Speeches, text and more: August 2008 Archives

Here's a photographic look at the night, with full audio of the speech included.

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Here is Clinton's speech as prepared:

Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, who's husband Jesse Jr. won praise for his own speech earlier in the day to delegates on day one of the Democratic National Convention, says Michelle Obama did everything she needed to do in her much-anticipated remarks to close out the night. We caught up with Ald. Jackson waiting in the pancake line at the breakfast buffet after the delegates' morning meeting and got her reaction:

As you might imagine, for Barack, running for President is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.

I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.

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AS PREPARED

As you might imagine, for Barack, running for president is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother, Craig. I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.
 
At six-foot-six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too, literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me. He was watching over me. And he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day, 19 months ago when, with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change, we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's brought us to this moment.
 
But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey. I come here tonight as a sister blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend. I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president. I come here as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world. They're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future and all our children's future is my stake in this election.
 
And I come here as a daughter raised on the south side of Chicago by a father who was a blue-collar city worker and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
 
My dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk. It took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing, even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier and worked a little harder.
 
He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a single minute that you're loved and cherished and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college.
 
So I know firsthand from their lives and mine that the American dream endures. And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves.
 
And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
 
And as our friendship grew and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago after college. Instead of heading to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down and jobs dried up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.
 
The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks, doing the best they could to build a good life. They were parents living paycheck to paycheck, grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income, men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. They were ready to work. They wanted to contribute. They believed, like you and I believe, that America should be a place where you can make it if you try. Barack stood up that day and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about the world as it is and the world as it should be. And he said that all too often we accept the distance between the two and settle for the world as it is, even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations.
 
But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves, to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be.
 
It is because of their will and determination that this week we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
 
I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history, knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them, driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country: people who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight and head out for the night shift without disappointment, without regret. That goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.
 
The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table, the servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it. The young people across America serving our communities teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.
 
People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters and sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.
 
All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do. That we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.
 
That is why I love this country. And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities.
 
Because I believe that each of us--no matter what our age or background or walk of life--each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation. It's a belief Barack shares, a belief at the heart of his life's work. It's what he did all those years ago on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and after-school programs to keep kids safe, working block by block to help people lift up their families.
 
It's what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard-working families and making sure women get equal pay for equal work. It's what he's done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care, including mental health care.
 
That's why he's running: to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make health care available for every American and to make sure every child in this nation gets a world-class education all the way from preschool to college.
 
That's what Barack Obama will do as President of the United States of America. He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has--by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are.
 
You see, Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party, if any, you belong to. That's not how he sees the world.
He knows that thread that connects us--our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future--is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.
 
It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago. It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.
 
And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that's been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation. Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams, that Barack will fight for people like them and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.
 
And in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.
 
And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they--and your sons and daughters--will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming.
 
How this time, in this great country, where a girl from the south side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House. We committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.
 
So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future, out of gratitude to those whose triumphs we mark this week and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment, let us devote ourselves to finishing their work. Let us work together to fulfill their hopes and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America.
 
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Robert Gibbs talked to Lynn Sweet a few hours before what some are calling the biggest speech of Michelle Obama's life, a night when she has to introduce her husband to a nation and paint herself as a down-to-Earth family woman. Gibbs also says that the Obama's are not above babysitting on date night for he and his wife.

AS PREPARED

I'm sure Dr. King is looking down on us here in Denver, noting that this is the first political convention in history to take place within sight of his mountaintop.

On the day President Johnson submitted the Voting Rights Act to Congress, he said, "At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom."

So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was at Appomattox. So it was in Selma, Alabama. Tonight, I would like to add: and so it shall be in Denver, Colorado, with the nomination of Barack Obama to be President of the United States.

What a remarkable thing it is that the man who came to this convention four years ago as the keynote speaker is returning this year as our party's nominee. But for those of us who've known Barack over his decade in public office in Illinois the yearning for change, the hunger for unity that he's tapped into across the country has a familiar ring.

I remember when Barack first decided to run for the United States Senate. He'd had a remarkable career in the state Senate, reaching across the aisle to put a tax cut into the pockets of working families, to expand health care for more children and parents and to take on the lobbyists who had so much influence in Springfield.

