Obama Begins Train Tour

By: Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics: White House

Complete Inaugural Coverage

(CBS)

President-elect Barack Obama has kicked off his Inauguration weekend at Philadelphia's 30th St. train station.

In a speech, Mr. Obama said he is beginning his "journey to Washington" in Philadelphia because that is where the nation was founded 200 years ago.

"We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began," he said. "The trials we face are very different now, but severe in their own right. Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast. An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil.

"And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives - from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry - an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels."

Mr. Obama now heads on a whistle stop train ride from Philadelphia to Washington, with major stops in Wilmington, Del. (where he will pick up Vice President-elect Joe Biden) and Baltimore, Md.

Stay with Hotsheet and CBSNews.com for updates all day on the train trip.

Mr. Obama's full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:

We are here to mark the beginning of our journey to Washington. This is fitting because it was here, in this city, that our American journey began. It was here that a group of farmers and lawyers, merchants and soldiers, gathered to declare their independence and lay claim to a destiny that they were being denied.

It was a risky thing, meeting as they did in that summer of 1776. There was no guarantee that their fragile experiment would find success. More than once in those early years did the odds seem insurmountable. More than once did the fishermen, laborers, and craftsmen who called themselves an army face the prospect of defeat.

And yet, they were willing to put all they were and all they had on the line - their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor - for a set of ideals that continue to light the world. That we are equal. That our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness come not from our laws, but from our maker. And that a government of, by, and for the people can endure. It was these ideals that led us to declare independence, and craft our constitution, producing documents that were imperfect but had within them, like our nation itself, the capacity to be made more perfect.

We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began. The trials we face are very different now, but severe in their own right. Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast. An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil.

And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives - from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry - an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels.

That is the reason I launched my campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago. I did so in the belief that the most fundamental American ideal, that a better life is in store for all those willing to work for it, was slipping out of reach. That Washington was serving the interests of the few, not the many. And that our politics had grown too small for the scale of the challenges we faced.

But I also believed something else. I believed that our future is our choice, and that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, north, south, east and west, black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to leave for Washington on a trip that you made possible, know that I will not be traveling alone. I will be taking with me some of the men and women I met along the way, Americans from every corner of this country, whose hopes and heartaches were the core of our cause; whose dreams and struggles have become my own.

Theirs are the voices I will carry with me every day in the White House. Theirs are the stories I will be thinking of when we deliver the changes you elected me to make. When Americans are returning to work and sleeping easier at night knowing their jobs are secure, I will be thinking of people like Mark Dowell, who's worried his job at Ford will be the next one cut, a devastating prospect with the teenage daughters he has back home.

When affordable health care is no longer something we hope for, but something we can count on, I will be thinking of working moms like Shandra Jackson, who was diagnosed with an illness, and is now burdened with higher medical bills on top of child care for her eleven year-old son.

When we are welcoming back our loved ones from a war in Iraq that we've brought to an end, I will be thinking of our brave servicemen and women sacrificing around the world, of veterans like Tony Fischer, who served two tours in Iraq, and all those returning home, unable to find a job.

These are the stories that will drive me in the days ahead. They are different stories, told by men and women whose journeys may seem separate. And yet, what you showed me time and again is that no matter who we are or what we look like, no matter where we come from or what faith we practice, we are a people of common hopes and common dreams, who ask only for what was promised us as Americans - that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.

We recognize that such enormous challenges will not be solved quickly. There will be false starts and setbacks, frustrations and disappointments. And we will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency.

But we should never forget that we are the heirs of that first band of patriots, ordinary men and women who refused to give up when it all seemed so improbable; and who somehow believed that they had the power to make the world anew. That is the spirit that we must reclaim today.

For the American Revolution did not end when British guns fell silent. It was never something to be won only on a battlefield or fulfilled only in our founding documents. It was not simply a struggle to break free from empire and declare independence. The American Revolution was - and remains - an ongoing struggle "in the minds and hearts of the people" to live up to our founding creed.

Starting now, let's take up in our own lives the work of perfecting our union.

Let's build a government that is responsible to the people, and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable.

Let's all of us do our part to rebuild this country.

Let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning.

Join me in this effort. Join one another in this effort. And together, mindful of our proud history, hopeful for the future, let's seek a better world in our time. Thank you.

Photos: Inaugural Train Ride
Barack Obama spoke to crowds in Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore in route to Washington D.C. Saturday. The trip retraced the path Abraham Lincoln took to his inauguration. (Photo: AP)

Kevin Hechtkopf
Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
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by McHineguy January 17, 2009 9:21 PM EST: The two aren''''t mutually exclusive Einstein. Ever think that the social change he seeks to affect might be correction for inequality, as you put it.

