Barack Obama: To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation.
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for presidency of the United States .
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates whoaccompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled thefarthest -- a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to mydaughters and yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President BillClinton, who made last night the case for change as only he can makeit; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the nextvice president of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I amgrateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of ourtime, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductorson the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.
Tothe love of my life, our next first lady, Michelle Obama, and to Maliaand Sasha -- I love you so much, and I'm so proud of you.
Fouryears ago, I stood before you and told you my story -- of the briefunion between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas whoweren't well off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America,their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
Itis that promise that has always set this country apart -- that throughhard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreamsbut still come together as one American family, to ensure that the nextgeneration can pursue their dreams as well.
That'swhy I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment whenthat promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women -- students andsoldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found thecourage to keep it alive.
Wemeet at one of those defining moments -- a moment when our nation is atwar, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has beenthreatened once more.
Tonight,more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your homevalues plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, creditcard bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond yourreach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America , we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio , on the brink ofretirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.
We'rea better country than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up theequipment he's worked on for 20 years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep onour streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight,I say to the people of America , to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land -- enough! This moment -- this election -- is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota , the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask thiscountry for a third. And we are here because we love this country toomuch to let the next four years look just like the last eight. OnNovember 4, we must stand up and say: 'Eight is enough.'
Nowlet there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has wornthe uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for thatwe owe him our gratitude and our respect. And next week, we'll alsohear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidencethat he can deliver the change that we need.
Butthe record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percentof the time. Sen. McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, whatdoes it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has beenright more than 90 percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'mnot ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.
Thetruth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in yourlives -- on health care and education and the economy -- Sen. McCainhas been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made'great progress' under this president. He said that the fundamentals ofthe economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers -- the manwho wrote his economic plan -- was talking about the anxieties thatAmericans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a'mental recession,' and that we've become, and I quote, 'a nation ofwhiners.'
Anation of whiners? Tell that to the proud autoworkers at a Michiganplant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up everyday and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were peoplewho counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the militaryfamilies who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their lovedones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These arenot whiners. They work hard and they give back and they keep goingwithout complaint. These are the Americans I know.
Now,I don't believe that Sen. McCain doesn't care what's going on in thelives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would hedefine middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year? How elsecould he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for bigcorporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to morethan 100 million Americans? How else could he offer a health care planthat would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan thatwould do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that wouldprivatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
Forover two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republicanphilosophy -- give more and more to those with the most and hope thatprosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington , they callthis the Ownership Society, but what it really means is that you're onyour own. Out of work? Tough luck. You're on your own. No health care?The market will fix it. You're on your own. Born into poverty? Pullyourself up by your own bootstraps -- even if you don't have boots. Youare on your own.
Wellit's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to changeAmerica . And that's why I'm running for president of the United States.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
Wemeasure progress by how many people can find a job that pays themortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end ofeach month so you can someday watch your child receive her collegediploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that werecreated when Bill Clinton was president -- when the average Americanfamily saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000 like ithas under George Bush.
Wemeasure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaireswe have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone witha good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether thewaitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look after a sick kidwithout losing her job -- an economy that honors the dignity of work.
Thefundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we areliving up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great-- a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Becausein the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq andAfghanistan , I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor ,marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation withthe chance to go to college on the GI Bill.
Inthe face of that young student who sleeps just three hours beforeworking the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister andme on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turnedto food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in thecountry with the help of student loans and scholarships.
WhenI listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, Iremember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago I stoodby and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
Andwhen I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her ownbusiness or making her way in the world, I think about my grandmother,who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management,despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was awoman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one whoput off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I couldhave a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And althoughshe can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and thattonight is her night as well.
Now,I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebritieslead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are thestories that shaped my life. And it is on behalf of them that I intendto win this election and keep our promise alive as president of theUnited States .
What is that American promise?
It'sa promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own liveswhat we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each otherwith dignity and respect.
It'sa promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation andgenerate growth, but that businesses should live up to theirresponsibilities to create American jobs, to look out for Americanworkers, and play by the rules of the road.
Oursis a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, butwhat it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protectus from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our waterclean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads andscience and technology.
Ourgovernment should work for us, not against us. It should help us, nothurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the mostmoney and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That'sthe promise of America -- the idea that we are responsible forourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamentalbelief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.
That'sthe promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. Solet me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president.
Changemeans a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, butthe American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Youknow, unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporationsthat ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies thatcreate good jobs right here in America.
I'lleliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and thestart-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
Iwill, listen now, cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of allworking families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing weshould do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
Andfor the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet,I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally endour dependence on oil from the Middle East . We will do this.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years, and bythe way John McCain's been there for 26 of them. And in that time, he'ssaid no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investmentsin renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triplethe amount of oil that we had as the day that Sen. McCain took office.
Nowis the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is astop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
Aspresident, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coaltechnology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll helpour auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of thefuture are built right here in America . I'll make it easier for theAmerican people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest $150 billionover the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- windpower and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; aninvestment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs thatpay well and can't be outsourced.
America , now is not the time for small plans.