But despite this record, most in Springfield didn't take his candidacy all that seriously. The party establishment was skeptical of this young leader from the South Side. They didn't know what to make of a man like Barack, with a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas and a funny name that few could pronounce. They didn't see how this former community organizer could possibly defeat candidates with more money, more name recognition and more backing from "all the right people."

But here's the thing: that race wasn't going to be decided in the halls of power in Springfield or the high rises on the lakefront. It was not going to be decided by the power brokers or opinion shapers. It was going to be decided by the people of Illinois. Illinois is America. It's great cities and small towns, it's old factories and new industries, it's timeless Midwestern values of faith, family and hard work. And it's black and white and Latino all living together, as one Illinois family, as one America. And the people of Illinois were hungry for change. From the old factory towns of our industrial north to the farms of our agrarian south, families had been struggling to meet the challenges of our global economy. And more often than not, they'd been harmed, rather than helped, by economic policies that failed to them get ahead and reach for their dreams.

But what they heard from Barack as he traveled across the state was a message of hope. Whether he was upstate or downstate; whether he was talking with folks who'd been laid off and seen their jobs shipped overseas or families struggling to keep up with rising costs; whether he was talking with recent immigrants who wanted to know that America had a place for them too, or African Americans who were falling further and further behind, Barack spoke of the same powerful idea. The idea that's at the heart of who Barack is. The idea that's at the heart of who we are as Americans. And the idea that's at the heart of this campaign. That we all have a stake in each other; that the well-being of the "we" depends on the well-being of the "he" and "she"; and that in this country we rise and fall together as one people, as one nation.

And what I saw in that campaign is what I'm seeing today: ordinary men and women of all races, all religions, all walks of life coming together to demand a government in Washington that's as honest and decent, as purposeful and responsible as the American people.

Fellow Democrats, this is an historic moment. I know. I grew up with the lessons of another generation, my father's generation. I know his stories of struggle and sacrifice, of fear and division. I know America is still a place where dreams are too often deferred and opportunities too often denied.

But here's what I also know. I know that while America may not be perfect, our union can always be perfected. I know what we can achieve when good people with strong convictions come together around a common purpose. And I know what a great leader can do to help us find common ground. America, we need such a leader today, a leader who can heal the wounds of the last eight years, a leader who knows that what unites us is greater than what divides us and that America is at its strongest when hard work is rewarded and all of our dreams are within reach.

I know Barack Obama. I've seen his leadership at work. I've seen the difference he's made in the lives of people across Illinois. And that is why I know that for the sake of our children, our families, and the future we hold in common, he is the leader America needs right now. Forty-five years to the day after a young preacher called out, "Let freedom ring," let history show in this fourth week of August in this Mile-High City, freedom in America has never rung from a higher mountaintop than it does here today.

AS PREPARED

Good evening, Democrats.  Good evening, California.  Good evening, Maryland.  Welcome to the convention that will nominate Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be the next President and Vice President of the United States.
 
This week is the culmination of an historic race that has brought millions of voters to the polls--many voting for the first time.  All Democrats salute Senator Hillary Clinton for her excellent campaign. Our party and our country are strengthened by her candidacy.
 
We meet today at a defining moment in our history.  America stands at a crossroads, with an historic choice between two paths for our country.  One is a path of renewing opportunity and promoting innovation here at home, and of greater security and respect around the world.  It is the path that renews our democracy by bringing us together as one nation under God.  But there is another path--it leads us to the same broken promises and failed policies that have diminished the American dream and weakened the security of our nation.
 
We call this convention to order tonight to put America on the path begun by our founders--a path that renews America's promise for a new century.  We call this convention to order to nominate a new leader for our time--Barack Obama--the next President of the United States. Two years ago, the American people set our nation in a new direction--electing a new Democratic majority in Congress committed to real change.
 
I am very proud of the Democrats in Congress.  Working with Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Senate, here are some of our accomplishments:
·        After years of inaction by Republicans, in our very first act, we passed the 9/11 Commission recommendations to protect the American people. That was just the beginning.
·        We helped rebuild the Gulf Coast for the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
·        We put recovery rebates into the hands of more than 130 million families.
·        We passed legislation to keep hard-working American families in their homes and to keep toxic toys out of the hands of our children.
·        We increased the minimum wage for the first time in ten years.
·        We improved fuel efficiency for the first time in 32 years.
·        We passed the largest college aid expansion since the G.I. Bill 64 years ago.
·        We passed the largest veterans' health care funding in the 77 year history of the Veterans Administration.
·        And, we enacted a new G.I. Bill to thank our veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by sending them to college.
 
