Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
President Obama’s Second Chance
President Obama’s dilemma has always been that he has been far more
successful a president than his opponents claim, but far less successful
than he needs to be at making voters see that. Powerful speeches by
former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and others did a
lot to fix that impression during the convention. But it was up to Mr.
Obama to make the case for another term, with a speech that was every bit as fraught with uncertainty and risk as his 2008 convention address.
Just as he did then, Mr. Obama rose to the occasion.
He could have sold some of his best lines with more passion, but gone
was the maddening coyness of recent years in which he has avoided
candidly talking about the mess that President George W. Bush dumped
into his lap and shied away from the rumble of politics. He didn’t
hesitate to go after Mitt Romney. “You might not be ready for diplomacy
with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our
closest ally,” he said.
And he clearly laid out a vision for governing
squarely at odds with the one that Mr. Romney has, but was hidden from
view at last week’s Republican convention in Tampa, Fla. He promised
deficit reduction “without sticking it to the middle class”; to enact a
reformed tax code that raises rates on income above $250,000 to where it
was under Mr. Clinton; to preserve middle-class deductions; to “never
turn Medicare into a voucher.”
Mr. Obama explicitly shifted from his 2008 appeal of hope and change to
talk of tough choices and tough paths. “You didn’t elect me to tell you
what you wanted to hear,” he said. “You elected me to tell you the
truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to
solve challenges that have built up over decades.”
Mr. Obama went into this convention with an actual record at governing —
not just the Republican posture of saying “No” to everything. He has
far better ideas about how to create jobs, make Americans’ tax burdens
more equitable and improve ordinary Americans’ economic prospects than
the tired, failed trickle-down fantasies served up by Mitt Romney and
the Republican Party.
He ended the war in Iraq, tried to rescue the Afghan war that Mr. Bush
bungled, stepped up the offensive on terrorists far beyond Mr. Bush’s
vision and rallied the world to ratchet up pressure on Iran.
He blunted the extreme message of the Tea Party by offering an
alternative vision of government’s obligation to help the neediest,
provide everyone with the basic structures of society and the economy
and end unconscionable discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans.
He has protected women’s constitutional rights and liberties, despite
his own misgivings about abortion. He ordered the killing of Osama bin
Laden — an act that was mentioned repeatedly on the last night of the
convention.
But, after he was elected, Mr. Obama allowed himself to believe in his
own legend, cheered on by the hundreds of thousands of adoring
supporters who thronged his inauguration, by the sheer magnificence of
the swearing-in of an African-American president. It was as though he
concluded that his election by itself changed the world and had
fulfilled his promise of a postpartisan era.
The president and his tight inner circle were oblivious to the
Republicans’ explicit warning that he would not get the slightest
cooperation from a party and a Congressional caucus driven by an
implacable hatred of Mr. Obama that is mostly ideological but also
fueled by his race. It took nearly three years for the Obama team to
recognize that central fact.
Mr. Obama won passage of an economic recovery bill that not only warded
off depression, but actually created jobs, and of a health care reform
law that is essential to the long-term economic health of the country.
But he ceded the details of lawmaking to Congress, where leaders of his
own party did not fully step up to the moment and Republicans stood in
stonewall opposition.
And he ceded the national debate on central issues to those same
Republicans, mired in his belief that the force of his intellect could
melt their obstructionism, that one eloquent speech could change his
political fortunes. Mr. Obama allowed his opponents to define the
argument and so define him.
Mr. Clinton showed Mr. Obama the antidote. On Wednesday night, Mr. Clinton fought back against the Republicans
on Medicaid and Medicare, two areas where the Obama campaign has failed
to get real traction. He made the argument for health care reform,
financial re-regulation and fair taxation, all while firing up the
crowd.
Obama Makes Case for 2nd Term: ‘Harder’ Path to ‘Better Place’
By HELENE COOPER and PETER BAKER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Obama
accepted the Democratic nomination for a second term on Thursday night,
making a forceful argument that he had rescued the economy from
disaster and ushered in a recovery that would be imperiled by a return
to Republican stewardship.
