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are
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thank you so
much thank you so much thank you thank
you thank you so
much thank you so much thank
you thank
you thank you dick
Durban you make us all proud
on behalf of the great state of
Illinois Crossroads of the
nation Land of
Lincoln let me express my deepest
gratitude for the privilege of
addressing this
convention tonight is a particular honor
for me because let's face it my presence
on this stage is pretty
unlikely my father was a foreign student
born and raised in a small village in
Kenya he grew up hurting goats went to
school in a tin roof Shack his father my
grandfather was a cook a domestic
servant to the
British but my grandfather had larger
dreams for his son through hard work and
perseverance my father got a scholarship
to study in a magical place America that
Shone as a beacon of freedom and
opportunity to so many who had come
before
while studying here my father met my
mother she was born in a town on the
other side of the world in
Kansas her father worked on oil rigs and
Farms through most of the
depression the day after Pearl Harbor my
grandfather signed up for Duty joined
Patton's Army marched across Europe back
home home my grandmother raised a baby
and went to work on a bomber assembly
line after the war they studied on the
GI Bill bought a house through FHA and
later moved West all the way to Hawaii
in search of
opportunity and They too had Big Dreams
for their
daughter a common dream born of two
continents my parents shared not only an
improbable love they shared an Abiding
Faith in the possib abilities of this
nation they would give me an African
name Barack or blessed believing that in
a tolerant America your name is no
barrier to
success they
imagine they imagine me going to the
best
schools in the land even though they
weren't Rich because in a generous
America you don't have to be rich to
achieve your
potential they're both passed away now
and yet I know that on this night they
do look down on me with great pride they
stand here and I stand here today
grateful for the diversity of my
Heritage aware that my parents' Dreams
live on in my two precious
daughters I stand here knowing that my
story is part of the larger American
story that I owe a debt to all of those
who came before me and that in no other
country on earth is my story even
possible
tonight We Gather to affirm the
greatness of our
nation not because of the height of our
skyscrapers or the power of our military
or the size of our economy our pride is
based on a very simple
premise summed up in a declaration made
over 200 years
ago we hold these truths to be
self-evident that all men are created
equal that they are endowed by their
creator with certain inalienable rights
that among these are life liberty and
the pursuit of happiness that is the
true genius of
America a
faith a faith in simple
dreams an insistence on Small
Miracles that we can tuck in our
children at night and know that they are
fed and clothed and safe from
harm that we can say what we think write
what we think without hearing a sudden
knock on the door that we can have an
idea and start our own
business without paying a
bribe that we can participate in the
political process without fear of
Retribution and that our votes will be
counted at least most of the
time this year in this election we are
called to reaffirm our values and our
commitments to hold them against a hard
reality and see how we're measuring up
to the legacy of our forbears and the
promise of future generations and fellow
Americans Democrats Republicans
Independence I say to you tonight we
have more work to
do more work to do for the workers I met
in Galesburg Illinois who are losing
their union jobs at the mayag plant
that's moving to Mexico and now are
having to compete with their own
children for jobs that pay seven bucks
an hour more to do for the father that I
met who was losing his job and choking
back the tears wondering how he would
pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son
needs without the health benefits that
he counted
on more to do for the young woman in
East St Louis and thousands more like
her who has the grades has the drive has
the will but doesn't have the money to
go to college now don't get me wrong the
people I meet in small towns and big
cities and diners and office Parks they
don't expect government to solve all
their problems they know they have to
work hard to get ahead and they want to
going to the collar counties around
Chicago and people will tell you they
don't want their tax money Wasted by a
welfare agency or by the
Pentagon go
in go into any Inner City neighborhood
and folks will tell you that government
alone can't teach our kids to learn they
know that parents have to teach that
children can't achieve unless we raise
their expectations and turn off the
television sets and eradicate the
slander that says a black youth with a
book is acting white they know those
things people don't
expect people don't expect government to
solve all their
problems but they sense deep in their
bones that with just a slight change in
priorities we can make sure that every
child in America has a decent shot at
light and that the doors of opportunity
remain open to all they know we can do
better and they want that
choice in this election we offer that
choice our party has chosen a man to
lead us who embodies the best this
country has to offer and that man is
John KY
John krey understands the ideals of
community faith and service because
they've defined his life from his heroic
service to Vietnam to his years as a
prosecutor in lieutenant governor
through two decades in the United States
Senate he's devoted himself to this
country again and again we've seen him
make tough choices when easier ones were
available his values and his record
affirm what is best in
US John krey believes in an America
where hard work is rewarded so instead
of offering tax breaks to company
shipping jobs overseas he offers them to
companies creating jobs here at
home John krey believes in an America
where all Americans can afford the same
health coverage our politicians in
