Authentic Change
The following are additional excerpts from the speech Senator Barack Obama gave on June 1, 2008, at the Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota:
“John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy, he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.
“Maybe if he met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay his sister’s medical bills, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. We need to pass a health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it.
“Maybe if John McCain met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future -- an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need.
“And maybe if John McCain spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul, Minnesota, or in New Orleans, Louisiana, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education and recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support, and finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the few, but a birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America.
“Now, the other side will offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a good thing, that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate that the American people deserve -- on the issues that will determine the future of this country and the future of our children. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. What you won't see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.”
“John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy, he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.
“Maybe if he met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay his sister’s medical bills, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. We need to pass a health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it.
“Maybe if John McCain met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future -- an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need.
“And maybe if John McCain spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul, Minnesota, or in New Orleans, Louisiana, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education and recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support, and finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the few, but a birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America.
“Now, the other side will offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a good thing, that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate that the American people deserve -- on the issues that will determine the future of this country and the future of our children. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. What you won't see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.”
posted by Jim O'Leary | 12:00 AM
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