The Next Great President

President-elect Barack Obama gave an astounding victory speech on the recent election night, November 4, 2008. His speech reflected the message of his campaign: the overwhelming problems our country and its people face; how we as a united nation can make positive change; his being elected was not his victory alone, but a victory for all Americans and affirmation of what America is supposed to be; and of course, it creatively interwove throughout the speech the tag line he used throughout his campaign, “Yes, we can.”

His being elected into office is not the end, but the beginning in the right steps our country needs to take. He is the leader this country needs, leading through empowerment, educating the public, being inspirational, and as an exemplary role model for every American. Excerpts of his victory speech from November 4, 2008, that reflect the messages I mentioned and his being the best choice as our next president, are as follows:
“For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century…Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope… This is your victory… This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were… It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. .. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long…This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”