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Daily SG: Barack Obama Wins US Presidential Election
Posted by singaporedaily on November 6th, 2008
Barack Obama Victory Speech November 4th 2008 Part 1/3
Barack Obama Victory Speech November 4th 2008 Part 2/3
Barack Obama Victory Speech November 4th 2008 Part 3/3
I hope I live to see a similar event in Singapore.. hope..
Full transcript of Obama’s historic speech after the break.
Obama wins US Presidential Elections
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Full transcript of Obama’s speech after the break.
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the new White House.
And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.
There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
Here’s an interactive video of the Speech
November 6th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
The BBC’s Washington Correspondent Kevin Connolly wrote an article this morning with the headline “What kind of president will Obama be?”
I reckon there are some among the many out there who might have thought about this question as they woke up on the morning after that inspirational victory speech (interestingly, McCain’s speech – in many ways – mirrored that of his campaign).
Will there be a new world order? How will the US rebuild its tarnished image on the global political front?
Firstly, I must say that I am sometimes flabbergasted at how the masses are slinging mud at the incumbent President and blaming him for the current economic crisis. Like any other President, he has committed his fair share of mistakes (and maybe more). He is currently deeply unpopular not only in his own country but around the world. (In the same breath, some root for Obama simply because of how he looked.)
There are conspiracy theories abound about why the incumbent adopted a gun-toting stance by starting two costly wars in the Middle East. Some say his father was luckier because some dictator’s stupidity gave him a splendid excuse to start a war and before we knew it, ordinary people could tell the difference between a Scud from a Patriot missile.
If there is anything at all, this unpopular President most enduring legacy would be his attempts at galvanising a shocked nation on the day the infallibility of USA became a myth. Arguably that was one of the most pivotal moments of American history and arguably he did well enough to restore a bit of a calm into the public.
At the same time, no one knows what McCain or Obama would have done if either one was in charge of the White House then. The former was a prisoner-of-war and therefore, would have enough within him to engage in a rhetoric that could have been more effective in helping the shocked nation deal with the emotional aftermath of that incident. The latter has never served as a soldier in any war but his campaign and the brilliance of which he conducted himself at the victory speech would leave many without any doubt that he could do a better job in inspiring a nation out of doom, grief and gloom.
In short, the incumbent did reasonably well given the circumstances and blundered in some areas. However, to put the blame of the world’s current problems solely on one man was stretching it.
So what could have Obama possibly done about the sub-prime crisis? Could he have put a stop to it? Could he have unraveled the “living on credit” culture that the Americans are so used to? How much power could he have wielded in eradicating the greed inherent among humans in profiting from bets on debt?
Almost down to a few, the voices of people who warned about the dangers of credit default swaps and collateralised debt obligations were drowned out by those who used a well-meaning tool – developed to protect financial institutions – for their own gains. Warnings are rarely heeded during boom times because at the end of the day, human nature dictates that it’s “everyone for himself”.
Now that the shit has hit the fan, almost everyone is pointing fingers at that one powerful man whom they think and believe could stop humans from their greed, or completely eradicate a system that was developed over the years and became so complex that no one knows how big this monster was (or specifically, how much money was sucked into this black hole).
Examine Obama’s promises (including that special 30-minute ad – which begged the question of how much money (in the millions?) was being poured into it). Find out what he said about the bailout package that was passed recently in the US Congress. Did he come out vehemently opposing this measure that was aimed at injecting some confidence such that money is flowing in and out of banks again? No one knows if he could have done any better.
However, would it be a bit too optimistic in believing that he could change (a word repeated far too many times) the way investors – or even the world – are looking at the prospects of the global economy? No doubt McCain’s economic credentials had been found terribly wanting at times. With Obama soon to take office now, the people he chooses to bring the US – and effectively, the world – out of this rut will be as important as his solutions to buffer the pain of a worldwide recession.
