|
 REMARKS
OF SENATOR BARACK
OBAMA
Remarks of Senator
Barack Obama
“The American
Promise”
Democratic
Convention
Thursday, August
28th, 2008
Denver, Colorado
As Prepared for
Delivery
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
the presidency of
the United States.
Let me express my
thanks to the
historic slate of
candidates who
accompanied me on
this journey, and
especially the one
who traveled the
farthest – a
champion for working
Americans and an
inspiration to my
daughters and to
yours -- Hillary
Rodham Clinton. To
President Clinton,
who last night made
the case for change
as only he can make
it; to Ted Kennedy,
who embodies the
spirit of service;
and to the next Vice
President of the
United States, Joe
Biden, I thank you.
I am grateful to
finish this journey
with one of the
finest statesmen of
our time, a man at
ease with everyone
from world leaders
to the conductors on
the Amtrak train he
still takes home
every night.
To the love of my
life, our next First
Lady, Michelle
Obama, and to Sasha
and Malia – I love
you so much, and I’m
so proud of all of
you.
Four years ago, I
stood before you and
told you my story –
of the brief union
between a young man
from Kenya and a
young woman from
Kansas who weren’t
well-off or
well-known, but
shared a belief that
in America, their
son could achieve
whatever he put his
mind to.
It is that promise
that has always set
this country apart –
that through hard
work and sacrifice,
each of us can
pursue our
individual dreams
but still come
together as one
American family, to
ensure that the next
generation can
pursue their dreams
as well.
That’s why I stand
here tonight.
Because for two
hundred and thirty
two years, at each
moment when that
promise was in
jeopardy, ordinary
men and women –
students and
soldiers, farmers
and teachers, nurses
and janitors --
found the courage to
keep it alive.
We meet at one of
those defining
moments – a moment
when our nation is
at war, our economy
is in turmoil, and
the American promise
has been threatened
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 home
values plummet. More
of you have cars you
can’t afford to
drive, credit card
bills you can’t
afford to pay, and
tuition that’s
beyond your reach.
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
of retirement, finds
herself one illness
away from disaster
after a lifetime of
hard work.
This country is more
generous than one
where a man in
Indiana has to pack
up the equipment
he’s worked on for
twenty 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 on
our 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 American people,
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 this country for
a third. And we are
here because we love
this country too
much to let the next
four years look like
the last eight. On
November 4th, we
must stand up and
say: “Eight is
enough.”
Now let there be no
doubt. The
Republican nominee,
John McCain, has
worn the uniform of
our country with
bravery and
distinction, and for
that we owe him our
gratitude and
respect. And next
week, we’ll also
hear about those
occasions when he’s
broken with his
party as evidence
that he can deliver
the change that we
need.
But the record’s
clear: John McCain
has voted with
George Bush ninety
percent of the time.
Senator McCain likes
to talk about
judgment, but
really, what does it
say about your
judgment when you
think George Bush
has been right more
than ninety percent
of the time? I don’t
know about you, but
I’m not ready to
take a ten percent
chance on change.
The truth is, on
issue after issue
that would make a
difference in your
lives – on health
care and education
and the economy –
Senator McCain has
been anything but
independent. He said
that our economy has
made “great
progress” under this
President. He said
that the
fundamentals of the
economy are strong.
And when one of his
chief advisors – the
man who wrote his
economic plan – was
talking about the
anxiety Americans
are feeling, he said
that we were just
suffering from a
“mental recession,”
and that we’ve
become, and I quote,
“a nation of
whiners.”
A nation of whiners?
Tell that to the
proud auto workers
at a Michigan plant
who, after they
found out it was
closing, kept
showing up every day
and working as hard
as ever, because
they knew there were
people who counted
on the brakes that
they made. Tell that
to the military
families who
shoulder their
burdens silently as
they watch their
loved ones leave for
their third or
fourth or fifth tour
of duty. These are
not whiners. They
work hard and give
back and keep going
without complaint.
These are the
Americans that I
know.
Now, I don’t believe
that Senator McCain
doesn’t care what’s
going on in the
lives of Americans.
