by them? And I’m confident that we are in a position to do
right by them, but we’re going to have to work hard.
This process that began in 2008 is not
done. When I stood there in Grant Park on that gorgeous
night in November, I said to people, this is not the end; this
is the beginning. We have a steep hill to climb. I
didn’t know exactly how steep it was going to be.
(Laughter.) But I said we had a steep hill to climb.
And we’re just part of the way up that hill. We’re going
to have a lot more work to do.
And so for those of you who were involved in the campaign back
in 2008 and you thought, boy, this is so exciting and Obama is
so fresh, and you had the posters -- (laughter) -- now you look
and you say, boy, the guy is -- his hair is really gray now --
(laughter) -- he’s got a few bags under his eyes, and maybe my
friends were all saying to me, oh, I don’t know, we thought the
change would come faster -- I just want to remind you, big
changes don’t happen overnight.
This is a democracy that we live in. And that’s -- that is
a wonderful thing, but it’s messy and it’s diverse, and it means
there are going to be contentious arguments. And for those
of you who think somehow that this period of time things are
more contentious or polarized than they’ve ever been, just look
at back at your history. I mean, we’ve had some big
battles in this country -- around women’s rights and worker’s
rights and civil rights, and the shift from an agricultural
economy to an industrial economy, and huge issues of war and
peace. It’s always been contentious. That’s part of
what being a democracy is all about.
But I have never been more optimistic
or hopeful about what we can accomplish. And when I meet
young people around the country, there's a spirit in them, a
belief, a faith, a confidence, a can-do spirit that continues to
inspire me -- and I hope inspires you.
So the bottom line is this. Just
as that night at Grant Park was the beginning, well, this is
another beginning. And I want all of you to be just as
geared up, just as fired up as you were two and a half years
ago, as you were three years ago. If you are, I guarantee
you, not only are we going to win in 2012, but more importantly,
we’re going to deliver the kind of country we want to our
children and our grandchildren.
Thank you, everybody.
(Applause.) Appreciate you. Thank you.
(Applause.)
END
6:38
P.M.
EDT
President
Barack Obama
DNC Event
Adrienne
Arsht Center
Miami,
Florida
June
13, 2011
7:50 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello,
Miami! (Applause.) It's good to see you.
(Applause.) It is good to be back in Miami.
(Applause.) Thank you, thank you, everybody. Thank
you. Everybody have a seat. Have a seat.
What do you guys think of our new DNC
chair? (Applause.) Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
We are so thrilled to have her. You want Debbie on your
side. (Applause.) She's a mom, she's got that cute
smile and all that, but she is tough. Don't mess with
Debbie. (Laughter.) We are so glad of her
leadership.
I know that a lot of folks have already been acknowledged.
I want to make sure to mention resident commissioner Pedro
Pierluisi of Puerto Rico. Where is he? Pedro, are
you still here? There he is right there. (Applause.)
Adrienne Arsht, thank you so much for everything that you've
done for the civic life in Miami. (Applause.) Our Florida
finance chair, Kirk Wager, is here. (Applause.)
Founding co-chair of Gen44, Andrew Korge, is here.
(Applause.) Alonzo Mourning is in the
house.
(Applause.) And, look, he's not from Miami, but he's got
11 championships, so I've got to mention Bill Russell is in the
house. (Applause.) Bill
Russell -- greatest champion of all time in team sports in North
America right here. (Applause.)
It is wonderful to be back. Many of you I've known for a
very long time, some of you I'm getting a chance to see for the
first time. And it got me thinking back to election night
two and a half years ago, in Grant Park. It was a
beautiful night in Chicago, and everybody was feeling pretty
good who had supported me. And it was an incredibly
hopeful time. And you will recall -- maybe you won't but
I'm going to remind you -- (laughter) -- I said, this is not the
end, this is the beginning. This is the beginning.
Because what I said to the American people that night was that
for almost a decade too many Americans had felt as if the
American Dream was slipping away. We had seen economic
growth and corporate profits and a stock market that had gone
up, but there were too many folks who were struggling each and
every day, working as hard as they could, being responsible for
their families, being responsible to their communities, but
somehow they just couldn’t keep up. Wages and incomes had
flat-lined, even though the cost of everything from health care
to college tuitions to gas had all skyrocketed.
