Barack Obama is the nominee of the Democratic Party.
That is cause for every last American in every territory and state to celebrate this man and this great accomplishment.
This moment, tonight, is about our nation. This is about our history. And this is, finally, about our future as one united people. This moment is truly about the Audacity of Hope.
Senator Barack Obama started this race in a crowded field of exceptional Democratic candidates and today, on the final day of voting, he has prevailed.
While we salute the excellent supporters of every candidate in this process, tonight is a moment to pause, to step back, and to understand the significance of what all of us have accomplished together. The time is Now for all of us to celebrate Barack Obama and his remarkable victory.
This moment isn't about Democrats or Independents or Republicans, this is a moment of celebration for all of us, as Americans...
Only in America was this moment possible. Only in America could hundreds of thousands heed the call for Change and find their hard work and their relentless organizing answered by one candidate who rose up above a field of exceptional leaders to secure this victory.
Change is at hand.
The Face of American politics will never be the same.
Somewhere in heaven, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thomas Jefferson and Walt Whitman are smiling tonight. Somewhere in heaven, Caeser Chavez and Harriet Tubman and Robert Kennedy are celebrating this victory. Somewhere up there, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and Fannie Lou Hamer understand.
A Change is upon us.
Our nation will never be the same. We speak to the world tonight, and we speak with a new voice. We look out at the world tonight with new eyes. And behind the visage of our candidate, Senator Barack Obama, stands that vast quilt of assembled faces that make up the diversity of our great nation. Republicans and Democrats, independents and progressives, the engaged and the disaffected, the rich and the poor, the rural, the suburban and the city folk alike.
Forging unity out of our diversity is the essential aspect of our American story, and in 2008, that is our Message to the World. There is nothing we can't do when we work together. We are many, but we are one. We are, as Senator Obama so powerfully expressed it four years ago: the United States of America.
And in that voice, in that victory, in this precious moment in our long journey as a nation, we can all be proud.
::
Something is happening in America.
It won't happen all at once. It won't happen overnight. It won't find perfect expression every day.
Something new is afoot.
People are standing for Change. People are getting organized. (Click on that link, join us!) Across the face of this nation that we all love, bands of patriots have gathered in defense of the core values expressed in our Declaration and our Constitution. We are making change one person, one community, one town, one city and one state at a time. We are coming together to rebuild our Democracy.
Now, we will not agree on every policy proscription, nor will we agree on every possible path to every agreed upon goal, but our destination is clear. We will bind the wounds of Katrina. We will forge solutions on Health Care and Energy policy. We will Educate our young people and train them to excel and meet the challenges of this new century; we will forge a new peace and call home our soldiers from Iraq; we will rebuild the strength of our Military and our Diplomacy while we care for and respect our Veterans. And in doing so, we will invest in the future of every last American. We will call forth the best from every last one of us. We all have a role to play.
This is a pivotal moment. We all know that. If we differ at times it is because we all share a common concern and a common commitment to making Change...to securing the foundations of Liberty and Prosperity for all. We have come so far, and there is so much work left to do. It is fitting we pause tonight and consider our history as one people, as one nation.
Barack Obama would not be the nominee of the Democratic party tonight if it were not for the efforts of millions whose legacy has brought us to this moment in American history.
We owe them a debt of thanks. We burn a candle of everlasting gratitude for their service.
::
Tonight is a night to CELEBRATE.
Tonight is a night to look at our children and cherish this place in history that we have come to as a nation.
Tonight we must acknowledge that a leader with a powerful new message has become the nominee of the Democratic Party.
There is so much potential, so much Hope invested in this moment. There is so much work to do in the days ahead.
Tonight is a night to celebrate our history and to celebrate Senator Barack Obama.
Tonight a beacon of Hope is shining out from America.
Tonight that is our Message to the World.