Yesterday the Obama campaign posted on youtube a video of an impromptu discussion that Obama had on Friday with his campaign HQ staff and volunteers in Chicago after becoming the presumptive nominee. This unscripted 14 minutes provides a wonderful glimpse of what it’s like to work with Obama and what it will be like having Obama as president. For those of us who love to reflect on the words, I've transcribed much of the video.
In these winsome 14 minutes, Obama humbly congratulates his staff and challenges them redouble their amazing efforts over the next 5 months. I have transcribed much of the video so you can appreciate it and think about it. I think it says an awful lot not just for those he was addressing, but also for us.
Kid Oakland has a great diary on the video challenging us to respond. This is a complementary one containing my transcription of much of the video.
When I started this campaign, I wasn’t sure that I would be the best of candidates. But what I was absolutely positive of was that there was the possibility of creating the best organization. Because I am a big believer that the way great things happen is when people are willing to submerge their own egos and just focus on bringing their particular gifts and passions and energies to a common task that great things can be accomplished. That’s my old organizing mindset. It’s not just a gimmick. It’s not just a shtick. I actually believe in it. So in August what I told you guys is "your candidate is making some mistakes and he tripped and stumbled and made some gaffes. We are going up against a formidable set of opponents. We’re confronting a lot of skepticism and cynicism out there. If you guys stick with it, if you guys remain invested in it, if you are willing to lift me up and pull me across the finish line, this thing could happen." What is amazing is that you guys did it. You stuck to it. You worked hard. You lifted each other up. You know you covered for each other. You made up for each other’s mistakes. You did not blame each other when things went wrong. There was just a good mood, a good heart to this campaign. That’s what I am most proud of. Even if we had lost, I would have been proud. Because nobody thought we could do it. Collectively you, all of you, most of whom I’m not even sure are of drinking age, have created the best political organization in America....
I have often said in speeches that this is not about me. I know sometimes it may come off as just a line. But I really mean it. This campaign has been about you. You have discovered your collective ability to make history and to just move an entire nation in a new direction. That is a remarkable feat. Everyone is marveling at it....
We’re going to have to turn around and work even harder because the truth is that is. People were asking, a lot of reporters were asking, "How come you don’t seem more exuberant". It’s astonishing how just that little "fist bump" go so much play. I guess that was our celebration. What I’ve told the reporters is that because as I’ve traveled over the last 15, 16, 17 months and I’ve met people who are struggling, single moms who don’t have health care for their kids, guys who have been laid off from their jobs, whole towns that are basically dying because they have lost their factory. When you see these things you really do get this enormous sense of obligation. When were at the beginning of this thing if I had lost Iowa it would have been Ok. One of the other candidates would have emerged... But because we’ve won, we have no choice. We have to win....
Understand that coming back we are going to have to work twice as hard as we have been working. We are going to have to be smarter. We are going to be tougher. Our game is going to have to be tighter. We are going to be attacked more viciously. We are going to have to respond more quickly. We are going to have to raise more money. I am going to have to be a better candidate. Each and every one of you, whatever it is that you do, you are going to have to do it better....
We don’t have a choice. Because now, if we screw this up, all those people that I have met who really need help, they are not going to get help. Those of you who are concerned about global warming. I don’t care what John McCain says. He’s not going to push that agenda hard. All those you are concerned about Darfur. I can guarantee you they are not going to spend any political capital on that. Those of you who are concerned about education. There will be a bunch of lip service. Then there will be more of the same. Those of you who are concerned about making sure there is a sense of fairness in our economy. It will be less fair.
So . Now everybody is counting on you, not just me. I know that’s a heavy weight.
But also what a magnificent position to find yourself in, where the whole country is counting on you to change it, for the better. Those moments don’t come around very often. And here you are five months away from having transformed the country and made history and changed the world. So we've got to seize it.
Wow! Let's seize this moment.