This speech is amazing, one of the best I've ever heard by Barack Obama - or anyone, for that matter. This is what progressivism is all about. This is what America is - or certainly should be - all about. I urge you to watch the speech in full (it's not that long, definitely quality over quantity!). In the meantime, here are a few highlights (it gets stronger and stronger, building to an amazingly powerful climax at the end):
In times of need, there's no political party. In times of need, there's no red states or blue states. In times of need, there's the United States of America.
Alone we are weak, but united we are strong. That is the essence of what America is all about. That is why we're called the United States of America. And that's why we call it the union movement.
That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says 'I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper,' that spirt is most evident during times of great tragedy...it's most evident during times of great hardship, it's most when natural disasters strike...We all understand that we have to come together.But, you know, that spirit can't just be restricted to moments of great disaster, because as I stand here today and I look out over the thousands of people who've gathered here today, I know that out there somewhere there's some folks who are going through their own quiet storm. There are folks like Andy who, despite making great products and doing great work, are about to lose their jobs, that's a quiet storm going on...There are people out there who have seen their jobs shipped overseas...who don't have health care...seniors out there that don't know how they're going to pay their home heating bill this winter...young people in this audience right now who have graduated from high school and have the grades and will to go to college but don't have the money...young people being born in our inner cities right here in Milwaukee that don't see any prospects for the future [besides] a casket or a jail cell.
All across America there are quiet storms taking place, there are lives of quiet desperation...When we least expect it, tragedy may strike. What has always made this country great is the understanding that we rise and fall as one nation, the values of family, community, and neighborhoods...
And so, the spirit that we extend today and in the days to come as we monitor what happens on the Gulf, that's a spirit that we've gotta carry with us each and every day. That's a spirit that we need in our own homes, and it's a spirit that we need in the White House. And that's why I'm running for President of the United States of America. Because if there's a poor child out there, that's my child. If there's a senior who's having trouble, that's my grandparents. If there's a guy who's lost his job, that's my brother. If there's a woman out there without health care, that's my sister. Those are the values that built this country. Those are the values we are fighting for. And if you will stand with me and work with me and knock on doors with me and make phone calls with me, then I promise you we will not just win this election but we will change this country and change the world. God bless you Milwaukee, I love you, God bless America.
Wow.
P.S. Certainly not "country first," as he's demonstrated by his selection of a wildly unqualified running mate who was apparently a member - or at least a strong sympathizer - with a party that believes in SECEDING FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.