Describing himself as “mindful of my own failings,” Mr. Obama conceded
the country’s continuing difficulties while defending his record and
pleading for more time to carry out his agenda. He laid out a long-term
blueprint for revival in an era obsessed with short-term expectations.
“I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy; I never have,”
Mr. Obama told a packed arena of 20,000 party leaders and activists.
“You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me
to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few
years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades.”
He added: “But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our
challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a
better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future.”
The president’s appearance at the Time Warner Cable Arena underscored
the tumultuous journey he and the country have been on since his first
nomination in Denver. Four years after fireworks consecrated his
storybook campaign to become the nation’s first black president, Mr.
Obama took the stage on Thursday as a politician who had come down to
earth and was locked in the fight of his life against the Republican
nominee, Mitt Romney.
The stirring outsider’s message had become a policy-laden appeal for
continuity; the mantra of reform was now a vigorous defense of his
current course. The “Change” signs waved in the audience in 2008 had
been replaced with placards saying “Forward.” The word “promise,” which
he used 32 times in his acceptance speech in 2008, came up just 7 times
on Thursday night. Even the traditional balloon drop was missing since a
last-minute site change made it impossible.
Mr. Obama issued a string of promises, including one million new
manufacturing jobs and $4 trillion in deficit reductions. But he was
largely making the case that he had put in place the foundation for a
revived country if voters only give it enough time to work. If at times
it had the feel of a State of the Union address,
that was an intentional effort to jab at Mr. Romney to be more specific
about how he would carry out his promises, maximizing the gulf between
the parties.
“They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan,” Mr.
Obama said. “And that’s because all they have to offer is the same
prescription they’ve had for the last 30 years.”
Mr. Obama’s speech punctuated back-to-back political conventions in
which the two parties, if nothing else, delivered radically different
visions for how to end the economic malaise that has afflicted the
country since 2008, and framed the two-month spring to Election Day.
A week after Mr. Romney sought to appeal to American disappointment with
Mr. Obama, the president pressed his case that the Republican candidate
is so disconnected from the struggles of the middle class that he has
no idea how to address them. In sharp language, he linked Mr. Romney and
his running mate, Paul D. Ryan, to what he long described as failed
trickle-down economic policies that favor the wealthy, reflecting what
has become a central theme.
“On every issue, the choice you face won’t just be between two
candidates or two parties,” Mr. Obama said. “When all is said and done,
when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice
of any time in a generation.”
The Romney campaign released a reaction to the president’s speech before
it was even delivered, assailing Mr. Obama as having failed to create
enough jobs, cut the deficit in half or increase incomes. “This is a
time not for him to start restating new promises, but to report on the
promises he made,” Mr. Romney said in the taped statement. “I think he
wants a promises reset. We want a report on the promises he made.”
Introducing Mr. Obama on Thursday night was Vice President Joseph R.
Biden Jr., who offered testimony to the president’s leadership on
everything from the economy to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
“Bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama,” he said. “This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and steel in his spine.”
Mr. Biden was left to take the tougher shots at Mr. Romney, the former
head of the private equity firm Bain Capital and former governor of
Massachusetts. Noting that Mr. Romney had promised to take a jobs tour,
Mr. Biden said, “Well, with his support for outsourcing, it’s going to
have to be a foreign trip.”
He went on to note that Mr. Romney opposed the federal bailout of the
auto industry. “I think he saw it the Bain way,” Mr. Biden said, adding:
“The Bain way may bring your firm the highest profits. But it’s not the
way to lead our country from the highest office.”
Mr. Biden’s nomination for a second term as vice president was approved
by the convention by acclamation after his son Beau, the attorney
general of Delaware, put his name up for consideration in a speech that
left the vice president teary-eyed for the second consecutive night.
The emotion in the packed hall crested early, when former Representative
Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, her step faltering, walked tentatively
onto the stage in a surprise appearance to lead the pledge of
allegiance. Mrs. Giffords, who was shot in the head by a would-be
assassin in Tucson, is still recovering, and she stumbled over the word
“indivisible.” But she got through the pledge in her first real public
speaking since the shooting, and blew kisses to the crowd, which surged
to its feet in ovation, chanting “Gabby! Gabby!”