I’m no expert in economics. However, no matter how I look at it Obama’s stance of protecting small businesses in the US may indirectly affect global trade and economy. Unless he drops or reins in this protectionist stance until the global economy recovers, there will be far-reaching consequences because of how this could impact Europe, and how this will pan out in terms of trade between Chinese companies and their American counterparts. If small-to-medium American businesses were to be protected via a slew of anti-competition measures aimed at giving them some competitive advantages against Chinese companies, what will this mean to the major American corporations? How will the Chinese react in turn?
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act has been mentioned by some as one of the possible causes of the Great Depression in the 1930s, or at least aggravated the effects. It was said to have reduced international trade and caused retaliatory tariffs in other countries. What it did was to raise the US tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods to record levels.
Given the complexity of the business links between US and Chinese companies – and bearing in mind how China has almost become the factory of the world – in this present day, what if (and it is a big “if”) Obama pursues his protectionist stance?
Secondly, we have a resurgent Russia. For some who either remembered or did a bit of post-World War II history, the Soviet Union singlehandedly cast a strong political influence in half of Europe. There was the Berlin Wall. There was the nuclear and space races. There was the Cuban crisis. Was the old Soviet Union a much-feared country before the Cold War ended?
What could a resurgent Russia (which didn’t seem to have its political influence reduced among some of its “neighbours” – once part of the Soviet Union) do if she decides to flex her political muscles? Was a certain week in August 2008 just so far back in the past (amidst the doom and gloom of the global economic situation) that images of how Russian tanks and military “strolled” into a sovereign country were forgotten? It wasn’t even done subtly – like the Anschluss – and it had some European (and even the US) leaders scrambling to find a solution and not much of it was about sending a strong message to the Russians to back off.
Had the US not gotten itself stuck in two seemingly, never-ending wars nearby, could it have sent a stronger message to the Russians about the Georgian problem? The gun-toting Texan might have but then again, how much oil reserves were there in Georgia to begin with?
And who is this resurgent Russia led by? How did he grow and extend his political influence? Was he like Mikhail Gorbachev or Boris Yeltsin? What has he done recently to continue his hold on political power? On a more shallow level, what kind of impression does he give when you look at his photos – especially his body language? More importantly, why has there been some talk in reports from established newspapers about the possibility of another “Cold War”? Was it driven by fear or confidence or fact?
As much as McCain has been criticised for his admission about his lack of understanding of economic issues, one charge against Obama has been his lack of foreign policy or political experience. Now, how does that sound to a certain Vladimir Putin who seems to be driving the Russians back into the political limelight? With Obama keen on pulling out troops in Iraq and ending the war in Afghanistan, how will that destablise the region politically?
Russia aside, we have China which was not particularly insulated from the global economic woes (while some experts thought otherwise). The Government has kept very close control of the levers and tools to mitigate a full-fledged impact on its domestic businesses. It also has a not-so-proud history of concealing issues until and unless it blows and affects other countries (melamine in milk anyone?). In other words, would anyone trust their political leadership? How would Obama (or Biden) deal with them?
Then, we have Iran which has also a charismatic leader themselves. We haven’t heard much about his political opponents but we have heard a lot about the country’s nuclear projects and the associated threats to US-allies in the Middle Eastern region.
There are many reasons why the world watched in rapt attention as the drama of the US Presidential Elections unfolded. Like it or not, we – from the rest of the world – could do precious little to tear ourselves away from more than half a century of the political, economic and cultural influence from the US. Many of us know that in some ways, our lives are indirectly shaped by what goes on in the White House. Case in point was how September 11 – and the “security measures” that followed – changed our lives forever.
We marvel at how Obama went about with his campaign – starting with ousting Hillary Clinton – for the past year. We acknowledge how he and his aides had reshaped the way Presidential election campaigns were run in the US. We admired the way he spoke, the way he composed himself, the way he managed pressure and the way he inspired his people – and those beyond.
However, up until now, most of it is talk. He will have the next four years to prove himself, that he is more than a smooth talker; that he is the right man to lead a country tarnished by eight years of unpopular rule; and that he will rise beyond the huge expectations he has unwittingly placed on himself because of the perceptions of him held by the electorate.
We haven’t the faintest idea now what kind of a President Obama will be but I really do hope the Americans made a wise decision on one November day in 2008.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Does anyone else have any experience with this?