Every chance we get, we must honor our veterans and our men and women in uniform for their courage, patriotism, and the sacrifice they and their families are willing to make.  Because of them, America is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
 
The American people gave Democrats their confidence, and we have started to reclaim the American dream for all Americans.  But our journey to take our nation in a new direction cannot be complete without new leadership in the White House.  Democrats know we can't afford any more of the same failed Republican path.  Democrats stand for the change America needs.  We stand for Barack Obama for President of the United States.
 
Republicans say John McCain has experience. We say John McCain has the experience of being wrong. On the failed Bush policies that have weakened our economy and taken us from the Clinton surplus to reckless Bush deficits and on raising the minimum wage for millions of American workers, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong.  On health care for 10 million American children and on protecting Medicare--a bill so crucial that Senator Ted Kennedy left his own medical treatment to cast the decisive vote--Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. On a future of American energy independence, investment in renewable clean energy, and millions of good-paying green jobs here at home, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. And on the most important foreign policy decision of our time, the war in Iraq--a catastrophic mistake that has cost thousands of lives of our men and women in uniform and trillions of dollars, as well as has weakened our standing in the world and our capability to protect the American people, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. Very, very wrong.
 
America needs a president who knows that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that quality education is the key to our future.  America needs a president who knows our democracy depends on a strong middle class and who will create millions of good-paying jobs right here at home. America needs a president who will once and for all end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and invest in renewable, clean energy.
 
To make America stronger, America needs a president who will honor our troops and responsibly end the war in Iraq. For our children and grandchildren, America needs President Barack Obama.
 
The night before I was sworn in as Speaker, we had a celebration dinner at the Italian Embassy. In addition to being the first woman Speaker of the House, I am proud to be the first Italian-American Speaker of the House. My little grandson Ryan, who lives in Texas and, at the time was five years old, was playing under the table. At one point, he came out from under the table, looked up, saw Senator Obama and said, "Barack Obama! I must be dreaming!"
 
Barack Obama's dream is the American dream.  He gives us renewed faith in a vision of the future that is free of the constraints of the tired policies of the past--a vision that is new and bold and calls forth the best in the American people.
 
Barack Obama's change is the change America needs.  Whether in Illinois or in Washington, Barack Obama has bridged partisanship to bring about significant reform.  Barack Obama knew that to change policy in Washington you had to change how Washington works.
 
That means restoring integrity to government by reducing the influence of special interests.  I saw firsthand his strong leadership on one of the toughest issues: enacting the toughest ethics reform legislation in the history of Congress.  This was only possible with Barack Obama's leadership.
 
Barack Obama's values are enduring American values:
·        A belief in personal responsibility, community, and hard work that brought him to the struggling neighborhoods of Chicago;
·        A faith in God that gives him strength;
·        A patriotic love of America that gives him courage;
·        And his wife Michelle and his entire loving family, inspiring him every day to strengthen and renew this great country.
 
One hundred and fifteen years ago, a young woman named Katharine Lee Bates visited Denver.  From the top of Pike's Peak, she looked across Colorado--to the bountiful golden prairies to the east and to the majestic mountains to the west. That night she returned to her hotel room, opened her notebook, and the words of "America the Beautiful" spilled from her pen. My favorite verse is the fourth: O beautiful, for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years...

Today, Barack Obama is a 21st century patriot who sees beyond the years.  As president, Barack Obama will renew the American dream; Barack Obama is the leader for America's future.
 
Inspired by that same vision of "America the Beautiful," Democrats will leave this Denver convention, unified, organized, and stronger than ever to take America in a new direction with Barack Obama and Joe Biden as President and Vice President of the United States!
 
God bless you and God bless America.  

Here's tonight's lineup of speakers at the Democratic National Convention in Denver -- featuring several Illinois politicians.

Headline speaker: Michelle Obama

Click through for the complete list.

AS PREPARED

Good evening. I'm Craig Robinson, and Michelle Obama is my little sister.

Tonight I don't want to just introduce my sister. I want to introduce you to my sister. The girl I grew up with. The poised young woman I saw her grow into. The compassionate mother, aunt and sister-in-law she is. The passionate voice for women and children she has become. And the type of first lady she will be.

Sometimes, when I look at the woman you are about to hear from, it's funny to think that this is the same person who used to wake me up early, and I mean early, on Christmas morning, because we both had to be up at the same time in order to open our presents.