Given that Mr. Romney spent little time on foreign policy during his
acceptance speech, it was a foregone conclusion that Mr. Obama would
devote time to national security, an area where Democrats believe they
have carved out a surprising advantage. They paraded a host of war
veterans across the stage, some of whom chided the Republicans as taking
little notice of them in Tampa last week.
“Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years
ago,” Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said, turning a Republican
line critical of the president into an argument for his re-election.
Mr. Obama said Republicans “want to take us back to an era of blustering
and blundering that cost America so dearly,” and Mr. Biden appeared to
choke up reciting the numbers of war dead and wounded.
Still, the heart of the argument between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney is
about the role of government. “This is what the election comes down to,”
Mr. Obama said. “Over and over, we’ve been told by our opponents that
bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way, that since
government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing.”
Highlighting Medicare,
which Mr. Ryan has proposed overhauling, the president said, “No
American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of
insurance companies.”
The president’s speech culminated a three-day convention that included a
retinue of Hollywood celebrities and even a former Republican governor,
Charlie Crist of Florida, plus a strong focus on social issues like same-sex marriage.
But like its Republican equivalent last week, it did not always go
according to script, including an embarrassing floor fight over
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and a late decision to move the
president’s speech to the Time Warner Cable Arena from the Bank of
America Stadium because of inclement weather.
With thunder, lightning and rain forecast — convention goers huddled
under plastic sheets as they darted between sites — organizers were left
with some 65,000 supporters — many of them traveling from all over the
country — without the chance to see the president in person.
The president’s aides understood they could never re-create the power of
the past but hoped to convince voters that more has been done than
commonly recognized. The “promises kept” theme was intended to address
the same swing voters Mr. Romney sought last week to win over.
Mr. Obama directly acknowledged the disappointments. “While I’m proud of
what we’ve achieved together, I’m far more mindful of my own failings,”
he said. But he added, “I have never been more hopeful about America,
not because I think I have all the answers, not because I’m naïve about
the magnitude of our challenges. I’m hopeful because of you.”
The president appeared to become emotional toward the end of his speech
as he spoke of wounded veterans who somehow managed to walk and run and
bike on prosthetic legs. He said he did not know if they would vote for
him, but added that they nonetheless gave him hope that difficulties
could be overcome.
President Obama’s Full Remarks From the Democratic National Convention
The following is the full text of President Obama’s speech Thursday from the Democratic National Convention.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thank you. (Sustained cheers, applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you.
Michelle, I love you so much. (Cheers, applause.)
A few nights ago, everybody was reminded just what a lucky man I am. (Cheers, applause.)
Malia and Sasha, we are so proud of you. (Cheers, applause.) And yes,
you do have to go to school in the morning. (Chuckles.) (Laughter,
applause.)
And Joe Biden, thank you for being the very best vice president I could
have ever hoped for — (cheers, applause) — and being a strong and loyal
friend.
Madam Chairwoman, delegates, I accept your nomination for president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Chanting.) Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, the first time I addressed this convention, in
2004, I was a younger man — (laughter) — a Senate candidate from
Illinois who spoke about hope, not blind optimism, not wishful thinking
but hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty,
that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward
even when the odds are great, even when the road is long.
Eight years later that hope has been tested by the cost of war, by one
of the worst economic crises in history and by political gridlock that’s
left us wondering whether it’s still even possible to tackle the
challenges of our time. I know campaigns can seem small, even silly
sometimes.
Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound
bites. The truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and
advertising. And if you’re sick of hearing me approve this message,
believe me, so am I. (Laughter, cheers, applause.)
But when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you
will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. (Cheers.)
Over the next few years big decisions will be made in Washington on
jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits, energy, education, war and peace —
decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and on our
children’s lives for decades to come.
And on every issue, the choice you face won’t just be between two
candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different
paths for America, a choice between two fundamentally different visions
for the future. Ours is a fight to restore the values that built the
largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known —
(cheers, applause) — the values my grandfather defended as a soldier in
Patton’s army, the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber
assembly line while he was gone. They knew they were part of something
larger — a nation that triumphed over fascism and depression, a nation
where the most innovative businesses turn out the world’s best products,
and everyone shared in that pride and success from the corner office to
the factory floor.