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Posted by TexHillHole at 02:13 PM : Jan 17, 2009

Not very likely Amadeus, you cant legislate or force equality. You can only protect against inequality. There is a difference But I doubt that someone as friendly as you seem to be will understand it.

The rest of us need to recognize that the US government, with its multiple arms of congress, legislative, and legal branches was designed to NOT cause action but to deter irresponsible action. It is a very clumsy tool to be used for social change and will end up being unfair to us all. Social security will go broke, so will Medicare, and the other stimulus efforts. But we will be left with the debts. Obama should encourage us, lead us and inspire us, but I fear he. along with congress, will end up commanding us to do it his way.; Reply to this comment


by McHineguy January 17, 2009 4:32 PM EST: Very inspiring but also quite frightening. Obama seems to see government as a tool to enact social change, not as a guard to protect us from inequality. As a tool it will pass overbearing laws that have short durability, create its own kind of shortages and even gross innequalities. As a guard, it will enable us to act within fair boundaries to achieve change in our own way, without intervention by the likes of congress and the whims of bureacrats. Our forefathers knew one thing, government should not interfere with freedom, passing laws that tax us, stop us, or even demand that one group adopt the same morals as another is not freedom. Its a return to colonialism. Only its origin is in Washington, not England.; Reply to this comment


by b4ucmyi January 17, 2009 4:10 PM EST: No mention of the trillion dollar deficits he intends to ring up year after year? How''d that get left out?; Reply to this comment


by flreason January 17, 2009 4:07 PM EST: editorCBS:

Obama doesn''t have to mention his African roots because he has thoroughly explored them...read his book. He could have chosen to hold onto anger and hurt. Instead he chose to make his challenges into opportunities. He has excelled academically, is a dedicated father, and has chosen to be a positive role model. He has chosen for his own role models people as diverse as his own heritage. He is reaching out across idealogical divides. He has managed to convince many conservatives that he is more than hype. If he can inspire Americans to pull together for our common good, he will be counted among the great Presidents.; Reply to this comment


by nammyohoreng January 17, 2009 4:02 PM EST: Very inspiring. Thank you. We are always in the eternal struggle of humankind of ever-fleeting good to overcome ever-present evil. How we think, how we act determines what part we play in that struggle. At each moment. Even when it seems mundane and inconsequential. Greatness is only the result of many mundane efforts.; Reply to this comment


by flreason January 17, 2009 3:52 PM EST: I have English, Scots, Welsh, Irish, German, French, and Native American in my genetic heritage. Does that mean that I can''t call myself an American? I was born in the U.S., and I support the Constitution of the U.S. The same is true of Barak Obama, no matter what his heritage. Patriotism isn''t about lineage, it''s about morals and ideals, and the willingness to sacrifice to preserve freedoms, even though your color may have afforded you fewer of those freedoms than the majority. Barak Obama can stand next to any of the founding fathers in that respect. It took Benjamin Bannaker to convince Jefferson that skin color doesn''t limit intelligence and dedication to ideals. This election shows that the majority of Americans have finally come to the same conclusion. It''s sad that you are so consumed with prejudice that you can''t recognize idealism, quality, and commitment when you see them.; Reply to this comment


by msimamaji January 17, 2009 3:38 PM EST: Three cheers for Obama. His remarks reveal true leadership.

P.S. Memo editorCBS:
Check out Google, and you''ll learn that Hussein is one of the most common names in the Islamic world. Hussein means both handsome and good. Who wouldn''t want a name like that? editorCBS reveals the same sort of bigotry and ignorance that characterizes the Republican party - particularly the world view of Sarah Palin. It''s one of the BIG reasons I voted for Obama. How can we forge a peace deal in the Middle East when we are so abysmally ignorant of the predominant culture?; Reply to this comment


by centerfall94 January 17, 2009 3:22 PM EST: Why doesnt Hussein mention his 6 african fathers?

Posted by editorCBS at 12:18 PM : Jan 17, 2009

Hon, that''s not Saddam, that''s your family reunion.; Reply to this comment


by flreason January 17, 2009 3:14 PM EST: editorCBS:

First of all Obama isn''t from Kenya...his father was. But even if he were from Kenya, that doesn''t mean that he couldn''t quote Washington, or Jefferson, or even Lincoln. Our founding fathers quoted Plato and Cicero. Do you think the fact that they didn''t live in Greece and Italy made those philosphers ideas off limits to them? Are you so programmed by the neocons and Limbaugh that you spout their racist garbage without actually engaging your brain?; Reply to this comment


by centerfall94 January 17, 2009 2:52 PM EST: WOOHOO!! Three more days until Obama''s inauguration and the exile of the Bush Regime!!!

Gotta love it! It''s obvious the neocons are bitter about it, and you know that has to be a good thing!; Reply to this comment