This is the person who would play the piano to calm me down before all of my big games in high school. This is the person who, even though we were allowed only one hour of television a night, somehow managed to commit to memory every single episode of "The Brady Bunch."

But when I really think back, I can also see how the person she is today was formed in the experiences we shared growing up: working hard, studying hard, having parents who wanted more for us than what they had, and always being reminded that in this country, of all countries, those things were possible.

Neither of our parents went to college. My father went to work right out of high school to help pay for his brother's college tuition. He worked at the water filtration plant for 30 years. We lost my father in 1991. And I know he's looking down on us tonight, so proud of his daughter, not because of whom she married, though he was a big fan of Barack, but because of the hard-working, brilliant woman she is, what she's accomplished in her own right, the mother she's become, and the values she's instilled in her daughters.

My mother Marian is here tonight. She remains our family's anchor, and the sole reason Michelle was willing to campaign at all was because she knows that Mom is there to help take care of the girls.

When we were young kids, our parents divided the bedroom we shared so we could each have our own room. Many nights we would talk when we were supposed to be sleeping. My sister always talked about who was getting picked on at school or who was having a tough time at home. I didn't realize it then, but I realize it now: Those were the people she was going to dedicate her life to, the people who were struggling with life's challenges.

She has continued to follow that passion. She gave up a job in a big law firm to work in her community. With a group called Public Allies, she trained a new generation of community leaders. She developed the University of Chicago's community service center, connecting the university to the neighborhood that was blocks away--but often worlds away--from its gates.

And when I wasn't happy doing what I was doing--investment banking--she was the one who encouraged me to go back to my first love, teaching and coaching. And today I'm proud to be the coach of the Oregon State men's basketball team. Go Beavs!

But she did take something away from that first big law firm job: a young lawyer by the name of Barack Obama.

My sister had grown up hearing my father and me talk about how to judge a person's character by what type of sportsman they are, so she asked me to take Barack to play basketball. If you're looking for a political analysis based on his playing, here it is: He's confident but not cocky, he'll take the shot if he's open, he's a team player who improves the people around him, and he won't back down from any challenge.

Together, I've watched Barack and Michelle strengthen each other. I've watched them create a home filled with love and grounded in faith. During challenging times I've watched Michelle and Barack stand by each other. And I know they'll stand by you, the American people, now and in the future.

So please join me in welcoming an impassioned public servant, a loving daughter, wife and mother, my little sister and our nation's next first lady, Michele Obama.

AS PREPARED

Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you, Caroline. My fellow Democrats. My fellow Americans.

It is so wonderful to be here. Nothing, nothing was going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.

I have come here to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama as President of the United States.

As I look ahead, I am strengthened by family and friendship. So many of you have been with me in the happiest and the hardest days. Together we have known success and set-backs, victory and defeat.  But we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world.

And I pledge to you that I will be there -- next January -- on the floor of the United States Senate, when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress.

For me, this is a season of hope. New hope-for a just and fair prosperity for the many and not just the few. New hope -- and this is the cause of my life -  New hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east and west -- young and old -- Will have decent, quality, affordable health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

We can meet the challenges. With Barack Obama- Yes we can. And finally, finally- Yes we will.

Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, group against group, and straight against gay.

And Barack Obama will be a commander-in-chief who understands that young Americans in uniform must never ever be committed to a mistake, but always to a mission worthy of their bravery and sacrifice.

We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high purpose and bold endeavor.

But when John Kennedy thought of going to the moon, he didn't say, it's too far, we can't get there, we shouldn't even try.

Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge -- and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.

Yes, we are Americans. This is what we do.  We reach the moon. We scale the heights.  I know it.  I've seen it.  I've lived it. And we can do it again.

There is a new wave of change all around us- and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination-not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation.

And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans.

And so with Barack Obama -- for you and for me, for our country and for our cause - the work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.

AS PREPARED

It's an honor to be here tonight, and it's been an honor to meet so many of you across this country and hear your stories.
 
Tonight, I want to share my story about growing up with my big brother, Barack Obama, a truly hard act to follow. When we were young, our family didn't have much in the way of wealth, but what we did have was far more important. We had people who made us believe that with a little imagination, we could dream the improbable; that through hard work, we could accomplish the extraordinary; that through the power of education, we could propel ourselves to a future far more promising than our circumstances led us to expect.
 