My grandparents were given the chance to go to college and buy their
home — their own home and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of
America’s story, the promise that hard work will pay off, that
responsibility will be rewarded, that everyone gets a fair shot and
everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules,
from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, D.C. (Cheers, applause.)
And I ran for president because I saw that basic bargain slipping away. I
began my career helping people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill
at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas. And by
2008 we had seen nearly a decade in which families struggled with costs
that kept rising but paychecks that didn’t, folks racking up more and
more debt just to make the mortgage or pay tuition, put gas in the car
or food on the table. And when the house of cards collapsed in the Great
Recession, millions of innocent Americans lost their jobs, their homes,
their life savings, a tragedy from which we’re still fighting to
recover.
Now, our friends down in Tampa at the Republican convention were more
than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America.
But they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right.
(Cheers, applause.) They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know
their plan. And that’s because all they have to offer is the same
prescriptions they’ve had for the last 30 years. Have a surplus? Try a
tax cut. Deficit too high — try another.
Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning. (Cheers, applause.)
Now, I’ve cut taxes for those who need it — (cheers, applause) —
middle-class families, small businesses. But I don’t believe that
another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our
shores, or pay down our deficit. I don’t believe that firing teachers
or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy — (cheers,
applause) — or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming
out of China. After all we’ve been through, I don’t believe that rolling
back regulations on Wall Street will help the small-businesswoman
expand, or the laid-off construction worker keep his home.
We have been there, we’ve tried that, and we’re not going back. We are moving forward, America. (Cheers, applause.)
Now, I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy. I never
have. You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You
elected me to tell you the truth. (Cheers, applause.)
And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve
challenges that have built up over decades. It’ll require common effort,
shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation
that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this
one. (Cheers, applause.)
And by the way, those of us who carry on his party’s legacy should
remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government
program or dictate from Washington.
But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. (Cheers, applause.)
Our challenges can be met. (Applause.) The path we offer may be harder,
but it leads to a better place, and I’m asking you to choose that
future. (Applause.)
I’m asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in
manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit,
real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity and
rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That’s what we can do in
the next four years, and that is why I am running for a second term as
president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.)
We can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer
jobs. After a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed,
we’re getting back to basics and doing what America’s always done best.
We are making things again. (Applause.) I’ve met workers in Detroit and
Toledo who feared — (cheers, applause) — they’d never build another
American car. And today they can’t build them fast enough because we
reinvented a dying auto industry that’s back on the top of the world.
(Cheers, applause.) I worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs
back to America not because our workers make less pay, but because we
make better products — (cheers) — because we work harder and smarter
than anyone else.
(Cheers, applause.) I’ve signed trade agreements that are helping our
companies sell more goods to millions of new customers, goods that are
stamped with three proud words: “Made in America.” (Cheers, applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Chanting.) USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And after a decade of decline, this country created
over half a million manufacturing jobs in the last 2 1/2 years.
(Cheers.) And now you have a choice. We can give more tax breaks to
corporations that shift jobs overseas —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: No!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: — or we can start rewarding companies that open new
plants and train new workers and create new jobs here in the United
States of America. (Cheers, applause.) We can help big factories and
small businesses double their exports. And if we choose this path, we
can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. You
can make that happen. (Cheers, applause.) You can choose that future.
You can choose the path where we control more of our own energy. After
30 years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so that by the middle of
the next decade, cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of
gas. (Cheers, applause.) We have doubled our use of renewable energy,
and thousands of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines and
long-lasting batteries. (Cheers, applause.) In the last year alone, we
cut oil imports by 1 million barrels a day, more than any administration
in recent history. (Cheers, applause.) And today the United States of
America is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last
two decades. (Cheers, applause.)
So now you have a choice between a strategy that reverses this progress or one that builds on it.
We’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the
last three years, and we’ll open more. But unlike my opponent, I will
not let oil companies write this country’s energy plan or endanger our
coastlines or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our
taxpayers. (Cheers, applause.) We’re offering a better path.
We’re offering a better path where we — a future where we keep investing
in wind and solar and clean coal, where farmers and scientists harness
new biofuels to power our cars and trucks, where construction workers
build homes and factories that waste less energy, where — where we
develop a hundred-year supply of natural gas that’s right beneath our
feet. If you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in half by
2020 and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone.