I just think he
doesn’t know. Why
else would he define
middle-class as
someone making under
five million dollars
a year? How else
could he propose
hundreds of billions
in tax breaks for
big corporations and
oil companies but
not one penny of tax
relief to more than
one hundred million
Americans? How else
could he offer a
health care plan
that would actually
tax people’s
benefits, or an
education plan that
would do nothing to
help families pay
for college, or a
plan that would
privatize Social
Security and gamble
your retirement?
It’s not because
John McCain doesn’t
care. It’s because
John McCain doesn’t
get it.
For over two
decades, he’s
subscribed to that
old, discredited
Republican
philosophy – give
more and more to
those with the most
and hope that
prosperity trickles
down to everyone
else. In Washington,
they call this the
Ownership Society,
but what it really
means is – you’re on
your own. Out of
work? Tough luck. No
health care? The
market will fix it.
Born into poverty?
Pull yourself up by
your own bootstraps
– even if you don’t
have boots. You’re
on your own.
Well it’s time for
them to own their
failure. It’s time
for us to change
America.
You see, we
Democrats have a
very different
measure of what
constitutes progress
in this country.
We measure progress
by how many people
can find a job that
pays the mortgage;
whether you can put
a little extra money
away at the end of
each month so you
can someday watch
your child receive
her college diploma.
We measure progress
in the 23 million
new jobs that were
created when Bill
Clinton was
President – when the
average American
family saw its
income go up $7,500
instead of down
$2,000 like it has
under George Bush.
We measure the
strength of our
economy not by the
number of
billionaires we have
or the profits of
the Fortune 500, but
by whether someone
with a good idea can
take a risk and
start a new
business, or whether
the waitress who
lives on tips can
take a day off to
look after a sick
kid without losing
her job – an economy
that honors the
dignity of work.
The fundamentals we
use to measure
economic strength
are whether we are
living up to that
fundamental promise
that has made this
country great – a
promise that is the
only reason I am
standing here
tonight.
Because in the faces
of those young
veterans who come
back from Iraq and
Afghanistan, I see
my grandfather, who
signed up after
Pearl Harbor,
marched in Patton’s
Army, and was
rewarded by a
grateful nation with
the chance to go to
college on the GI
Bill.
In the face of that
young student who
sleeps just three
hours before working
the night shift, I
think about my mom,
who raised my sister
and me on her own
while she worked and
earned her degree;
who once turned to
food stamps but was
still able to send
us to the best
schools in the
country with the
help of student
loans and
scholarships.
When I listen to
another worker tell
me that his factory
has shut down, I
remember all those
men and women on the
South Side of
Chicago who I stood
by and fought for
two decades ago
after the local
steel plant closed.
And when I hear a
woman talk about the
difficulties of
starting her own
business, 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 a
woman. She’s the one
who taught me about
hard work. She’s the
one who put off
buying a new car or
a new dress for
herself so that I
could have a better
life. She poured
everything she had
into me. And
although she can no
longer travel, I
know that she’s
watching tonight,
and that tonight is
her night as well.
I don’t know what
kind of lives John
McCain thinks that
celebrities lead,
but this has been
mine. These are my
heroes. Theirs are
the stories that
shaped me. And it is
on their behalf that
I intend to win this
election and keep
our promise alive as
President of the
United States.
What is that
promise?
It’s a promise that
says each of us has
the freedom to make
of our own lives
what we will, but
that we also have
the obligation to
treat each other
with dignity and
respect.
It’s a promise that
says the market
should reward drive
and innovation and
generate growth, but
that businesses
should live up to
their
responsibilities to
create American
jobs, look out for
American workers,
and play by the
rules of the road.
Ours is a promise
that says government
cannot solve all our
problems, but what
it should do is that
which we cannot do
for ourselves –
protect us from harm
and provide every
child a decent
education; keep our
water clean and our
toys safe; invest in
new schools and new
roads and new
science and
technology.
Our government
should work for us,
not against us. It
should help us, not
hurt us. It should
ensure opportunity
not just for those
with the most money
and influence, but
for every American
who’s willing to
work.