Perhaps most importantly, we had our mother. I've thought of her often during this campaign and wish she were here to see it. She was a sturdy woman and an eternal optimist who understood that parents are our first and best teachers. She encouraged us to explore and ask questions and delight in unexpected discoveries and surprising answers. She brought us to telescopes and microscopes to remind us that there was a world beyond our limited reach and that we should sometimes have faith in what we could not see.
 
Above all, she was a storyteller. She told us tales from history about heroism in the face of injustice, about beauty breaking through darkness. These stories suggested that our deepest humanity and happiness would be found by reaching out to, empathizing with and working to serve others.
 
In these interconnected times, we need such stories. Like our mother, Barack opened my mind and spirit to a broader world. He took me to festivals and museums, introduced me to people from many different neighborhoods and backgrounds, and taught me about the importance of standing up for what you believe. I loved to watch him in action, working with such commitment, really listening to people, bringing them together to solve their own problems.
 
In these challenging times, we need those skills and that sense of unwavering responsibility. As a U.S. history teacher, I try to make our country's fascinating story leap from the page for my students. Woven throughout that history is the story of our capacity to hope and achieve, even during the toughest times.
 
Many of the children I taught in public and charter schools in New York City and Hawaii had never traveled beyond their neighborhoods for fear of feeling like outsiders. I wanted them to know that they belonged to something greater. I wanted them to imagine wider, dream bigger and reach higher, to realize they had more power than they knew. That is what this nation gave to Barack, and that is what he wants for his daughters, and my daughter, and every single child in this country: bountiful opportunity. It is a gift he has already given us in this campaign.
 
I've seen it everywhere I travel in people of every age, faith, background and walk of life, reaching out to one another, staking their own dreams on what we do together in this election. And I know that if we elect Barack as president, he'll be there for you just as he's always been there for me. I know he'll help you realize your dreams just as he's helped me realize mine.

I know we'll make our mothers proud, and, together, we will leave for our children a better nation. Thank you.

AS PREPARED

I am here tonight to pay tribute to two men who have changed my life and the life of this country: Barack Obama and Edward M. Kennedy. Their stories are very different, but they share a commitment to the timeless American ideals of justice and fairness, service and sacrifice, faith and family.

Leaders like them come along rarely. But once or twice in a lifetime, they come along just when we need them the most. This is one of those moments. As our nation faces a fundamental choice between moving forward or falling further behind, Senator Obama offers the change we need.
 
Everywhere I go in this country, people tell me that Barack Obama is making them feel hopeful the way they did when my father was president. It's partly the words he uses--words that remind us that we are all in this together and that we each have something to contribute to this country that has given us so much. But it's the life he has led that is the true source of this inspiration--a life spent fighting for ordinary people in neighborhoods and courts, in the state senate and the United States Senate.

I have never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them, but I do now, Barack Obama. And I know someone else who's been inspired all over again by Senator Obama. In our family, he's known as Uncle Teddy. More than any senator of his generation, or perhaps any generation, Teddy has made life better for people in this country and around the world.

For 46 years, he has been so much more than just a senator for the people of Massachusetts. He's been a senator for all who believe in a dream that's never died. If you're no longer being denied a job because of your race, gender or disability, or if you've seen a rise in the minimum wage you're being paid, Teddy is your senator too.

If your children are receiving health care thanks to the Children's Health Insurance Program, if you see a nurse at a community health center or if you're benefiting from the Medicare program that he fought to create, and that just last month he returned to the Senate to save, Teddy is your senator too. If your child is getting an early boost in life through Head Start, or attending a better school or can go to college because a Pell grant has made it more affordable, Teddy is your senator too. And if you're an 18-year-old who's going to vote for the first time--and I bet it'll be for Barack Obama--Teddy is your senator too.

Not only has Teddy helped put the American dream within reach for so many families, he's been a powerful force around the world for human rights and human dignity, for refugees and the dispossessed. He helped end apartheid in South Africa and bring peace to Northern Ireland. He's been a leader on nuclear arms control. And he took a strong, early and courageous stand against the war in Iraq.

He is a man who always insists that America live up to her highest ideals, who always fights for what he knows is right and who is always there for others. I've seen it in my own life. No matter how busy he is, he never fails to find time for those in pain, those in grief or those who just need a hug. In our family, he has never missed a first communion, a graduation, or a chance to walk one of his nieces down the aisle.
 