Around the world, the impression of America as a preeminent
force for good had lost sway. We were in the midst of two
wars. We didn’t seem to be able to tackle challenges that had
confronted us for decades -- didn’t have an energy plan that was
worthy of the greatness of America; didn’t have an immigration
system that would allow us to be a nation of laws and a nation
of immigrants; had a school system in which we had no longer --
we were no longer at the top and weren’t preparing our young
people to meet the challenges and demands of the 21st century
global interdependent economy.
And so when I started the race for
President, what I said to all of you was, if you’re looking for
easy answers, you’re looking in the wrong place. If you’re
looking for just a bunch of partisan rhetoric, I’m probably not
your guy. But if you want to join me on this journey,, to
make sure that America is living up to its ideals, if you wanted
to reclaim the that sense that in America anything is possible
if we’re willing to work for it, and if you wanted to see if we
could get beyond some of the politics of the past and point
towards the future, then I wanted you to be a part of this
process. And so all that culminated in Grant Park that
night.
But then I said, you know what, this
just gives us the opportunity to do what’s possible. This
is not the end state. I didn't run for President just to
be President. (Applause.) I ran for President to do
things -- to do big things, to do hard things.
What we didn't know at the time -- I
said this is going to be a steep climb to get to where we want
to go, to achieve that summit. We didn't know how steep
that climb was going to be because what we now know was we were
already in the midst of what would turn out to be the worst
recession since the Great Depression -- came this close to a
financial meltdown that would have spun the global financial
system out of control.
We lost 4 million jobs in the six
months before I was sworn in, and we’d lose another 4 [million]
before any of our economic initiatives had a chance to take
effect. And all the challenges that ordinary families,
working families, middle-class families had been feeling for
years were suddenly compounded. Folks were losing their
jobs, losing their homes, didn't know what the future held.
And so we’ve spent the last two and a
half years trying to heal this country, trying to mend what was
broken. And with the help of people like Debbie and Pedro,
we’ve made enormous strides. With the help of you, we have
made enormous strides. I mean, think about it. An
economy that was contracting is now growing. An economy
that was shedding millions of jobs, we’ve seen over 2 million
jobs created in the last 15 months, in the private sector.
(Applause.) The financial system stabilized. And
some of the decisions that we made were not popular.
Everybody acts now like, well, yeah, that was easy.
(Laughter.) Think about it.
Just think for a moment about the U.S. auto industry. We
were on the verge of the liquidation of two of the three big
automakers in the United States -- Chrysler and GM. Now,
there’s been some revisionist history that’s been offered lately
about, well, they might have survived without our help -- except
nobody at GM or Chrysler believes that. They were going to
break that up and sell off the spare parts. And as a
consequence, you would have seen a million people -- suppliers,
dealerships -- all gone, in the midst of this incredible
hardship that people were already experiencing.
(Applause.) And we made tough decisions and we made the
right decisions. And now we’ve got the big three
automakers -- (applause) -- all profitable, all increasing
market share, hiring back workers.
And we didn’t forget the promises that we had made during the
campaign. We said we wanted to make sure that once again
America would have the highest proportion of college graduates
in the world. And so in pursuit of that goal, we said
let’s stop subsidizing big banks as middlemen on the student
loan program. (Applause.) Let’s take back billions
of dollars and give it directly to young people so that millions
of children -- a million of our kids are going to be able to go
to college without $100,000 or $200,000 worth of debt.
We said we’re going to start building a genuine clean energy
industry in this country, and made the largest investment in
clean energy in our history. And we did that. We
said that we’d begin the process of rebuilding our
infrastructure in this country, and made the largest investment
rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports since
Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s,
putting hundreds of thousands of people to work all across
America, doing the work that needs to be done.
We said we had to finally, after generations, deal with the
travesty of the richest nation on Earth having people who went
bankrupt because they went sick and couldn’t afford to provide
health care to their families -- (applause) -- and we passed a
historic health care law that is going to make sure that
everybody in this country can get health care and is going to
help drive prices down on health care in the bargain.