That’s the promise
of America – the
idea that we are
responsible for
ourselves, but that
we also rise or fall
as one nation; the
fundamental belief
that I am my
brother’s keeper; I
am my sister’s
keeper.
That’s the promise
we need to keep.
That’s the change we
need right now. So
let me spell out
exactly what that
change would mean if
I am President.
Change means a tax
code that doesn’t
reward the lobbyists
who wrote it, but
the American workers
and small businesses
who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain,
I will stop giving
tax breaks to
corporations that
ship jobs overseas,
and I will start
giving them to
companies that
create good jobs
right here in
America.
I will eliminate
capital gains taxes
for the small
businesses and the
start-ups that will
create the
high-wage, high-tech
jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes –
cut taxes – for 95%
of all working
families. Because in
an economy like
this, the last thing
we should do is
raise taxes on the
middle-class.
And for the sake of
our economy, our
security, and the
future of our
planet, I will set a
clear goal as
President: in ten
years, we will
finally end our
dependence on oil
from the Middle
East.
Washington’s been
talking about our
oil addiction for
the last thirty
years, and John
McCain has been
there for twenty-six
of them. In that
time, he’s said no
to higher
fuel-efficiency
standards for cars,
no to investments in
renewable energy, no
to renewable fuels.
And today, we import
triple the amount of
oil as the day that
Senator McCain took
office.
Now is the time to
end this addiction,
and to understand
that drilling is a
stop-gap measure,
not a long-term
solution. Not even
close.
As President, I will
tap our natural gas
reserves, invest in
clean coal
technology, and find
ways to safely
harness nuclear
power. I’ll help our
auto companies
re-tool, so that the
fuel-efficient cars
of the future are
built right here in
America. I’ll make
it easier for the
American people to
afford these new
cars. And I’ll
invest 150 billion
dollars over the
next decade in
affordable,
renewable sources of
energy – wind power
and solar power and
the next generation
of biofuels; an
investment that will
lead to new
industries and five
million new jobs
that pay well and
can’t ever be
outsourced.
America, now is not
the time for small
plans.
Now is the time to
finally meet our
moral obligation to
provide every child
a world-class
education, because
it will take nothing
less to compete in
the global economy.
Michelle and I are
only here tonight
because we were
given a chance at an
education. And I
will not settle for
an America where
some kids don’t have
that chance. I’ll
invest in early
childhood education.
I’ll recruit an army
of new teachers, and
pay them higher
salaries and give
them more support.
And in exchange,
I’ll ask for higher
standards and more
accountability. And
we will keep our
promise to every
young American – if
you commit to
serving your
community or your
country, we will
make sure you can
afford a college
education.
Now is the time to
finally keep the
promise of
affordable,
accessible health
care for every
single American. If
you have health
care, my plan will
lower your premiums.
If you don’t, you’ll
be able to get the
same kind of
coverage that
members of Congress
give themselves. And
as someone who
watched my mother
argue with insurance
companies while she
lay in bed dying of
cancer, I will make
certain those
companies stop
discriminating
against those who
are sick and need
care the most.
Now is the time to
help families with
paid sick days and
better family leave,
because nobody in
America should have
to choose between
keeping their jobs
and caring for a
sick child or ailing
parent.
Now is the time to
change our
bankruptcy laws, so
that your pensions
are protected ahead
of CEO bonuses; and
the time to protect
Social Security for
future generations.
And now is the time
to keep the promise
of equal pay for an
equal day’s work,
because I want my
daughters to have
exactly the same
opportunities as
your sons.
Now, many of these
plans will cost
money, which is why
I’ve laid out how
I’ll pay for every
dime – by closing
corporate loopholes
and tax havens that
don’t help America
grow. But I will
also go through the
federal budget, line
by line, eliminating
programs that no
longer work and
making the ones we
do need work better
and cost less –
because we cannot
meet twenty-first
century challenges
with a twentieth
century bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we
must also admit that
fulfilling America’s
promise will require
more than just
money. It will
require a renewed
sense of
responsibility from
each of us to
recover what John F.
Kennedy called our
“intellectual and
moral strength.”