He has a special relationship with each of us. And his 60 great nieces and nephews all know that the best cookies and the best laughs are always found at Uncle Teddy's. Whether he is teaching us about sailing, about the Senate or about life, he has shown us how to chart our course, take the helm and sail against the wind. And this summer, as he faced yet another challenge, he and Vicki have taught us all about dignity, courage and the power of love.

In this campaign, Barack Obama has no greater champion. When he is president, he will have no stronger partner in the United States Senate. Now, it is my honor to introduce a tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

AS PREPARED

Thank you. It's an honor to share my thoughts with you this evening at this historic convention. Barack Obama has been my friend, my mentor, my inspiration. Now, he's going to be the next President of the United States of America. Because his story is our story. Your story. My story. It's the American story.
 
My parents came to this country as Greek immigrants with nothing. They came because they believed in the promise of a better life for their family. They believed in the promise of America. I stand here today, at the age of 32, as the fulfillment of that American promise. But whether your story begins in a small Greek village, or the plains of Kansas, or on the streets of Chicago, we're Americans because we all share the promise of that story.
 
After eight years watching the betrayal of that promise, it's time to write a new chapter. It's time for a new type of leadership. Leadership not defined by mistrust and neglect, but leadership that inspires others to follow. The time is now. It's time for a fresh start. It's time for a leader like Barack Obama.
 
I've known Barack for 10 years. I have never met anyone with more strength of character and integrity. Barack is one of the kindest and most genuinely decent people in the world. Barack Obama reminds us what is good about America. For me, public service wouldn't have been possible without the example he set, as a friend, as a man, as the leader this nation needs. He inspired me to run for office and has motivated countless leaders of the next generation. His story has shown it doesn't matter where you live, whether you are young or old, rich or poor, red or blue. What matters is that we share a belief in his story, my story, our story. That America is more than a place. It's a promise. And that promise is up to all of us to fulfill.
 
Thank you. God bless you all.

AS PREPARED

My name is Dan Hynes, and I'm the Illinois state comptroller. Four years ago, I ran in our state's Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. Though I had a few advantages, I lacked the most important one of all: I wasn't Barack Obama.

I remember thinking that he was the most gifted person I'd seen in public life: smart and tough, visionary and practical. In debates, his knowledge seemed to come not just from his head, but from his heart, and he connected to people everywhere in our state by calling out to something inside of them.
 
No one likes to lose, but it's a lot easier when you admire the person who wins, and I did. Soon, I watched many across our nation come to know Barack as I had. And two years ago, I became the first elected official in America to publicly call on him to run for president.
 
I did so because I was concerned for our country and I felt we needed someone extraordinary. We needed someone who could speak to that part of us that's the best in us, the part that knows that we each can make a difference, that we all, if we're together, can make this America we love even better.
 
You see, Barack Obama doesn't want us to rise above politics. He simply knows that with the right kind of politics, we can all rise up.
 
On the night of our Senate primary, I said to him, "Congratulations, my friend." Two years ago, I said to him, "Our country needs you." Tonight, I say to all Americans who believe in restoring the promise of America, "Barack Obama is the change we need."

AS PREPARED

The 45th quadrennial national convention of the Democratic Party will now come to order. Welcome delegates, alternates, standing committee members, special guests and other friends, members of the news media, guests from around the world and our fellow Americans.
 
During our national convention, we will demonstrate to all Americans why we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House. Looking out from this podium tonight, I see this diverse assembly of Democrats as a testament to the strength and unity of our party and the fruition of our 50-state strategy.
 
While the Democratic Party is the oldest continuing party in the world, I can also see that we are the most vibrant, inclusive and energized party, and we are ready to compete in all 50 states in November. America realizes we cannot have four more years of the same, ineffective approach to governing.
 
It is the Democratic Party that can effect the change America needs. The Chair reminds all delegates that presidential nominating petitions must be submitted to the Office of the Secretary no later than 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Vice Presidential nominating petitions must be submitted to the Secretary's office no later than 9 a.m. Wednesday. Petitions should be delivered to the Secretary's office, which is in the Officials' Lounge, located on the floor-level concourse behind the Ohio delegation.
 
Delegates, alternates and guests, please extend a warm welcome to the convention band under the direction of Ray Chew. I am now pleased to introduce former Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and former Colorado State Senator Polly Baca to lead the invocation.