(Applause.) We promised we’d do that, and we did it.
Oh, and along the way, we did a few
other things, like pass equal pay for equal work
legislation. (Applause.) And make sure that never
again will you be barred from serving your country in uniform
just because of the person that you love.
(Applause.) And we appointed two women to the Supreme
Court, one of them the first Latina in our history.
(Applause.) And we expanded national service so that our
young people would know what it means to give back to this
country. (Applause.)
And we passed financial regulatory
reform so that not only would we not see a reprise of the
financial shenanigans that had gone on before, but we’d actually
have a consumer bureau that would be able to look after folks
when they take out credit cards and they take out mortgages, so
that they wouldn’t be cheated. (Applause.)
And on the international front, we said
we would end the war in Iraq -- and we have ended combat
operations in Iraq and will be bringing our troops home this
year. (Applause.) And we said that we would start
refocusing our efforts in Afghanistan, and especially go after
al Qaeda -- and we went after al Qaeda and we’re going after al
Qaeda -- (applause) -- and beginning the transition process so
that Afghans can take responsibility for their security.
And in the meantime, we dealt with a
few other things -- like pirates. (Laughter.) And
pandemic and oil spills. So there were a few other things
that kept us occupied.
And I describe all this not for us to
be complacent, but for all of us to remember that as hard as
these battles have been, as much resistance as we’ve gotten, as
much as the political debate has been distorted at times, that
our basic premise -- the idea that when we put our minds to it,
there’s nothing America can’t do -- that's been proven.
(Applause.) That's been borne out. We have the
evidence. We’ve brought about amazing change over the last
two and a half years.
And we couldn’t have done it without
you. We couldn’t -- we could not --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Keep your
promise, stop AIDS now!
THE PRESIDENT: That's all
right. That's all right. We’re good. We’re
good.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Hold up.
Hold up.
So -- now, here’s the thing. The reason we’re here today
is because our work is not done. (Applause.) For all
the progress we’ve made, our work is not complete. We’re
not at the summit. We just -- we’re just partway up the
mountain. There’s more to do. There is more to
do.
We still don't have the kind of energy policy that America needs
-- and all of you experience that at the pump each and every
day. Our economy is still vulnerable to the spot oil
market and us having to import billions of dollars, when we
could be not only producing more energy right here at home, but
we could be producing energy that's clean and renewable and what
would ensure that we could pass on the kind of planet to the
next generation that all of us long for. (Applause.)
We know that we’re not done when it
comes to issues like immigration reform. I was down here
at Miami Dade -- (applause) -- an amazing institution that
embodies what America is all about. Young people who can
trace their heritage to 181 different countries were
represented. (Applause.) And some of you who may not
be familiar with the ceremony, what they do is they bring out
the flags of each country where somebody can trace their
roots. And everybody cheers. The Cuban flag comes up
and everybody goes crazy. (Applause.) The Jamaican
flag comes up and everybody is hooting and hollering.
(Applause.) See, sort of just like this.
But then there’s one flag that comes
up, and that is the American flag, and everybody explodes --
(applause) -- because that’s the essence of who we are.
Out of many, one. But we don’t have a system that reflects
those values. It is still an issue that’s exploited,
that’s used to divide instead of bringing people together.
We’ve got more work to do.
We’ve got more work to do when it comes
to rebuilding the infrastructure of this country. We’ve
got a couple of trillion dollars worth of work that needs to be
done. We were at a Jobs Council meeting up in North
Carolina and the chairman of Southwest, the CEO of Southwest, he
explained how because our air traffic control system is so
archaic, we probably waste about 15 percent of fuel because
planes are having to go this way and that. The whole
system was designed back in the 1930s before you even had things
like GPS. But think about -- what’s true for the airlines
industry is true for our roads, it’s true for our ports, it’s
true for our airports, it’s true for our power system.
We’ve got more work to do.
