Exactly forty years ago this nation lost a great leader, a man of vision and hope, a man who dared to believe in a world where a person is judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Four years ago America was introduced to a man who had the audacity to say "We are not red states, we are not blue states, we are the United States of America". Those words sent chills up my spine as I and many Americans had grown so weary of bitter political divisions in this country.
Our country suffered a horrible trauma on September 11, 2001 and for a brief moment we forgot our divisions and were all united as Americans. The French said "Today we are all Americans" and Russians lit candles in front of the American embassy as the world united behind us.
Then America lost it way.
It allowed fear to overpower it. Politicians cynically used fear to win and retain power. The political rancor in this country grew to a fevered pitch. The President of the United States forgot the very reason this nation was founded and has attempted to repeal the very foundation of our precious liberty and freedom.
A man, only a man came along. A man with a Muslim black skinned African born father. A man with a Christian white skinned American born mother. A man who spent years in childhood in a foreign country seeing the world from a different perspective and completed his childhood on American soil. An intelligent man with an Ivy League law degree who could have commanded a large salary in corporate America, but chose to organize for those less fortunate in the streets of Chicago.
This man, like Dr. King, a dreamer, a man who believes in his own words and inspires millions to dare to believe in those words. This man who prefers to work with those things that unite us rather than those things that divide us. This man who respects those who he disagrees with and those he disagrees with believe he respects them. This man who will listen to all and do his best to come to a common goal, a common purpose for the benefit of most people.
This man, Barack Obama.
This year, the Democratic Party has an unparalleled opportunity in having two stellar candidates for President of the United States, two historic candidates. The first truly viable woman who could be President, Senator Hillary Clinton and the first viable African American who could be President, Barack Obama.
If Hillary Clinton were to be President, this nation would be in the hands of a very competent person and she would undoubtedly make a decent President.
But can Hillary Clinton bring together a coalition of Americans, young and old, men and women, black and white, conservative, moderate and liberal, rich and poor, gay and straight, Christian, Muslim, Jewish and atheist, like Barack Obama?
Can Hillary Clinton be a stronger candidate against a John McCain, an American hero who still appeals to many independents and conservative Democrats then Barack Obama?
To be sure, Hillary is an inspiration to many, especially women, as she should be, and Americans can be proud to elect the first woman President of the United States.
But does Hillary Clinton have the same power of persuasion, of authenticity that Barack Obama exudes?
Can Hillary Clinton cause people to believe again, to lose their cynicism and bring our nation together, to heal old wounds, racial sins, political bitterness and cause an audacity of hope as I believe Barack Obama is uniquely suited to do and can do?
Perhaps I put too much hope in this man. He is only a man. Yet, it is not he who would do these things, it is us. But people need a leader who inspires them to come together, to believe and to work together for the common good.
I believe Barack Obama is a man of destiny, a once in a lifetime leader, who has come on the stage of history when the nation and the world need him most. We cannot put off this leader, we have a fierce urgency of now to let this man lead this nation and lead the free world, to help heal our wounds and bring honor to our nation in the world.
We can do this folks if we dare to believe.
Yes we can!
Listen to the words of this man and judge for yourselves....
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation,
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed the trail toward freedom,
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness,
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballots, a president who choose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land,
Yes we can, to justice and equality,
Yes we can.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity
Yes we can heal this nation
Yes we can repair this world
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics and they will only grow louder and more dissonant.
We've been asked to pause for a reality check.
We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in this unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
The hopes of the little girl who goes to the public school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A.
We will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest,
That we are one people, that we are one nation,
And together we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea,
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
YES WE CAN!!!