This blog is more of a diary of significant moments than anything. Something moved me today.
A while ago, Barack Obama lost the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton. He delivered a concessional speech (acknowledging his defeat) that turned out to be something a lot more.
OBAMA: Thank you, New Hampshire. I love you back. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you so much. I am still fired up and ready to go. ... Well,
first of all, I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought
victory here in New Hampshire. She did an outstanding job. Give her a
big round of applause. You know, a few weeks ago, no one imagined
that we'd have accomplished what we did here tonight in New Hampshire.
No one could have imagined it. For most of this campaign, we were
far behind. We always knew our climb would be steep. But in record
numbers, you came out, and you spoke up for change. And with your
voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment, in this
election, there is something happening in America. There is
something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport, in
Lebanon and Concord, come out in the snows of January to wait in lines
that stretch block after block because they believe in what this
country can be. There is something happening. There's something
happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit, who've
never participated in politics before, turn out in numbers we have
never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be
different. There's something happening when people vote not just for party that they belong to, but the hopes that they hold in common. And
whether we are rich or poor, black or white, Latino or Asian, whether
we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are
ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That's what's happening in America right now; change is what's happening in America. ... Our
new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable
health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients, workers and
businesses, Democrats and Republicans together, and we can tell the
drug and insurance industry that, while they get a seat at the table,
they don't get to buy every chair, not this time, not now. Our
new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs
overseas and put a middle-class tax cut in the pockets of working
Americans who deserve it. We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We
can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them
for their greatness by giving them more pay and more support. We can do
this with our new majority. We can harness the ingenuity of
farmers and scientists, citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation
from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return. And when I am president of the United States, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home. We
will end this war in Iraq. We will bring our troops home. We will
finish the job — we will finish the job against al-Qaida in
Afghanistan. We will care for our veterans. We will restore our moral
standing in the world. And we will never use 9/11 as a way to
scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election. It is a
challenge that should unite America and the world against the common
threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate
change and poverty, genocide and disease. ... We know the
battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, 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 in the weeks and months to come. 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 the unlikely story that is
America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when
we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not
ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of
Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of
a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. 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 a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: 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 ballot, a president who chose 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, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can. ... 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. Thank you, New Hampshire. Thank you. Thank you. | 