We’ve made incredible progress on
education, helping students to finance their college educations,
but we still don’t have enough engineers. We still don’t
have enough scientists. We still lag behind other
countries when it comes to training our young people for the
jobs, the high-skilled jobs that are going to provide high wages
and allow them to support a family.
But we’ve made incredible progress K through 12 with something
we call Race to the Top, which basically says -- (applause) --
to school districts and to states, you reform the system and we
will show you the money, and so providing incentives. And
40 states across the country have made critical reforms as a
consequence to this program. But we still have schools
where half the kids drop out. We still consign too many of
our young people to lives of desperation and despair.
We’ve got more work to do.
And we’ve got so much work to do on our economy. We’ve got
so much more work to do on our economy. Every night I get
letters. We get about 40,000 pieces of mail at the
White House every
day, and I ask my team to select 10 letters for me to read that
are representative of what people are feeling out there.
And I will tell you these really are representative, because
about half of them call me an idiot. (Laughter.) And
-- but most of the stories are just some ordinary folks who have
done the right thing, have worked hard all their lives.
Some of them are small business owners who have poured their
savings into a venture, and then when the recession hit they
lost everything, and now they’re trying to get back on their
feet.
You get letters from moms who are trying to figure out how to
pay their bills at the end of the month, and they’re going back
to school while they’re working to see if they can retrain for a
better job. Sometimes you get folks who have sent out 100
resumes and haven’t gotten a response, and are trying to
describe what it’s like to tell your child than nobody wants to
hire you. Sometimes you get a letter from a kid who says, my
parents are about to lose my home -- Mr. President, is there
something you can do to help?
And in all those stories, what you see is incredible resilience
and incredible stick-to-itiveness, and a sense on the part of
people that no matter how down they are, they’re not out. And
they don’t expect government to solve all their problems.
All they’re looking for is that somebody cares and that we’re
doing everything we can, trying every idea to make sure that
this economy is moving. And they don’t understand how it
is that good ideas get caught up in partisan politics, and why
is it that people seem to be arguing all the time instead of
trying to do the people’s business.
So we’ve got more work to do --
investing in our education system and making sure that --
(applause) -- making sure that our infrastructure is built and
we’re putting people back to work, and helping the housing
market recover, and dealing with our budget in a way that allows
us to once again live within our means but doing so in a way
that is consistent with our values.
You know, this budget debate that we’re
having in Washington right now, it’s not just about
numbers. It’s about values. It’s about what we
believe and who we are as a people. The easiest thing to
do to balance a budget is you just slash and burn and you cut
and you don’t worry about the consequences. But that’s not
who we are. We’re better than that.
(Applause.)
I don’t want to live in a country where we’re no longer helping
young people go to college, and so your fate is basically
determined by where you were born and your circumstances.
If that were the case, I wouldn’t be standing here today.
I don't want to live in a country where we no longer believe
that we can build the best airports or the best rail
systems. I don't want to live in a country where we’re no
longer investing in basic research and science so that we’re at
the cutting edge of technology. I don't want to live in a
country where we are abandoning our commitment to the most
vulnerable among us -- the disabled, our seniors -- making sure
that they’ve got a basic safety net so that they can live with
dignity and respect in their golden years. (Applause.)
And so here’s the -- the good news is
that we can bring down our deficit and we can work down our
debt, and we can do so the same way families all across America
do, by prioritizing and deciding what’s important to us.
So we’re going to have to scrub the federal budget and get rid
of every program that doesn't work, and get rid of every
regulation that is outdated. And we’ve got to make sure
that we build on all the tax cuts that we’ve provided to small
businesses and to individuals over the last couple years so that
they’re getting back on their feet.
But we’ve also got to make sure that
whatever sacrifices we make, whatever burdens are borne are
spread among all of us; that we’re not just doing it on the
backs of the poor; that we’re not just doing it on the backs of
our seniors; that we’re not just doing it on the backs of the
most vulnerable. (Applause.)