Nowis the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every childa world-class education, because it will take nothing less to competein the global economy. You know, Michelle and I are only here tonightbecause we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settlefor an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest inearly childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, andpay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange,I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keepour promise to every young American -- if you commit to serving yourcommunity or our country, we will make sure you can afford a collegeeducation.
Nowis the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessiblehealth care for every single American. If you have health care, my planwill lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the samekind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And assomeone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while shelay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stopdiscriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
Nowis the time to help families with paid sick days and better familyleave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keepingtheir job and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
Nowis the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions areprotected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Securityfor future generations.
Andnow is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day'swork, because I want my daughters to have the exact same opportunitiesas your sons.
Now,many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out howI'll pay for every dime -- by closing corporate loopholes and taxhavens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through thefederal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer workand making the ones we do need work better and cost less -- because wecannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy.
AndDemocrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America 's promise willrequire more than just money. It will require a renewed sense ofresponsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy calledour 'intellectual and moral strength.' Yes, government must lead onenergy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homesand businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders tosuccess for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But wemust also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; thatgovernment can't turn off the television and make a child do herhomework; that fathers must take more responsibility to provide loveand guidance to their children.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility -- that's the essence of America 's promise.
Andjust as we keep our promise to the next generation here at home, somust we keep America 's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have adebate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as thenext commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
Forwhile Sen. McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11,I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us fromthe real threats that we face. When John McCain said we could just'muddle through' in Afghanistan , I argued for more resources and moretroops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attackedus on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden andhis lieutenants if we have them in our sights. You know, John McCainlikes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell -- but hewon't even go to the cave where he lives.
Andtoday, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq hasbeen echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration,even after we learned that Iraq has $79 billion in surplus while we arewallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusalto end a misguided war.
That'snot the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need apresident who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping atthe ideas of the past.
Youdon't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries byoccupying Iraq . You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just bytalking tough in Washington . You can't truly stand up for Georgia whenyou've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to followGeorge Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice-- but that is not the change that America needs.
Weare the party of Roosevelt . We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tellme that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me thatDemocrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy hassquandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats andRepublicans -- have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.
Ascommander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but Iwill only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and asacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle andthe care and benefits they deserve when they come home.
Iwill end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against alQaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan . I will rebuild our military tomeet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, directdiplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curbRussian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threatsof the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty andgenocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moralstanding, so that America is once again that last, best hope for allwho are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace,and who yearn for a better future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.
Butwhat I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions forpolitical purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change inour politics is the idea that people cannot disagree withoutchallenging each other's character and each other's patriotism.
Thetimes are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisanplaybook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love thiscountry, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women whoserve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans andindependents, but they have fought together and bled together and somedied together under the same proud flag. They have not served a RedAmerica or a Blue America -- they have served the United States ofAmerica .
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require toughchoices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off theworn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lostthese past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or biggertrade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose.That's what we have to restore.
Wemay not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing thenumber of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gunownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are forthose plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland , but don't tell me wecan't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the handsof criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, butsurely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sistersdeserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live livesfree of discrimination. You know, passions may fly on immigration, butI don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from herinfant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegalworkers. But this, too, is part of America 's promise -- the promise ofa democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge dividesand unite in common effort.
Iknow there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claimthat our insistence on something larger, something firmer and morehonest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes andthe abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected.Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tacticsto scare voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paintyour opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
Andyou know what -- it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicismwe all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all itspromises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again,then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
Iget it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for thisoffice. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my careerin the halls of Washington .
ButI stand before you tonight because all across America something isstirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election hasnever been about me. It's about you. It's about you.
For18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to thepolitics of the past. You understand that in this election, thegreatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the sameold players and expect a different result. You have shown what historyteaches us -- that at defining moments like this one, the change weneed doesn't come from Washington . Change comes to Washington . Changehappens because the American people demand it -- because they rise upand insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a newtime.
America , this is one of those moments.
Ibelieve that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming.Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. Because I've seen it inIllinois , when we provided health care to more children and moved morefamilies from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington , where weworked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists moreaccountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclearweapons out of the hands of terrorist.
AndI've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for thefirst time, and the young at heart, those who got involved again aftera very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up aDemocratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who wouldrather cut their hours back a day even though they can't afford it thansee their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist afterlosing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when ahurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.
Youknow, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that'snot what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth,but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our cultureare the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world comingto our shores.
Instead,it is that American spirit -- that American promise -- that pushes usforward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together inspite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what isseen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
Thatpromise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to mydaughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make toyours -- a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneersto travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and womento reach for the ballot.
Andit is that promise that 45 years ago today, brought Americans fromevery corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington ,before Lincoln 's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgiaspeak of his dream.
Themen and women who gathered there could've heard many things. Theycould've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told tosuccumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
Butwhat the people heard instead -- people of every creed and color, fromevery walk of life -- is that in America , our destiny is inextricablylinked. That together, our dreams can be one.
'Wecannot walk alone,' the preacher cried. 'And as we walk, we must makethe pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.'
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with somany children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with aneconomy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with somany families to protect and so many lives to mend. America , we cannotturn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, wemust pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep thatpromise -- that American promise -- and in the words of Scripture holdfirmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States