(Cheers, applause.
And yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is
heating our planet, because climate change is not a hoax. More droughts
and floods and wildfires are not a joke. (Cheers, applause.) They are a
threat to our children’s future.
And in this election, you can do something about it. (Cheers, applause.)
You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain
the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much
money they have.
Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. (Cheers.) It was the
gateway for Michelle. It was — it was the gateway for most of you. And
now more than ever it is the gateway to a middle-class life.
For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our
call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. (Cheers,
applause.) Some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains
in math and reading. Millions of students are paying less for college
today because we finally took on a system that wasted billions of
taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders. (Cheers, applause.)
And now you have a choice. We can gut education, or we can decide that
in the United States of America, no child should have her dreams
deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. No family
should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don’t
have the money. (Cheers, applause.) No company should have to look for
workers overseas because they couldn’t find any with the right skills
here at home. (Cheers, applause.) That’s not our future. That is not our
future. (Cheers, applause.)
A government has a role in this. But teachers must inspire. Principals
must lead. Parents must instill a thirst for learning. And students,
you’ve got to do the work. (Cheers, applause.) And together, I promise
you we can outeducate and outcompete any nation on earth. (Cheers,
applause.)
So help me. Help me recruit a hundred thousand math and science teachers
within 10 years and improve early childhood education. (Cheers,
applause.) Help give 2 million workers the chance to learn skills at
their community college that will lead directly to a job. Help us work
with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition
costs over the next 10 years.
We can meet that goal together. (Cheers, applause.) You can choose that
future for America. (Cheers, applause.) That’s our future.
You know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose
leadership that has been tested and proven. Four years ago I promised to
end the war in Iraq. We did. (Cheers, applause.) I promised to refocus
on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and we have.
(Cheers, applause.) We’ve blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan
and in 2014, our longest war will be over. (Cheers, applause.) A new
tower rises above the New York skyline, al- Qaida is on the path to
defeat and Osama bin Laden is dead. (Cheers, applause.)
And tonight we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm’s
way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made
this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you, and so
long as I’m commander in chief, we will sustain the strongest military
the world has ever known. (Cheers, applause.) When you take off the
uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us, because no one
who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof
over their head or the care that they need when they come home.
(Cheers, applause.)
Around the world, we’ve strengthened old alliances and forged new
coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We’ve reasserted our
power across the Pacific and stood up to China on behalf of our workers.
From Burma to Libya to South Sudan, we have advanced the rights and
dignity of all human beings — (cheers) — men and women; Christians and
Muslims and Jews. (Cheers, applause.)
But for all the progress that we’ve made, challenges remain. Terrorist
plots must be disrupted. Europe’s crisis must be contained. Our
commitment to Israel’s security must not waver, and neither must our
pursuit of peace. (Cheers, applause.) The Iranian government must face a
world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. The historic
change sweeping across the Arab world must be defined not by the iron
fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists, but by the hopes and
aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that
we celebrate here today. (Cheers, applause.)
So now we have a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. (Laughter, applause.)
But from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an
era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.
After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy — not al- Qaida,
Russia — (laughter) — unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.
(Cheers, applause.)
You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.
(Laughter, cheers, applause.)
My opponent — my opponent said that it was tragic to end the war in
Iraq. And he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. Well, I
have, and I will. (Cheers, applause.) And while my opponent would spend
more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I
will use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt
and put more people back to work — (extended cheers, applause) —
rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways, because after two
wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars,
it’s time to do some nation building right here at home. (Cheers,
applause.)
You can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it
to the middle class. (Cheers, applause.) Independent experts say that my
plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion. (Cheers.) And last summer I
worked with Republicans in Congress to cut a billion dollars in
spending, because those of us who believe government can be a force for
good should work harder than anyone to reform it so that it’s leaner and
more efficient and more responsive to the American people. (Cheers,
applause.)
I want to reform the tax code so that it’s simple, fair and asks the
wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000 —
(cheers, applause) — the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was
president, the same rate we had when our economy created nearly 23
million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history and a whole lot of
millionaires to boot.
