The Speech that Made Obama President

Barack Obama in 2004 was totally unknown, people said: I don't know who this guy is, I wonder why they chose him. They interpreted him as a bit of an upstart, as some sort of young rising figure in the party, but no one knew who this guy was. This was his chance to introduce himself to the people tonight. It's a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is quite unlikely. My father was a foreign student born and raised in a small town in Kenya, which is quite a political

speech

. is that if you can somehow incorporate your story into this larger American story, the next thing he says is better, since the mothers' family, his grandfather fought in World War II, use the GI Bill, a deal in Kansas so that white people can say huh, oh, he's just like us, my my parents shared not just an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.

I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all who came before me and that in no other country on earth is my story even possible before this

speech

we have had four years of George Bush and we feel that as a country we have grown further and further apart Oh, the war was largely a divisive partisan race Obama's speeches and in some ways an antidote to that, along with our famous individualism, there is another ingredient in the American saga: the belief that we are 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 is an elderly person somewhere we can't afford their medication prescription drugs and having to choose between medications and rent that impoverishes my life, even if it's not my grandfather, is that fundamental belief.

I am my brother's keeper. I am my sister's guardian. Guardian who makes this country work e pluribus unum of many, gives a speech that the priests age his entire political message from 2008, which is the post-partisan argument that serves, now even as we speak there are those who are preparing to divide us. dominates the negative publicity peddlers who embraced the anything-goes policy. I tell you tonight that there is not a liberal America and a conservative America, but the United States of America. Obama was born with two great gifts: one is his mind and the other. the other is his ability to speak before large groups of people.

There are three things Obama does that really make his speech effective. He wants to make the story concrete. He likes history and he loves antithesis. The use of repetition in structure to show contrast. There is no liberal. America or a conservative America, there is one there the pundits like to divide our country into the red and blue states, but I have news for them too: we worship a wonderful God in the blue states and we don't like it. federal agents snooping through our libraries in the red states we train little leadership in the blue states and yes, we have some gay friends in the red states we are one people, we all swear allegiance to the stars and stripes, we all defend the United States of America the the way he used his hands he actually points out a lot a lot of this a lot of this a lot of that when he does it he gives off this feeling of energy I'm new I'm someone dynamic and I don't get that much anymore.

He is a little more solemn and reserved in his speeches today. I think in the end it reflects more on his position. In the end, that's what this election is about. Are we engaging in a politics of cynicism or are we engaging in a politics of cynicism? participating in a politics of hope is the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing songs of freedom the hope of immigrants leaving for distant shores the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta the hope of a son of a factory worker who dares to defy the odds the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes America has a place to go hope in the face of hardship hope in the face of uncertainty the audacity of hope' its emergence at that convention what was the best speech of the convention better than John Kerry's was electrifying and without it I wouldn't be

president

.

I think sincerity means a lot, there are people who when they speak tell the truth as they see it and are very effective in doing so. I believe that this country will regain its promise and out of this long political darkness there will come a better day. Thank you very much to all.