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Obama Promises Better America, Though It Will be Hard
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 7, 2012
Modified Sep 7, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 7, 2012
Modified Sep 7, 2012
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President Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination on the final night of the party's national convention and told the audience, both in Charlotte, NC and in the rest of the country, "When all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation... [O]n every issue, the choice you face won’t be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. Ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known."
While making himself out to be a defender and fighter for the middle class, the President admitted that getting back to prosperity will still take time, "I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades... But know this, America: Our problems can be solved." And towards the end of the speech, he said:
America, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won’t promise that now. Yes, our path is harder, but it leads to a better place. Yes our road is longer, but we travel it together. We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up. We draw strength from our victories, and we learn from our mistakes, but we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon, knowing that Providence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on Earth.
You can read the speech here and watch it below. Politico reports, "In a tone that marked a dramatic departure from Obama’s last presidential campaign - and from the 2004 convention speech that made him a national political phenomenon - Democrats also argued in the starkest language yet that Republican Mitt Romney is an out of touch plutocrat who lacks simple patriotism."
Commenters on TV were mixed—liberal-leaning pundits thought it was good, not great, while Fox News' Charles Krauthammer said, "I was stunned. This is a man who gave one of the great speeches of our time in 2004. And he gave one of the emptiest speeches I have ever heard on a national stage. Yes, it had cadence, and yes, there were deceptions in it, but that’s not what’s so striking about it. There was nothing in it." Krauthammer is probably pleased with The Onion's coverage, Obama: 'Help Us Destroy Jesus And Start A New Age Of Liberal Darkness'.
Tagged
barack obama
democratic national convention
economy
election 2012
mitt romney
paul ryan
president obama
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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