Obama演讲词收录

freehuang

第一篇是Obama在2004年的民主党全国代表大会上的基调演讲词，不妨给演讲加个名字：the Audacity Of Hope

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln,
let me express my deepest gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention.
Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it,
my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely.
My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya.
He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack.
His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son.
Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place,
America, that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.
While studying here, my father met my mother.
She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas.
Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression.
The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty;
joined Patton’s army, marched across Europe.
Back home, my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line.
After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through F.H.A.,
and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity.
And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter.
A common dream, born of two continents.
My parents shared not only an improbable love,
they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.
They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,”
believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.
They imagined... They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich,
because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.
They’re both passed away now.
And yet, I know that on this night they look down on me with great pride.
They stand here — And I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage,
aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters.
I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story,
that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.

freehuang

Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our Nation
— not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy.
Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
That is the true genius of America, a faith — a faith in simple dreams,
an insistence on small miracles;
that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm;
that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door;
that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe;
that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution,
and that our votes will be counted — at least most of the time.
This year, in this election we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments,
to hold them against a hard reality and see how we’re measuring up to the legacy of our forbearers and the promise of future generations.
And fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, I say to you tonight:
We have more work to do — more work to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois,
who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico,
and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour;
more to do for the father that I met who was losing his job and choking back the tears,
wondering how he would pay 4,500 dollars a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits that he counted on;
more to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her,
who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn’t have the money to go to college.
Now, don’t get me wrong.

freehuang

The people I meet, in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks,
they don’t expect government to solve all their problems.
They know they have to work hard to get ahead, and they want to.
Go into the collar counties around Chicago,
and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted,
by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Go in... Go into any inner city neighborhood,
and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach our kids to learn;
they know that parents have to teach,
that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets
and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.
They know those things. People don’t expect... People don’t expect government to solve all their problems.
But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities,
we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life,
and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all.
They know we can do better. And they want that choice.
In this election, we offer that choice.
Our Party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer.
And that man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith,
and service because they’ve defined his life.
From his heroic service to Vietnam, to his years as a prosecutor and lieutenant governor,
through two decades in the United States Senate, he’s devoted himself to this country.
Again and again, we’ve seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available.
His values and his record affirm what is best in us.
John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded;
so instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas,
he offers them to companies creating jobs here at home.
John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves.
John Kerry believes in energy independence,
so we aren’t held hostage to the profits of oil companies, or the sabotage of foreign oil fields.
John Kerry believes in the Constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world,
and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties, nor use faith as a wedge to divide us.
And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option sometimes,
but it should never be the first option.
You know, a while back... a while back I met a young man named Shamus in a V.F.W. Hall in East Moline, Illinois.

freehuang

He was a good-looking kid — six two, six three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile.
He told me he
And as I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders,
his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might ever hope for in a child.
But then I asked myself, “Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us?”
I thought of the 900 men and women — sons and daughters, husbands and wives,
friends and neighbors, who won’t be returning to their own hometowns.
I thought of the families I’ve met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income,
or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered,
but still lacked long-term health benefits because they were Reservists.
When we send our young men and women into harm’s way,
we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going,
to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return,
and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace,
and earn the respect of the world.
Now... Now let me be clear. Let me be clear.
We have real enemies in the world.
These enemies must be found. They must be pursued.
And they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this.
And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam,
President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure.
John Kerry believes in America.
And he knows that it’s not enough for just some of us to prosper — for alongside our famous individualism,
there’s another ingredient in the American saga.
A belief that we’re all connected as one people.
If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child.
If there is a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for their prescription drugs,
and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandparent.
If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process,
that threatens my civil liberties.
It is that fundamental belief... It is that fundamental belief —
I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper — that makes this country work.
It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams and yet still come together as one American family.
E pluribus unum: “Out of many, one.”

freehuang

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us — the spin masters,
the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of “anything goes” .
Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America
— there is the United States of America.
There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America
— there’s the United States of America.
In the end... In the end... In the end, that’s what this election is about.
Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?
John Kerry calls on us to hope.
John Edwards calls on us to hope.
I’m not talking about blind optimism here
— the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it,
or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.
That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial.
It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs;
the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores;
the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta;
the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds;
the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.
Hope — Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!
In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation.
A belief in things not seen.
A belief that there are better days ahead.
I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.
I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless,
and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair.