(Applause.)
Now, I’m still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my
bipartisan debt commission. No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No
democracy works without compromise. I want to get this done, and we can
get it done.
But when Governor Romney and his friends in Congress tell us we can
somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks
for the wealthy, well — (boos) — what’d Bill Clinton call it? You do the
arithmetic. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) You do the math.
I refuse to go along with that, and as long as I’m president, I never
will. (Cheers, applause.) I refuse to ask middle-class families to give
up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay
for another millionaire’s tax cut. (Cheers, applause.) I refuse to ask
students to pay more for college or kick children out of Head Start
programs to eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are
poor and elderly or disabled all so those with the most can pay less.
I’m not going along with that. (Continued cheers, applause.)
And I will never — I will never turn Medicare into a voucher. (Cheers,
applause.) No American should ever have to spend their golden years at
the mercy of insurance companies. They should retire with the care and
the dignity that they have earned. Yes, we will reform and strengthen
Medicare for the long haul, but we’ll do it by reducing the cost of
health care, not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more.
(Cheers, applause.) And we will keep the promise of Social Security by
taking the responsible steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over to
Wall Street. (Cheers, applause.)
This is the choice we now face. This is what the election comes down to.
Over and over, we’ve been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts
and fewer regulations are the only way, that since government can’t do
everything, it should do almost nothing. If you can’t afford health
insurance, hope that you don’t get sick. (Murmurs of disapproval.) If a
company releases toxic pollution into the air your children breathe,
well, that’s the price of progress. If you can’t afford to start a
business or go to college, take my opponent’s advice and borrow money
from your parents. (Laughter, mixed cheers and boos, applause.)
You know what, that’s not who we are. That’s not what this country is
about. As Americans, we believe we are endowed by our Creator with
certain inalienable rights, rights that no man or government can take
away. We insist on personal responsibility, and we celebrate individual
initiative. We’re not entitled to success. We have to earn it. We honor
the strivers, the dreamers, the risk- takers, the entrepreneurs who have
always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system, the
greatest engine of growth and prosperity that the world’s ever known.
But we also believe in something called citizenship — (cheers, applause)
— citizenship, a word at the very heart of our founding, a word at the
very essence of our democracy, the idea that this country only works
when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future
generations.
We believe that when a CEO pays his autoworkers enough to buy the cars
that they build, the whole company does better. (Cheers, applause.)
We believe that when a family can no longer be tricked into signing a
mortgage they can’t afford, that family’s protected, but so is the value
of other people’s homes — (cheers, applause) — and so is the entire
economy. (Applause.)
We believe the little girl who’s offered an escape from poverty by a
great teacher or a grant for college could become the next Steve Jobs or
the scientist who cures cancer or the president of the United States —
(cheers, applause) — and it is in our power to give her that chance.
(Cheers, applause.)
We know that churches and charities can often make more of a difference
than a poverty program alone. We don’t want handouts for people who
refuse to help themselves, and we certainly don’t want bailouts for
banks that break the rules. (Cheers, applause.)
We don’t think the government can solve all of our problems, but we
don’t think the government is the source of all of our problems —
(cheers, applause) — any more than our welfare recipients or
corporations or unions or immigrants or gays or any other group we’re
told to blame for our troubles — (cheers, applause) — because — because
America, we understand that this democracy is ours.
We, the people — (cheers) — recognize that we have responsibilities as
well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom
which asks only, what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to
others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is
unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.
(Cheers, applause.)
As citizens, we understand that America is not about what can be done
for us. It’s about what can be done by us, together — (cheers, applause)
— through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of
self-government. That’s what we believe.
So you see, the election four years ago wasn’t about me. It was about
you. (Cheers, applause.) My fellow citizens — you were the change.
(Cheers, applause.)
You’re the reason there’s a little girl with a heart disorder in Phoenix
who’ll get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can’t
limit her coverage. You did that. (Cheers, applause.)
You’re the reason a young man in Colorado who never thought he’d be able
to afford his dream of earning a medical degree is about to get that
chance. You made that possible. (Cheers, applause.)
