Transcript of Barack Obama's Speech

Complete Text Of Illinois Senator's Speech Announcing His Run For The Democratic Nomination

(CBS)  For that is our unyielding faith — that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. Because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people — as Americans.

All of us know what those challenges are today — a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.

What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics — the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle the big problems of America.

For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told that climate change is a hoax, we've been told that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happened, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.

And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, the lobbyists, the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that kind of politics is over. It is through. It's time to turn the page right here and right now.

Now look, we have made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.

But Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes that we need, more money and programs alone will not get us to where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility — for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.

Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America. We can do that.

And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. Let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again. We can do that.

Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids can have a safe place to go when they work. We can do this.

[luciatol]

If I am not mistaken, Obama's last words-- after "Let's get to work" were "I love you," directed toward the crowd and presumably the American electorate. This is a very different sentiment than that with which other Presidential candidates are ending their speeches. If those were indeed Obama's words, shouldn't they be included in the transcript (and hopefully repeated)?

[luciatol]

If I am not mistaken, Obama's last words-- after "Let's get to work" were "I love you," directed toward the crowd and presumably the American electorate. This is a very different sentiment than that with which other Presidential candidates are ending their speeches. If those were indeed Obama's words, shouldn't they be included in the transcript (and hopefully repeated)?

[ausguy-2009]

Many, many people outside America worry about the direction that your politics are taking you, the aggression towards all non-Americans, the eagerness to use violence to try (very unsuccessfully) to solve the middle east situation. It would be a great day if we could finally look at your country with pride and respect and think "I'm glad those guys are on our side". I think Senator Obama may actually be the man to start that process.

[mtb0220]

It is inspiring to listen to a politician saying what's on his mind & telling the truth as he sees it rather than addressing America in party-speak slogans. I trust this man and appreciate his freshness and honesty, and I hear in his voice a deep respect fot the average American voter.

I'm a 60 year old white woman from the south who grew up in a segregated America. I cannot tell you how proud I am of my country to see the change that makes it possible for Senator Obama to be a serious Presidental candidate.