Obama's Victory Speech

By: Maria Gavrilovic
Topics: Barack Obama

(CBS)

From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- As he boarded the plane in Chicago, a visibly proud Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, already knew that he had clinched the Democratic nomination. A campaign aide emailed his victory speech shortly before taking off for Minneapolis and the first line read, "Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."

On the flight from Chicago to Minneapolis, Obama and his aides brought their friends and family to celebrate the night. David Axelrod, chief strategist to the campaign described the evening as "surreal" and "extraordinary."

"We're going to celebrate tonight and then we're going to wake up tomorrow and start all over again," Axelrod told reporters. "We're not in this simply to break a barrier; we're in this to try and change the country."

Obama chatted with confidant and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett on the flight as well as others, as he smiled and took quick glances at the press. Axelrod told reporters that Obama's mood is happy but steady. "He never gets too high and he never gets too low," Axelrod explained.

Perhaps Obama is wise to remain steady tonight because as he made his short trip to Minneapolis to claim his victory, John McCain was already taking jabs at him in a speech in New Orleans.

Obama later acknowledged that one tough chapter in the election process has closed but that an even tougher chapter is about to begin. "The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations," Obama said tonight at the Xcel Energy Center, the site of this year's Republican National Convention.

Going forward, he promised not to fight a personal battle with his presumptive Republican opponent despite expecting personal shots from McCain. "My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign," Obama said.

"The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division."

Both Obama and his aides are looking forward tonight, and clearly have shifted their focus away from Hillary Clinton. Obama praised her tonight, saying that Clinton has "made history in this campaign" and said the lengthy primary has strengthened the Democratic Party. "Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton," he said.

His aides believe that the process has also made Obama a stronger candidate and their staff a more formidable team. "I feel like we're a tougher group for having gone through this exercise, and we're very well prepared for anything our Republican friends might throw at us."

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by chuckamok June 4, 2008 10:40 PM EDT: With Hill-Bot on the ticket, we''d get to see that wonderful Pub ad - a split screen of her describing that corkscrew landing in Bosnia, sitting on her flak jacket, then dodging sniper fire as she RAN for the limo ... and the footage of the ACTUAL event.

Man, I''m gonna miss that.

;); Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:53 PM EDT: Somebody, please, tell the Obamas to stop clapping for themselves. It''''''''s unpresidential. Leaders of countries politely wave to acknowledge an audience; they don''''''''t join applause that began for them. Standup comics, movie stars and Celine Dion get away with it, but it''''''''s still tacky.

Posted by novelenes at 11:00 AM : Jun 04, 2008

You are an obvious Clinton supporter so your lack of education on this issue is understandable. Here is a clue:

Obama''s platform is change by the people, for the people as in "YES, WE CAN!!!" So.. When the people clapped and congratulated him on his victory, he and Michelle returned the accolades because the victory was not his--it was theirs. Each applauded the other, because without each, this could not have happened. We know the nuance thing is hard for you to understand--guess it would be better if Obama just snapped and snarled and whined and lied and pretended to be something he is not like HRC--but then--that would not have been Obama. This was a night of Ovation, not just for him but for all who believed or wanted to believe in his message. The victory was ours--whereas HRC began by being introduced as the "next President of the United State" Nice concession speech, right up there with Bush''s "Mission accomplished" BS speech. lmao; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:46 PM EDT: Since the black census population in the US is around 13.5 Million that means about 3 million Blacks went to the primary polls. of those, 90% voted for Barack.

That means of his nearly 18 million votes, 15.3 million were Non-Black or about 85%. Feel free to check my math.

Posted by omaar-101 at 12:40 PM : Jun 04, 2008

The black population census is approximately 32 million to date with Hispanics at over 48 million. The black population make up less than 13% of the voting electorate and if 21% of that number voted, it would have been about 6 million votes, the remaining 12+ million would be other races for Obama.; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT: Somebody, please, tell the Obamas to stop clapping for themselves. It''''s unpresidential. Leaders of countries politely wave to acknowledge an audience; they don''''t join applause that began for them. Standup comics, movie stars and Celine Dion get away with it, but it''''s still tacky.

