Iowa Caucus Night 愛荷華州之夜

1、IOWA CAUCUS NIGHTJanuary 3, 2008 | Des Moines, Iowa Thank you, Iowa.You know, they said this day would never come.They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.But on this January nightat this defining

2、moment in historyyou have done what the cynics said we couldnt do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008. In lines that stretched around schools and churches; in small towns and big cities; you came together as Dem

3、ocrats, Republicans, and independents to stand up and say that we are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come.You said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger thats consumed Washington; to end the political strategy thats been all about divisio

4、n and instead make it about additionto build a coalition for change that stretches through Red states and Blue states . Because thats how well win in November, and thats how well finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation. We are choosing hope over fear . Were choosing unity over division

5、and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.You said the time has come to tell the lobbyists who think their money and their influence speak louder than our voices that they dont own this government, we do; and we are here to take it back.The time has come for a President who wil

6、l be honest about the choices and the challenges we face; who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree; who wont just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to know. And in New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that President for

7、 America.Thank you.Ill be a President who finally makes health care affordable and available to every single American the same way I expanded health care in Illinoisbyby bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done.Ill be a President who ends the tax breaks for companies that ship

8、 our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.Ill be a President who harnesses the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil once and for all .And Ill be a President who ends this war

9、 in Iraq and finally brings our troops home; who restores our moral standing; who understands that 9/11 is not a way to scare up votes, but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century; common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons; cli

10、mate change and poverty; genocide and disease.Tonight, we are one step closer to that vision of America because of what you did here in Iowa. And so Id especially like to thank the organizers and the precinct captains; the volunteers and the staff who made this all possible.And while Im at it, on th

11、ank-yous , I think it makes sense for me to thank the love of my life, the rock of the Obama family, the closer on the campaign trail give it up for Michelle Obama .I know you didnt do this for me. You did this . . . you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideasthat in th

12、e face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.I know thisI know this because while I may be standing here tonight, Ill never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa organiz

13、ing, and working, and fighting to make peoples lives just a little bit better.I know how hard it is. It comes with little sleep, little pay, and a lot of sacrifice. There are days of disappointment, but sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like thisa night . . . a night that, years from now,

14、when weve made the changes we believe in; when more families can afford to see a doctor; when our childrenwhen Malia and Sasha and your childreninherit a planet thats a little cleaner and safer, when the world sees America differently, and America sees itself as a nation less divided and more united

15、; youll be able to look back with pride and say that this was the moment when it all began.This was the moment when the improbable beat what Washington always said was inevitable. This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too longwhen we rallied people of all parties an

16、d ages to a common cause; when we finally gave Americans whod never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so.This was the moment when we finally beat back the politics of fear, and doubt, and cynicism ; the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up.

17、This was the moment.Years from now, youll look back and youll say that this was the momentthis was the placewhere America remembered what it means to hope.For many months, weve been teased , even derided , for talking about hope.But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. Its not ignoring th

18、e enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. Its not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary , that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for

19、it, and to fight for it.Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still cant afford health care for a sister whos ill; a young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.

20、Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasnt been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq; who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of genera

21、tions to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedoms cause.Hope . . . hope . . . is what led me here todaywith a father from Kenya ; a mother from Kansas ; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that