You’re the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school
here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from
the only country she’s ever called home — (cheers, applause) — why
selfless soldiers won’t be kicked out of the military because of who
they are or who they love, why thousands of families have finally been
able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely, welcome home.
(Cheers, applause.) Welcome home. You did that. You did that. (Cheers,
applause.) You did that.
If you turn away now — if you turn away now, if you buy into the
cynicism that the change we fought for isn’t possible, well, change will
not happen. If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a
difference, then other voices will fill the void, the lobbyists and
special interests, the people with the $10 million checks who are trying
to buy this election and those who are trying to make it harder for you
to vote, Washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or
control health care choices that women should be making for themselves.
(Cheers, applause.) Only you can make sure that doesn’t happen. Only
you have the power to move us forward.
You know, I recognize that times have changed since I first spoke to
this convention. Times have changed, and so have I. I’m no longer just a
candidate. I’m the president. (Cheers, applause.)
And — (applause) — and that’s —
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Four more years! Four more years!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And that — and that means I know what it means to send
young Americans into battle, for I’ve held in my arms the mothers and
fathers of those who didn’t return.
I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the
frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs. If the critics are right
that I’ve made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very
good at reading them. (Laughter.)
And while I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together — (cheers) — I’m far
more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what Lincoln meant
when he said, “I have been driven to my knees many times by the
overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” , for I have
held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve
shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the
frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs. If the critics are right
that I’ve made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very
good at reading them. And while I’m proud of what we’ve achieved
together, I’m far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what
Lincoln meant when he said, “I have been driven to my knees many times
by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” (Cheers,
applause.)
But as I stand here tonight, I have never been more hopeful about
America. (Cheers, applause.) Not because I think I have all the answers.
Not because I’m naive about the magnitude of our challenges.
I’m hopeful because of you.
The young woman I met at a science fair who won national recognition for
her biology research while living with her family at a homeless shelter
— she gives me hope. (Cheers, applause.)
The auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed, but
kept coming to work every day, and bought flags for his whole town and
one of the cars that he built to surprise his wife — he gives me hope.
(Cheers, applause.)
The family business in Warroad, Minnesota, that didn’t lay off a single
one of their 4,000 employees when the recession hit — (cheers, applause)
— even when their competitors shut down dozens of plants, even when it
meant the owner gave up some perks and some pay because they understood
that their biggest asset was the community and the workers who had
helped build that business — they give me hope. (Cheers, applause.)
I think about the young sailor I met at Walter Reed Hospital still
recovering from a grenade attack that would cause him to have his leg
amputated above the knee. And six months ago we would watch him walk
into a White House dinner honoring those who served in Iran (sic; Iraq) —
tall and 20 pounds heavier, dashing in his uniform, with a big grin on
his face, sturdy on his new leg. And I remember how a few months after
that I would watch him on a bicycle, racing with his fellow wounded
warriors on a sparkling spring day, inspiring other heroes who had just
begun the hard path he had traveled. He gives me hope. (Cheers,
applause.) He gives me hope.
I don’t know what party these men and women belong to. I don’t know if
they’ll vote for me. But I know that their spirit defines us. They
remind me, in the words of Scripture, that ours is a future filled with
hope. (Cheers.) And if you share that faith with me, if you share that
hope with me, I ask you tonight for your vote.
(Cheers, applause.)
If you reject the notion that this nation’s promise is reserved for the
few, your voice must be heard in this election. (Cheers, applause.)
If you reject the notion that our government is forever beholden to the
highest bidder, you need to stand up in this election. (Cheers,
applause.)
If you believe that new plants and factories can dot our landscape, that
new energy can power our future, that new schools can provide ladders
of opportunity to this nation of dreamers, if you believe in a country
where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share and
everyone plays by the same rules, then I need you to vote this November.
(Cheers, applause.)
America, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won’t promise
that now. Yes, our path is harder, but it leads to a better place.
(Cheers.) Yes, our road is longer, but we travel it together. (Cheers.)
We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. (Cheers.) We pull each other
up. (Cheers, applause.) We draw strength from our victories. (Cheers,
applause.) And we learn from our mistakes. But we keep our eyes fixed on
that distant horizon knowing that providence is with us and that we are
surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless these United States.
(Cheers, applause.)
