Here is the video clip of Barack
Obama's Keynote Address, with a brief
introduction from presidential historian Richard Norton
Smith.
Scroll down for the transcript.
It follows the transcript of
Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama's Keynote
Address at the Democratic National Convention, delivered at
Boston, Massachusetts, on July 27, 2004.
Thank you, thank
you so much.
Thank you, Dick
Durbin, you make us all proud.
On behalf of the great state of Illinois,
crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me
express my deep gratitude for the privilege of
addressing this convention. Tonight is a
particular honor for me because, let's face it,
my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My
father was a foreign student, born and raised in
a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding
goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His
father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic
servant.
But my grandfather had larger dreams for his
son.
Through hard work
and perseverance my father got a scholarship to
study in a magical place: America, which stood
as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so
many who had come before. While studying here,
my father met my mother. She was born in a town
on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her
father worked on oil rigs and farms through most
of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he
signed up for duty, joined Patton's army and
marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother
raised their baby and went to work on a bomber
assembly line. After the war, they studied on
the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and
moved west in search of opportunity.
And they, too, had big dreams for their
daughter, a common dream, born of two
continents. My parents shared not only an
improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in
the possibilities of this nation. They would
give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed,"
believing that in a tolerant America your name
is no barrier to success. They imagined me going
to the best schools in the land, even though
they weren't rich, because in a generous America
you don't have to be rich to achieve your
potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I
know that, on this night, they look down on me
with pride.
I stand here today, grateful for the diversity
of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams
live on in my precious daughters. I stand here
knowing that my story is part of the larger
American story, that I owe a debt to all of
those who came before me, and that, in no other
country on earth, is my story even possible.
Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of
our nation, not because of the height of our
skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or
the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a
very simple premise, summed up in a declaration
made over two hundred years ago, "We hold these
truths to he self-evident, that all men are
created equal. That they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights. That
among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness."
That is the true genius of America, a faith in
the simple dreams of its people, the insistence
on small miracles. That we can tuck in our
children at night and know they are fed and
clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what
we think, write what we think, without hearing a
sudden knock on the door. That we can have an
idea and start our own business without paying a
bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can
participate in the political process without
fear of retribution, and that our votes will he
counted - or at least, most of the time.
This year, in this election, we are called to
reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold
them against a hard reality and see how we are
measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers,
and the promise of future generations. And
fellow Americans - Democrats, Republicans,
Independents - I say to you tonight: we have
more work to do. More to do for the workers I
met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their
union jobs at the Maytag plant that's moving to
Mexico, and now are having to compete with their
own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an
hour. More to do for the father I met who was
losing his job and choking back tears, wondering
how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs
his son needs without the health benefits he
counted on. More to do for the young woman in
East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who
has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but
doesn't have the money to go to college.
Don't get me wrong. The people I meet in small
towns and big cities, in diners and office
parks, they don't expect government to solve all
their problems. They know they have to work hard
to get ahead and they want to. Go into the
collar counties around Chicago, and people will
tell you they don't want their tax money wasted
by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any
inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you
that government alone can't teach kids to learn.
They know that parents have to parent, that
children can't achieve unless we raise their
expectations and turn off the television sets
and eradicate the slander that says a black
youth with a book is acting white.
No, people don't
expect government to solve all their problems.
But they sense, deep in their bones, that with
just a change in priorities, we can make sure
that every child in America has a decent shot at
life, and that the doors of opportunity remain
open to all. They know we can do better. And
they want that choice.
In this election, we offer that choice. Our
party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies
the best this country has to offer. That man is
John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of
community, faith, and sacrifice, because they've
defined his life. From his heroic service in
Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and
lieutenant governor, through two decades in the
United States Senate, he has devoted himself to
this country. Again and again, we've seen him
make tough choices when easier ones were
available. His values and his record affirm what
is best in us.
John Kerry believes in an America where hard
work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax
breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas,
he'll offer them to companies creating jobs here
at home. John Kerry believes in an America where
all Americans can afford the same health
coverage our politicians in Washington have for
themselves. John Kerry believes in energy
independence, so we aren't held hostage to the
profits of oil companies or the sabotage of
foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the
constitutional freedoms that have made our
country the envy of the world, and he will never
sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a
wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that
in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but
it should never he the first option.
A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at
the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a
good-looking kid, six-two or six-three,
clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd
joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the
following week. As I listened to him explain why
he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country
and its leaders, his devotion to duty and
service, I thought this young man was all any of
us might hope for in a child. But then I asked
myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was
serving us?
I thought of more
than 900 service men and women, sons and
daughters, husbands and wives, friends and
neighbors, who will not be returning to their
hometowns. I thought of families I had met who
were struggling to get by without a loved one's
full income, or whose loved ones had returned
with a limb missing or with nerves shattered,
but who still lacked long-term health benefits
because they were reservists.
When we send our
young men and women into harm's way, we have a
solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or
shade the truth about why they're going, to care
for their families while they're gone, to tend
to the soldiers upon their return, and to never
ever go to war without enough troops to win the
war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of
the world.
Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the
world. These enemies must be found. They must be
pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry
knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not
hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who
served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will
not hesitate one moment to use our military
might to keep America safe and secure. John
Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not
enough for just some of us to prosper. For
alongside our famous individualism, there's
another ingredient in the American saga.
A belief that we are connected as one people. If
there's a child on the south side of Chicago who
can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not
my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere
who can't pay for her prescription and has to
choose between medicine and the rent, that makes
my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother.
If there's an Arab American family being rounded
up without benefit of an attorney or due
process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's
that fundamental belief - I am my brother's
keeper, I am my sister's keeper - that makes
this country work. It's what allows us to pursue
our individual dreams, yet still come together
as a single American family. "E pluribus unum."
Out of many, one.
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are
preparing to divide us, the spin masters and
negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of
anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight,
there's not a liberal America and a conservative
America - there's the United States of America.
There's not a black America and white America
and Latino America and Asian America; there's
the United States of America. The pundits like
to slice-and-dice our country into Red States
and Blue States; Red States for Republicans,
Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for
them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue
States, and we don't like federal agents poking
around our libraries in the Red States. We coach
Little League in the Blue States and have gay
friends in the Red States. There are patriots
who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who
supported it. We are one people, all of us
pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes,
all of us defending the United States of
America.
In the end, that's what this election is about.
Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a
politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to
hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not
talking about blind optimism here - the almost
willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will
go away if we just don't talk about it, or the
health care crisis will solve itself if we just
ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more
substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting
around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of
immigrants setting out for distant shores; the
hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely
patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a
millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the
hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who
believes that America has a place for him, too.
The audacity of hope!
In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us,
the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things
not seen; the belief that there are better days
ahead. I believe we can give our middle class
relief and provide working families with a road
to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to
the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim
young people in cities across America from
violence and despair. I believe that as we stand
on the crossroads of history, we can make the
right choices, and meet the challenges that face
us. America!
Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the
same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the
same hopefulness I do - if we do what we must
do, then I have no doubt that all across the
country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington
to Maine, the people will rise up in November,
and John Kerry will be sworn in as president,
and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice
president, and this country will reclaim its
promise, and out of this long political darkness
a brighter day will come.
Also called the
Persian Wars, the Greco-Persian Wars were
fought for almost half a century from 492 BC -
449 BC. Greece won against enormous odds. Here
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