Yes, government must
lead on energy
independence, but
each of us must do
our part to make our
homes and businesses
more efficient. Yes,
we must provide more
ladders to success
for young men who
fall into lives of
crime and despair.
But we must also
admit that programs
alone can’t replace
parents; that
government can’t
turn off the
television and make
a child do her
homework; that
fathers must take
more responsibility
for providing the
love and guidance
their children need.
Individual
responsibility and
mutual
responsibility –
that’s the essence
of America’s
promise.
And just as we keep
our keep our promise
to the next
generation here at
home, so must we
keep America’s
promise abroad. If
John McCain wants to
have a debate about
who has the
temperament, and
judgment, to serve
as the next
Commander-in-Chief,
that’s a debate I’m
ready to have.
For while Senator
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
from the real
threats we face.
When John McCain
said we could just
“muddle through” in
Afghanistan, I
argued for more
resources and more
troops to finish the
fight against the
terrorists who
actually attacked us
on 9/11, and made
clear that we must
take out Osama bin
Laden and his
lieutenants if we
have them in our
sights. John McCain
likes to say that
he’ll follow bin
Laden to the Gates
of Hell – but he
won’t even go to the
cave where he lives.
And today, as my
call for a time
frame to remove our
troops from Iraq has
been echoed by the
Iraqi government and
even the Bush
Administration, even
after we learned
that Iraq has a $79
billion surplus
while we’re
wallowing in
deficits, John
McCain stands alone
in his stubborn
refusal to end a
misguided war.
That’s not the
judgment we need.
That won’t keep
America safe. We
need a President who
can face the threats
of the future, not
keep grasping at the
ideas of the past.
You don’t defeat a
terrorist network
that operates in
eighty countries by
occupying Iraq. You
don’t protect Israel
and deter Iran just
by talking tough in
Washington. You
can’t truly stand up
for Georgia when
you’ve strained our
oldest alliances. If
John McCain wants to
follow George Bush
with more tough talk
and bad strategy,
that is his choice –
but it is not the
change we need.
We are the party of
Roosevelt. We are
the party of
Kennedy. So don’t
tell me that
Democrats won’t
defend this country.
Don’t tell me that
Democrats won’t keep
us safe. The
Bush-McCain foreign
policy has
squandered the
legacy that
generations of
Americans --
Democrats and
Republicans – have
built, and we are
here to restore that
legacy.
As
Commander-in-Chief,
I will never
hesitate to defend
this nation, but I
will only send our
troops into harm’s
way with a clear
mission and a sacred
commitment to give
them the equipment
they need in battle
and the care and
benefits they
deserve when they
come home.
I will end this war
in Iraq responsibly,
and finish the fight
against al Qaeda and
the Taliban in
Afghanistan. I will
rebuild our military
to meet future
conflicts. But I
will also renew the
tough, direct
diplomacy that can
prevent Iran from
obtaining nuclear
weapons and curb
Russian aggression.
I will build new
partnerships to
defeat the threats
of the 21st century:
terrorism and
nuclear
proliferation;
poverty and
genocide; climate
change and disease.
And I will restore
our moral standing,
so that America is
once again that
last, best hope for
all who 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.
But what I will not
do is suggest that
the Senator takes
his positions for
political purposes.
Because one of the
things that we have
to change in our
politics is the idea
that people cannot
disagree without
challenging each
other’s character
and patriotism.
The times are too
serious, the stakes
are too high for
this same partisan
playbook. So let us
agree that
patriotism has no
party. I love this
country, and so do
you, and so does
John McCain. The men
and women who serve
in our battlefields
may be Democrats and
Republicans and
Independents, but
they have fought
together and bled
together and some
died together under
the same proud flag.
They have not served
a Red America or a
Blue America – they
have served the
United States of
America.
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 tough
choices, and
Democrats as well as
Republicans will
need to cast off the
worn-out ideas and
politics of the
past. For part of
what has been lost
these past eight
years can’t just be
measured by lost
wages or bigger
trade deficits. What
has also been lost
is our sense of
common purpose – our
sense of higher
purpose. And that’s
what we have to
restore.