And the other side say, well, you know
what, we can just cut and cut and cut and cut -- and by the way,
you, Mr. President, since you’ve been so lucky, we’re going to
give you a $200,000 tax break. I’d love to have a tax
break. I don’t like paying taxes -- I’m the
President. (Laughter.) This notion somehow that I
enjoy paying taxes or administering taxes, that makes no
sense. Nothing is better for a politician than saying, you
know what, forget about it, you will have everything you need
and everything this country needs and you don’t have to pay for
a thing.
But, you know what, I don’t want a
$200,000 tax break if it means that 33 seniors are each going to
have to pay $6,000 more a year for their Medicare.
(Applause.) I don’t want that. I don’t want a tax
break if it means hundreds of kids won’t be able to go to Head
Start. (Applause.) That’s not a tradeoff I’m willing
to make. That’s not a tradeoff most of Americans are
willing to make. That’s not who we are. That’s not
what we believe in.
And the reason I’m not willing to make
a tradeoff, it’s not out of charity. It’s because my life
is better when I know, as I’m driving by a school, you know
what, those kids in there, they’ve got the best teachers,
they’ve got the best equipment -- I know that they’re going to
succeed. That makes me feel better about my life and about
my country. (Applause.)
And if I’m seeing an elderly couple stroll by holding hands --
and I’m saying to myself, you know, that’s going to be Michelle
and me in a few years -- and I know that whatever their
circumstances, I know they’ve got Social Security and they’ve
got Medicare that they can count on, that makes my life
better. That makes my life richer. (Applause.)
So that's what this campaign is going
to be about. It’s going to be about values. It’s the
same thing that the 2008 campaign was about: What's
important to you? Who are we? What is it about
America that makes us so proud?
When I think about why our campaign
drew so much excitement, it was because it tapped into those
essential things that bind us together. I look out at this
auditorium, and I see people from every walk of life, every age,
every demographic -- but there’s something that binds us
together, that says this is what makes our country so
special.
And that's what’s at stake. That's the journey that we’re
on. And the only way that we stay on track, the only way
that we continue that journey is if all of you are
involved. Because what also made the campaign special was
it wasn’t about me -- it was never about me -- it was about
us. It was about you. (Applause.) It was about
you being willing to be involved, and you being willing to be
engaged. Because that's also what makes America special --
ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Now, two and a half years have passed
since that night in Grant Park, and I’ve got a lot more gray
hair. (Laughter.) And what seemed so fresh and new,
now -- we’ve seen Obama so many times on TV, and we know all his
quirks and all his tics and he’s been poked apart. And
there’s some of you who probably have felt at times during the
last two and a half years, gosh, why isn’t this happening
faster? Why isn’t this easier? Why are we
struggling? And why didn’t health care get done
quicker? And why didn’t we get the public option?
(Laughter and applause.) And what -- I know the
conversation you guys are having. (Laughter.) "I’m
not feeling as hopeful as I was." And I understand
that. There have been frustrations, and I’ve got some
dings to show for it over the last two and half years.
But I never said this was going to be
easy. This is a democracy. It’s a big country and a
diverse country. And our political process is messy.
Yes, you don’t always get 100 percent of what you want, and you
make compromises. That’s how the system was
designed. But what I hope all of you still feel is that
for all the frustrations, for all the setbacks, for all the
occasional stumbles, that what motivates us, what we most deeply
cherish, that that’s still within reach. That it’s still
possible to bring about extraordinary change. That it’s
still possible to make sure that the America we pass down to our
kids and our grandkids is a better America than the one we
inherited. (Applause.) I’m confident about that. I
believe in that, because I believe in you.
And so I’m glad you guys came to the
rally. But just like in 2008, if we want to bring about
the change we believe in, we’re going to have to get to
work. You’re going to have to make phone calls.
(Applause.) You’re going to have to knock on doors.
You’re going to have to talk to all your friends and all your
neighbors, and you’re going to have to talk to the
naysayers. And you’re going to have to go out there and
say: We’ve got more work to do. And if they tell
you, I don’t know, I’m not sure, I’m not convinced -- you just
remind them of those three words that captured this campaign,
captured the last campaign and will capture the 2012
campaign: Yes, we can.
Thank you, Miami. God bless
you. (Applause.) God bless the United States of
America.
END
8:20 P.M. EDT