After hearing Obama in Texas I couldn't help feeling that he needed a new speech if he was going o fight in Pennsylvania. One with a fighting spirit that calls to his supporters not to lose heart but to hold on. that in the end "we few we happy few we band of brothers" shall prevail. He needs to soar again especially after the recent losses.
he needs to define his own message and not allow Clinton to do it for him.
He needs to play to his strengths and inspirational public speaking is certainly one of them.
So if I were an Obama speechwriter, this is what I would have him say.
Good Morning Pennsylvania!
My name is Barrack Obama and I stand here before you today because I believe that together we can achieve what others call the impossible. We as Americans are and have been since that monumental day in 1776 citizens not of a country but keepers of a human ideal; an ideal of what a nation should be. Not a territory ruled by the few for the benefit of the few but a community ruled by many for the benefit of all. If we were to examine pre-American political history we would find that to advocate democracy is to advocate mob rule and anarchy, that the only way for a nation to function and prosper is by the voices of its people to be quelled; its common majority... silenced.
All that changed when a brave and vastly outnumbered few dared to say NO to power. No to having their destiny decided by those wholly unconnected to them; No to having their livelihoods and futures decided by those who care only for their own interests, no to subjugation no to disenfranchisement and no to oligarchy.
Since then our country has progressed, stumbling along the way but always at the pivotal junctures of our history this country with the guidance of its leaders fulfilling the will of the people has found its way through the maze of status quo and safe decisions to finding the courage to do the right thing, and in doing so achieve greatness. This country has fulfilled the innumerable dreams of countless millions, has made safe the freedoms that multitudes around the globe yearn for, and god willing it will continue to do so but only with the support of the people and the cooperation of the governing parties.
I tell you this because in this hour, on this day, throughout this month and the coming election year we the American people are at a pivotal point in our history. We are faced with a choice, a decision that must be made whether to vote for a change that carries with it the promise of achieving greatness for this country once again, or to vote for the status quo guaranteeing a future that prolongs the past.
Over the past months you have heard those who detract accuse me of rhetoric that is flighty and delusional, as I am sure they will do so again about this speech. I do not begrudge their opinions for I know from whence it comes. The cynicism and fears ingrained in those who have been part of the establishment in recent decades have been well earned, they are the scars of long battles fought and ultimately lost against opponents characterized as enemies when they should have been treated like friends. It is no wonder, that this country is so divided along distinct partisan lines when all we see are internecine wars between officials fighting for the partisan interests of their people, when they are meant to negotiate for the benefit of all the people of this country. So nothing is achieved and the problems that have haunted us in the 20th century have followed us into the 21st.
How can we not be divided when you have Americans calling their fellow Americans unpatriotic, even traitorous for voicing an alternate opinion, or not wearing a lapel pin? How can we not be divided when you have Americans charging their fellow Americans of being unworthy of their country because of colour, creed, personal beliefs or lifestyle? How can we not be divided when we see our policy makers helping the wealthy accumulate wealth while the impoverished are stripped of aid? How can we not be divided when we see that charity to our fellow man begins beyond our borders and even then it is dictated by political expediency? I ask you, how can we not be divided when it has become easier for us to seek out and condemn the faults in others to further our goals rather than face and remedy our own?
Well, I tell you we cannot! And I for one am tired of it.
I stand here before you today not for personal ambition or self-gratification, I stand here before you today because I am tired of all the squabbling that brings no avail.
I stand here before you because I know...I know! That with your help, the help of the American people I can change the way it is, the way it has been, the way it need no longer be. We together can transform bickering into cooperation, cynicism into hope and animosity into a mere difference of opinion. It has been done before and it can be done again.
When the Country was at its darkest economic hour FDR came in on a message of hope, and said, " we have nothing to fear but fear itself ". And with that belief and a mandate from the people he united the parties and gave the country a New Deal that breathed life into a moribund economy many had given up as dead. And hope became reality.
Today again our country is facing an economic recession at home while in the midst of two intractable wars abroad. We are facing children going hungry at home and children dying on foreign lands away from their homes; so we cannot afford to equivocate, to bargain or to relapse into our old ways. We need to act and act now.
We need to end the war in Iraq... focus on our enemies in Afghanistan and eradicate them once and for all. We need to attempt diplomacy that will reduce the risk of further wars. We need address our citizen’s health with a proper and affordable health care plan. We need to redress NAFTA not to end free trade but to insure fare trade; fare to our workers, fair to our environment and fare to our economy. We need to insure our children’s future by insuring the quality of their education. And most of all we must give the American family the basic human dignity of a home in which to raise their children and a job by which to feed them. We must see to it that our public services are equipped to handle our public emergencies. That our nurses and teachers and policemen and most of all our American servicemen feel appreciated for their efforts without which surely we are lost. We need curtail the influence of special interest and support the influence of the people. In short we need to again become one people of one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. These are not just words; they are necessities if this country is to remain great.
So today I stand before you with he determination of a man fighting for a just cause. A cause we share and that will surely not be allowed to fail among men and women of good conscience and love of country. And I feel Justified I asking you all to join with me, to raise your voices in aid of me. And to say forward we go together never wavering until the end.
Thank You .