We may not agree on
abortion, but surely
we can agree on
reducing the number
of unwanted
pregnancies in this
country. The reality
of gun ownership may
be different for
hunters in rural
Ohio than for those
plagued by
gang-violence in
Cleveland, but don’t
tell me we can’t
uphold the Second
Amendment while
keeping AK-47s out
of the hands of
criminals. I know
there are
differences on
same-sex marriage,
but surely we can
agree that our gay
and lesbian brothers
and sisters deserve
to visit the person
they love in the
hospital and to live
lives free of
discrimination.
Passions fly on
immigration, but I
don’t know anyone
who benefits when a
mother is separated
from her infant
child or an employer
undercuts American
wages by hiring
illegal workers.
This too is part of
America’s promise –
the promise of a
democracy where we
can find the
strength and grace
to bridge divides
and unite in common
effort.
I know there are
those who dismiss
such beliefs as
happy talk. They
claim that our
insistence on
something larger,
something firmer and
more honest in our
public life is just
a Trojan Horse for
higher taxes and the
abandonment of
traditional values.
And that’s to be
expected. Because if
you don’t have any
fresh ideas, then
you use stale
tactics to scare the
voters. If you don’t
have a record to run
on, then you paint
your opponent as
someone people
should run from.
You make a big
election about small
things.
And you know what –
it’s worked before.
Because it feeds
into the cynicism we
all have about
government. When
Washington doesn’t
work, all its
promises 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.
I get it. I realize
that I am not the
likeliest candidate
for this office. I
don’t fit the
typical pedigree,
and I haven’t spent
my career in the
halls of Washington.
But I stand before
you tonight because
all across America
something is
stirring. What the
nay-sayers don’t
understand is that
this election has
never been about me.
It’s been about you.
For eighteen long
months, you have
stood up, one by
one, and said enough
to the politics of
the past. You
understand that in
this election, the
greatest risk we can
take is to try the
same old politics
with the same old
players and expect a
different result.
You have shown what
history teaches us –
that at defining
moments like this
one, the change we
need doesn’t come
from Washington.
Change comes to
Washington. Change
happens because the
American people
demand it – because
they rise up and
insist on new ideas
and new leadership,
a new politics for a
new time.
America, this is one
of those moments.
I believe that as
hard as it will be,
the change we need
is coming. Because
I’ve seen it.
Because I’ve lived
it. I’ve seen it in
Illinois, when we
provided health care
to more children and
moved more families
from welfare to
work. I’ve seen it
in Washington, when
we worked across
party lines to open
up government and
hold lobbyists more
accountable, to give
better care for our
veterans and keep
nuclear weapons out
of terrorist hands.
And I’ve seen it in
this campaign. In
the young people who
voted for the first
time, and in those
who got involved
again after a very
long time. In the
Republicans who
never thought they’d
pick up a Democratic
ballot, but did.
I’ve seen it in the
workers who would
rather cut their
hours back a day
than see their
friends lose their
jobs, in the
soldiers who
re-enlist after
losing a limb, in
the good neighbors
who take a stranger
in when a hurricane
strikes and the
floodwaters rise.
This country of ours
has more wealth than
any nation, but
that’s not what
makes us rich. We
have the most
powerful military on
Earth, but that’s
not what makes us
strong. Our
universities and our
culture are the envy
of the world, but
that’s not what
keeps the world
coming to our
shores.
Instead, it is that
American spirit –
that American
promise – that
pushes us forward
even when the path
is uncertain; that
binds us together in
spite of our
differences; that
makes us fix our eye
not on what is seen,
but what is unseen,
that better place
around the bend.
That promise is our
greatest
inheritance. It’s a
promise I make to my
daughters when I
tuck them in at
night, and a promise
that you make to
yours – a promise
that has led
immigrants to cross
oceans and pioneers
to travel west; a
promise that led
workers to picket
lines, and women to
reach for the
ballot.
And it is that
promise that forty
five years ago
today, brought
Americans from every
corner of this land
to stand together on
a Mall in
Washington, before
Lincoln’s Memorial,
and hear a young
preacher from
Georgia speak of his
dream.
