Barack Obama

“ Whether it's terrorism or climate change, global AIDS or the spread of weapons of mass destruction, America cannot meet the threats of this new century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America. ”

“ We are the nation that liberated a continent from a madman, that lifted ourselves from the depths of Depression, that won Civil Rights, and Women's Rights, and Voting Rights for all our people. We are the beacon that has led generations of weary travelers to find opportunity, and liberty, and hope on our doorstep. ”

“ As President, I will launch a campaign to recruit and support hundreds of thousands of new teachers across the country, because the most important part of any education is the person standing in the front of the classroom. It's time to treat teaching like the profession it is - paying teachers what they deserve and working with them - not against them - to develop the high standards we need. ”

“ When I am president, I will sign a universal health care law by the end of my first term. My plan will cover the uninsured by letting people buy into the same kind of health care plan that members of Congress give themselves. It will bring down costs by investing in information technology, and preventative care, and by stopping the drug companies from price-gouging when patients need their medicine. It will help business and families shoulder the burden of catastrophic care so that an illness doesn't lead to a bankruptcy. ”

“ Because we are facing a set of challenges we haven't seen in a generation - and if we don't meet those challenges, we could end up leaving our children a world that's a little poorer and a little meaner than we found it.
And so the American people are hungry for a different kind of politics - the kind of politics based on the ideals this country was founded upon. The idea that we are all connected as one people. That we all have a stake in one another. ”

“ It's time to turn the page on health care - to bring together unions and businesses, Democrats and Republicans, and to let the insurance and drug companies know that while they get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair. ”

“ We've been told that climate change is a hoax, that our broken schools cannot be fixed, that we are destined to send millions of dollars a day to Mideast dictators for their oil. And we've seen how a foreign policy based on bluster and bombast can lead us into a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged. ”

“ We understand it because we get the sense today that politics has become a business and not a mission. In the last several years, we have seen Washington become a place where keeping score of who's up and who's down is more important than who's working on behalf of the American people. ”

“ We have been told that our mounting debts don't matter, that the economy is doing great, and so Americans should be left to face their anxiety about rising health care costs and disappearing pensions on their own. ”

“ That we are not a country that runs prisons which lock people away without ever telling them why they are there or what they are charged with. We are not a country which preaches compassion to others while we allow bodies to float down the streets of a major American city. ”

“ For good reason, the rest of us have become cynical about what politics can achieve in this country, and as we've turned away in frustration, we know what's filled the void. The lobbyists and influence-peddlers with the cash and the connections - the ones who've turned government into a game only they can afford to play. ”

“ We must find a way to come together in this country - to realize that the responsibility we have to one another as Americans is greater than the pursuit of any ideological agenda or corporate bottom line. ”

“ And when we try to have an honest debate about the crises we face, whether it's on the Senate floor or a Sunday talk show, the conversation isn't about finding common ground, it's about finding someone to blame. ”

“ It's time to show the world that America is still the last, best hope of Earth. This President may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. ”

“ But this campaign that we're running has to be about your hopes, and your dreams, and what you will do. Because there are few obstacles that can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. ”

“ But I promise you this - I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change. ”

“ I'll put in place a low-carbon fuel standard like you have here in California that will take 32 million cars' worth of pollution off the road. And I'd raise the fuel efficiency standards for our cars and trucks because we know we have the technology to do it and it's time we did. ”

“ We will turn up the pressure on all those Republican Congressmen and Senators who refuse to acknowledge the reality that the American people know so well, and we will get this done. We will bring our troops home. ”