freehuang

I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs and that as we stand on the crossroads of history,
we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us.
America! Tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the same urgency that I do,
if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the same hopefulness that I do
— if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country,
from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November,
and John Kerry will be sworn in as President,
and John Edwards will be sworn in as Vice President,
and this country will reclaim its promise,
and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come.
Thank you very much everybody. God bless you. Thank you.

freehuang

下面一篇是Obama正是宣布参选2008年的大选，包括他自己都无不说自己有点太不知好歹了，可是人家最终却是赢得了大选并当选为美国总统。
Let me begin by saying thanks to all of you who’ve traveled,
from far and wide, to brave the cold today.
I know it’s a little chilly — but I’m fired up.
We all made this journey for a reason.
It’s humbling to see a crowd like this, but in my heart I know you didn’t just come here for me;
you know you came here because you believe in what this country can be.
In the face of war, you believe there can be peace.
In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope.
In the face of a politics that’s shut you out, that’s told you to settle,
that’s divided us for too long, you believe that we can be one people,
reaching out for what’s possible, building that more perfect union.
That’s the journey we’re on today.
But let me tell you how I came to be here.
As most of you know, I am not a native of this great state.
I moved to Illinois over two decades ago.

freehuang

I was a young man then, just a year out of college;
I knew no one in Chicago when I arrived, was without money or family connections.
But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for the grand sum of $13,000 a year.
And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea
— that I might play a small part in building a better America.
My work took me to some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.
I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings.
I saw that the problems people faced weren’t simply local in nature,
that the decision to close a steel mill was made by distant executives,
that the lack of textbooks and computers in the school could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away,
and that when a child turns to violence — I came to realize that
— there’s a hole in that boy’s heart that no government alone can fill.
It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education that I ever had,
and where I learned the meaning of my Christian faith.
After three years of this work, I went to law school,
because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need.
I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time,
I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty
and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate.
It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator.
It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge
— farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell,
all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard.
I made lasting friendships here — friends that I see in the audience here today.
It was here... It was here where we learned to disagree without being disagreeable
— that it’s possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised;
and that so long as we’re willing to listen to each other,
we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.

freehuang

It’s why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken.
That’s why we were able to give health insurance to children in need.
That’s why we made the tax system right here in Springfield more fair and just for working families,
and that’s why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said could never, ever be passed.
It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people
— where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.
And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol,
where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together,
where common hopes and common dreams still live,
I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.
Now... Now, listen, I... I... I... I... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Look, I...
I recognize that there is a certain presumptuousness — a certain audacity — to this announcement.
I know that I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington.
But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.
The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed.
And we should take heart, because we’ve changed this country before.
In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees.
In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free.
In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty.
We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west,
we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King’s call to let “justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We’ve done this before: Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to be done.
Today we are called once more — and it is time for our generation to answer that call.
For that is our unyielding faith — that in the face of impossible odds,
people who love their country can change it.
That’s what Abraham Lincoln understood.
He had his doubts.
He had his defeats.
He had his skeptics.
He had his setbacks.

freehuang

But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people.
It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided,
North and South, slave and free.
It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life,
continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest,
that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together,
as one people — as Americans.
All of us know what those challenges are today — a war with no end,
a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren’t learning,
and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can.
We know the challenges. We’ve heard them.
We’ve talked about them for years.
What’s stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans.
What’s stopped us is the failure of leadership — the smallness... the smallness of our politics
— the ease with which we’re distracted by the petty and trivial,
our chronic avoidance of tough decisions,
our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of
rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle the big problems of America.
For the past six years we’ve been told that our mounting debts don’t matter,
we’ve been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion,
we’ve been told that climate change is a hoax,
we’ve been told that tough talk and an ill conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight.
And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we’ve been told that our crises are somebody else’s fault.
We’re distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.
And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what’s filled the void.
The cynics, the lobbyists, the special interests who’ve turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.