The men and women
who gathered there
could’ve heard many
things. They
could’ve heard words
of anger and
discord. They
could’ve been told
to succumb to the
fear and frustration
of so many dreams
deferred.
But what the people
heard instead –
people of every
creed and color,
from every walk of
life – is that in
America, our destiny
is inextricably
linked. That
together, our dreams
can be one.
“We cannot walk
alone,” the preacher
cried. “And as we
walk, we must make
the 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 so
many children to
educate, and so many
veterans to care
for. Not with an
economy to fix and
cities to rebuild
and farms to save.
Not with so many
families to protect
and so many lives to
mend. America, we
cannot turn back. We
cannot walk alone.
At this moment, in
this election, we
must pledge once
more to march into
the future. Let us
keep that promise –
that American
promise – and in the
words of Scripture
hold firmly, without
wavering, to the
hope that we
confess.
Thank you, God Bless
you, and God Bless
the United States of
America.
EXCERPTS
OF
JOE
BIDEN-DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL
CONVENTION—AS
PREPARED
FOR
DELIVERY
Excerpts
of
Joe
Biden—as
prepared
for
delivery
Democratic
National
Convention
Denver,
Colorado
Wednesday,
August
27,
2008
Barack
Obama
and
I
took
very
different
journeys
to
this
destination,
but
we
share
a
common
story.
Mine
began
in
Scranton,
Pennsylvania,
and
then
Wilmington,
Delaware,
with
a
dad
who
fell
on
hard
economic
times,
but
who
always
told
me:
“Champ,
when
you
get
knocked
down,
get
up...
get
up.”
My
mother's
creed
is
the
American
creed:
no
one
is
better
than
you.
You
are
everyone's
equal,
and
everyone
is
equal
to
you.
My
parents
taught
us
to
live
our
faith
and
treasure
our
family.
We
learned
the
dignity
of
work,
and
we
were
told
that
anyone
can
make
it
if
they
try.
That
was
America's
promise.
For
those
of
us
who
grew
up
in
middle
class
neighborhoods
like
Scranton
and
Wilmington,
that
was
the
American
dream
–
and
we
knew
it.
-
You
can
learn
an
awful
lot
about
a
man
campaigning
with
him,
debating
him,
and
seeing
how
he
reacts
under
pressure.
You
learn
about
the
strength
of
his
mind.
But
even
more
importantly,
you
learn
about
the
quality
of
his
heart.
I
watched
how
he
touched
people,
how
he
inspired
them,
and
I
realized
he
has
tapped
into
the
oldest
American
belief
of
all:
we
don't
have
to
accept
a
situation
we
cannot
bear.
We
have
the
power
to
change
it.
-
The
choice
in
this
election
is
clear.
These
times
require
more
than
a
good
soldier
–
they
require
a
wise
leader.
A
leader
who
can
deliver
change.
The
change
everybody
knows
we
need.
Barack
Obama
will
deliver
that
change.
-
As
we
gather
here
tonight,
our
country
is
less
secure
and
more
isolated
than
at
any
time
in
recent
history.
The
Bush-McCain
foreign
policy
has
dug
us
into
a
very
deep
hole,
with
very
few
friends
to
help
us
climb
out.
Should
we
trust
John
McCain’s
judgment
when
he
says
there
can
be
no
timelines
to
drawdown
our
troops
from
Iraq
–
that
we
must
stay
indefinitely?
Or
should
we
listen
to
Barack
Obama,
who
says
shift
responsibility
to
the
Iraqis
–
and
set
a
time
to
bring
our
combat
troops
home?
Now,
after
six
long
years,
the
Bush
administration
and
the
Iraqi
government
are
on
the
verge
of
setting
a
date
to
bring
our
troops
home.
John
McCain
was
wrong.
Barack
Obama
was
right.
-
Now,
it’s
our
responsibility
to
meet
that
challenge.
Millions
of
Americans
have
been
knocked
down.
And
this
is
the
time
as
Americans,
together,
we
get
back
up.
Source: Obama
for America |
|
