Jutri bo nov dan in marsikaj bo drugače. Upanje, ki je bilo zbujeno, je veliko, odgovornost za spremembe neizmerna. Združene države Amerike nikoli več ne bodo takšne kot včeraj in danes – a kakšne bodo? Zmagovalca je v prvem govoru po volitvah vodil zanos, tekmeca spoštovanje. Nad Ameriko je mogoče utemeljeno vihati nos zaradi tisočerih stvari, nespametno pa je zaradi njih gojiti predsodke, ki zastirajo pogled na tisto, zaradi česar so ZDA (bile?) ‘največja nacija na svetu’. Sploh pa - imamo morda odgovor na vprašanje, ‘kaj bo z nami’, če Amerika ne bo zmogla?
Demokratski zmagovalec ameriških predsedniških volitev Barack Obama v svojem prvem povolilnem nastopu:
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
/…/
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
/…/
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
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.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
Republikanski kandidat John McCain v govoru, med katerim je moral večkrat utišati svoje razočarane in nezadovoljne privržence:
My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.
A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Dobro znata oba nalagati – stari pregovor pa pravi – isto s-je drugo pakmovanje. Ne bodimo naivni !!
Jaz sem z veseljem naiven, Bush ml. je bil najslabši am. predsednik, medtem ko bi bil Gore v primeru zmage na Floridi morda celo najboljši in svet danes precej lepši. Ni torej nepomembno kdo zmaga.
Obama pomeni prelom s trenutno politiko, ki ga McCain ne bi zmogel. McCain je bil včasih dokaj kul republikanec (kakšen paradoks), med kampanjo pa so ga njegovi strategi pojedli. Njegov zadnji govor, ko čestita Obami, pa je izjemen in vsaj deloma popravlja njegovo podobo in zapravljen ugled.
Se strinjam z obojim!
McCainov concession speech je bil totalen class act, tip je profic prve klase. Zame definitivno highlight vcerajsnjega dne.
I have never been more proud to be an American.
Jutranji email mog 60 ACLU prijatelja iz Conn. Njegova hcera pravnik v DC je sse bolj vesela. Nekaj podobnega jaz pri izvolitvi Zorana Jankovica za LJU zupana
MMM ima že krepko več možnosti, da se mu njegovo navdušenje zatakne v grlu, kot da se isto zgodi njegovemu Conn. prijatelju in hčerki; čakamo samo še na to, da se Delta polasti mercatorja.
Ali ne gre še za eno “grozljivo privlačno” senco v Platonovi votlini? Prostost je namreč tam zunaj. Show must go on! Filmski studii: Londinium, Isis Ra El, Roma/Amor …. New York … ?