The political power of the words

THE POLITICAL POWER OF THE WORDS

"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 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 drew 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 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, callused hand by callused 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 have 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."

Barack Obama

NEW YORK, November 5^th 2008- at 23:00 comes the moment that all history books will explain to the future generations; CNN and ABC announce in few instants that Barack Obama is the first Afro-American to be elected as President of the USA.

The changing has arrived and, live from Chicago's Grant Park, Barack Obama gives his first speech as the 44^th president of the United States. Few hours after he officially won the election over Republican John McCain, this great man ascends the stage to thank all Americans who have put the trust in him to make a change in the country.

He's not alone: he takes centre stage together with his wife Michelle and their two daughters Malia and Sasha. Everybody could feel the magic atmosphere and when Obama pronounces his fist words, that's the apotheosis. His phrases are totally addressed to the USA: if they still had any doubts about their democracy, on that day they have the answer. America has never been so united for more than twenty years. He goes on thanking all the people who have supported him, including his family and providing a huge value to it. He also calls out to those who did not vote for him, reassuring them of hearing their voices and demanding their help, too.

What amazes in that speech is the hopefulness with which this President makes aware his own country of all the difficulties they are going to face together. He really believes in what he says, he speaks as a friend to his people and makes clear that he doesn't want any discrimination, either in skin colour and sexual tendencies or in political preferences. He is able to recall the significant problems he had to overcome with simple words and no regret, he refers to his worst political competitor John McCain by praising the hard sacrifices he had to endure. He calls him as "senator", a symbol of respect and fair play; the president congratulates this brave and selfless leader and expresses his desire to start working with him to renew their nation's promise. He thanks also his partner in the journey, Joe Biden, "a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with".

Heart is the key word of this text. All the passion Barack Obama puts in his work is clearly perceived in these 15 minutes speech. He is aware of the importance of his family for what he is, but he never forgets that this victory truly belongs to the people: "it belongs to you. It belongs to you". He repeats it twice.

His campaign was made of little money, that was offered by people who was nourished by the great power of the words he used in his speeches. Nobody will never forget the strong and affective slogan "Yes, we can!".

Going on speaking, Obama makes people aware that nothing can be done without sacrifice and gives special importance to the challenges America has to face: Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the planet in danger and the financial crisis. He is not an illusionist, he says directly that "the road ahead will be long"but he continues admitting that he has never been more hopeful than he is that night. The night in which he has become the president of a people whose help he asks for, to rebuild a great America "brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand". Because this victory is not the arrival point, Obama seeks for a change that can't happen without people.

He praises his people to resist the temptations that have ruined politics and remembers that all American History was based on human values such as self-reliance, individual liberty and last but not least national unity; it is at that point that he refers to Abraham Lincoln's words: "we are not enemies, but friends, though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection", to address to those whose support he has yet to earn, because he is their president and needs their help, too.           

He calls out another dawn for American history and promises support to the ones who seek security and want to defeat the terrorists, "the ones who want to tear the world down".

American true strength is to be found in the "enduring power of -their- ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, ad unyielding hope."

He addresses a relevant part of his speech to "a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta", said to be 106 years old. Her life goes through an American century, and that's the pretext he gets to talk about the great progress achieved in contrast to sexual and racial discrimination, hardly fought by Martin Luther King.

At the end of his speech the President announces a new time in which American people can look at what humanity has done 'til now with a new hope and stand up all together creeding "Yes, we can". Because there must be a pleasant future for the new generations and he promises a chance to open the doors on new opportunities for children, to restore prosperity and to promote peace in the world. The American dream is to reclaim and people have to reaffirm the truth of unity.

He finishes his speech praying God to bless the USA, showing his humble and devoted soul.

Barack Obama never says in his speech "America, I love you" but we strongly perceive all the passion and the deep feelings that made him the great leader he is. His hope has become our common hope, and the pursuit of his dreams our aim. His words had the power to make 65% of American people to vote for him!

Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4th 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama Sr. was of Luo ethnicity in Kenya; his mother, Ann Dunham was an American brought up in Kansas State. They divorced when Barack was 2 years old.

His father became Finance Minister in Kenya and eventually died in a road accident in 1982.

Since he was young, Obama has helped blacks fight for their rights from the city government. He worked to improve the living conditions of poor neighbourhoods which faced crimes unemployment.

He wrote an autobiographical book named "Dreams From My Father": A Story of Race and Inheritance which was published in mid 1995. Few months after this publication his mother Ann, who had moved to Hawaii from Indonesia in 1994, died.

He served terms in the Illinois State Senate, from year 1997 to 2004.

Barack Obama came into national limelight with an inspiring speech at July 2004 Democratic National Convention where he spoke against Bush's administration policies on Iraq war. His speech was the highlight of the convention and people who saw it knew that he was an emerging star. Obama is a great orator, at par with Martin Luther King Jr. and often compared with John F. Kennedy. People have waited for hours to hear him speak. During his presidential campaign he drew huge crowd. He has a flair for consensus building and he loves addressing crowds.

Though his father was brought up with Islamic faith, he was an atheist by choice, however, Barack follows Christianity.

On 2nd November 2004, he won the election by a great victory margin and was finally elected to the US Senate, therefore resigning from Illinois State Senate. Barack Obama became the fifth Afro-American senator in the history to do so.

Obama declared his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination in February 2007 at Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.

On November 4, 2008, Obama won the presidential election by a big margin.

There were not only nationwide, but worldwide celebrations on his victory.

His stances on ethics, stressing on government transparency, on education as his priorities with his reform No Child left behind and his promise of an affordable and accessible health care to all, has made him a favourite of many Americans and people have very high hope that he will fulfil all their dreams and expectations.