Washington have for
themselves John KY believes in energy
Independence so we aren't held hostage
to the profits of of oil companies or
the sabotage of foreign oil
fields John krey believes in the
Constitutional freedoms that have made
our country the Envy of the world and he
will never sacrifice our basic Liberties
nor use Faith as a wedge to divide
us and John KY
believes that in a dangerous world war
must be an option sometimes but it
should never be the first
option you know a while back a while
back I met a young man named Sheamus in
a VFW Hall in East Molen Illinois he was
a good-look kid 62 63 cleare eyed with
an easy
smile he told me he joined the Marines
and was heading to Iraq the following
week and as I listened to him explain
why he'd enlist it the absolute Faith he
had in our country and its leaders his
Devotion to duty and service I thought
this young man was all that any of us
might ever hope for in a
child but then I asked myself are we
serving Sheamus as well as he's serving
us I thought of the 900 men and women
Sons and Daughters husbands and wives
friends and neighbors who won't be
returning to their own
hometowns I thought of the families I'd
met who were struggling to get by
without a loved one's full income or
whose loved ones had returned with a
limb missing or nerve shattered but
still lacked long-term health benefits
because they were
reservists when we send our young men
and women into harms way we have a
solemn obligation not to fudge the
numbers or shade the truth about why
they are going to care for their
families while they're gone to tend to
the soldiers upon their return and to
never ever go to War without enough
troops to win the war secure the peace
and earn the respect of the
world now now let me be clear let me be
clear we have real enemies in the world
these enemies must be found they must be
pursued and they must be defeated John
Carrey knows
and just as Lieutenant KY did not
hesitate to risk his life to protect the
men who served with him in Vietnam
President Cary will not hesitate one
moment to use our military might to keep
America safe and
secure John Cary believes in
America and he knows that it's not
enough for just some of us to prosper
for alongside our famous individualism
there's another ingredient in the
American soag
a belief that we're all connected as one
people if there is a child on the south
side of Chicago who can't read that
matters to me even if it's not my child
if there's a senior citizen somewhere
who can't pay for their prescription
drugs and having a choose between
medicine and the rent that makes my life
poor even if it's not my
grandparent if there's an Arab American
family being rounded up without benefit
of an attorney or due process that
threatens my civil liberties
it is that fundamental
belief it is that fundamental belief I
am My Brother's Keeper I am My Sister's
Keeper that makes this country
work it's what allows us to pursue our
individual dreams and yet still come
together as one American Family e pluris
UNAM out of many
one now even as we speak there are those
who are preparing to divide us the Spin
Masters the negative ad Peddlers who
embrace the politics of anything
goes well I say to them tonight there is
not a liberal America and a conservative
America there is the United States of
America there is not a Black America and
a white America and Latino America
America and Asian America there's the
United States of
America the pundits the pundits like to
slice and dice our country into red
States and blue states red States for
Republicans blue States for Democrats
but I've got news for them too we
worship an awesome God in the blue
States and we don't like federal agents
poking around in our libraries in the
red
States we coach little league in the
blue States and yes we've got some gay
friends in the red
states there are patriots who oppose the
war in Iraq and their Patriots who
supported the war in Iraq We Are One
people all of us pledging allegiance to
the Stars and Stripes all of us
defending the United States of
America in the end
in the end in the end that's what this
election is
about do we participate in a politics of
cynicism or do we participate in a
politics of
Hope John KY calls on us to Hope John
Edwards calls on us to hope I'm not
talking about blind optimism here the
almost willful ignorance that thinks
unemployment will go away if we just
don't think about it or healthc care
crisis will solve itself if we just
ignore it that's not what I'm talking
about I'm talking about something more
substantial it's the hope of slaves
sitting around a fire singing freedom
songs the hope of immigrants setting out
for diff Distant
Shores the hope of a young Naval
Lieutenant bravely patrolling the makong
Delta the hope of a mill worker's son
who dares to defy the odds the hope of a
skinny kid with a funny name who
believes that America has place for him
too hope hope in the face of difficulty
hope in the face of
uncertainty The Audacity Of Hope in the
end that is God's greatest gift to us
the Bedrock of this nation a belief in
Things Not Seen A belief that there are
better days head I believe that we can
give our middle class relief and provide
Working Families with a road to
opportunity I believe we can provide
jobs to the jobless homes to the
homeless and reclaim young people in
cities Across America from violence and
despair I believe that we have a
righteous wind at our backs and that as
we stand on the crossroads of History we
can make the right choices and meet the
challenges that face US America tonight
if you feel the same energy that I do if
you feel the same urgency that I do if
you feel the same passion that I do if
you feel the same hopefulness that I do
if we do what we must do then I have no
doubt that all across the country from
Florida to Oregon from Washington to
Maine the people will rise up in
November and John krey will be sworn in
as president and John Edwards will be
sworn in as vice president and this
country will reclaim its promise and out
of this long iCal Darkness a brighter
day will come thank you very much
everybody God bless you thank you
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