Posted by novelenes at 11:00 AM : Jun 04, 2008

LOL. WRONG--being petty in a most glorious moment is tacky---try the big picture Sparky--everyone including the candidate and his rivals should be clapping, this was truly historic--try to let go of your petty, shallow observances--even if just for a few minutes. LOL; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:42 PM EDT: afsc30574 - What about Sen. Obama''''s landslide victory in Iowa, a state that is 98% white? I get so sick of hearing that the white population is not supporting Obama....it''''s simply SPIN, nothing more.

Posted by gocubs58 at 10:36 AM : Jun 04, 2008

Blacks only make up 13% of the electorate and according to records, only about 55% of blacks eligible to vote actually voted. The majority of Obama''s support came from Whites and other nonblacks. As was shown today on Msnbc, the actual demographic breakdown shows Obama netting way more states than Hillary and most were almost all white states. He did get the majority of votes that blacks gave out but the majority of his support was from all races. Obama beat out Clinton in Iowa, Montana, Oregon, etc and came close to beating her in Indiana. Clinton carried primarily the northeast and the border states--but Pundits point out, that according to polls, Clinton could NOT carry California today if the elections were held in June as usual.; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:37 PM EDT: You cannot PUSH DEMOCRACY.

Posted by gaby43 at 07:32 AM : Jun 04, 2008

Gee, Hillary should have remembered THAT before she lied and reneged on her pledges against Florida and Michigan--and she should remember it now, when she wants to force Obama to let her be on his ticket or else.; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso12 June 4, 2008 7:34 PM EDT: He also needs to tap Hillary for VP.

Posted by james-raider at 02:37 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Save it--nobody wants the *** of the year as VP. Her on the ticket will make his campaign of change a lie--and despite the lie of friendship Hillary says--Hillary is not liked or wanted. She is divisive, she lies, she is dishonest, she reneges on promises, she changes the rules, she injects divisions about race and gender--and then there are her real negatives and liabilities.

She is a drag that he could not overcome, because based on the eternal screwww around of her on the DNC and Obama and the threat to "select her as VP or else" Obama could never articulate how he planned on reigning her in and controlling her.

The Republicans would paint him as a token and the presidency as Hillary and Bill Clinton--then you''d see all the Independents (or most) leave. After that, the GOP would replay the racist innunendo of Bill and Hill and their staff--then you''d see blacks either leave or stay home--finally Hillary would get the same votes Ferraro got when she ran with Mondale--only the faithful, which might translate into 13 to 50 electoral votes out of a possible 500+.

She killed herself long ago--now as a rotting corpse--she expects Obama and his to breathe life back into her and her debt ridden campaign. NO!!! NEVER!! If Obama does it, he truly will lose.; Reply to this comment


by PacificGatePost June 4, 2008 5:37 PM EDT: OBAMA''S DISTURBING TREND

If he wants to get to the White House, Obama needs to reverse his current trend as he heads into battle with McCain.

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/06/concern-for-obamas-down-trend.html

He also needs to tap Hillary for VP.; Reply to this comment


by omaar-101 June 4, 2008 3:43 PM EDT: Posted by novelenes: Tell Clinton to Accept Defeat, with Grace, Dignity & Self Respect.

My Bad, Its Too Late For That Now !!

Last Night, She Screwed that up as Well !!; Reply to this comment


by omaar-101 June 4, 2008 3:40 PM EDT: Note: Um actually its White America that DOES want him to be President, if Whites did''nt, the 13 Million Blacks in this country could''nt get him past the Front Door in Iowa let alone winning the nomination.

Barack Obama appeals to a Very Wide Demographic, that''s why he''s wining. He won handily in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa all Very White States.

As much as some would like to make this a Black vs White thing, it really is not.

The fact that the majority of Obama supporters are White bears that out.

Total black turnout has been 21.4% according to

www.fivethirtyeight.com

Since the black census population in the US is around 13.5 Million that means about 3 million Blacks went to the primary polls. of those, 90% voted for Barack.

That means of his nearly 18 million votes, 15.3 million were Non-Black or about 85%. Feel free to check my math.; Reply to this comment