A Crowd Outside the White House:
Obama's Victory Speech:
I can't even put into words how happy I am that Obama won! I have been so inspired by the campaign that he has run and am SO PROUD of my generation and my country that we not only elected Obama, but that we did it by such a large margin! I feel like we have hit the "reset" button after the disastrous Bush years, and now we can get back to the way that this country is supposed to be. I think Obama said it best in his victory speech in Chicago: "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.That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow." (Read the full transcript)
I'm proud of America not only because we elected an African American man, which is a HUGE step for this country, but because they elected Barack Obama, a man with great integrity, intelligence and honesty. I truly believe he is the best candidate this country has ever seen, and I am greatly reassured by the fact that Americans saw past any prejudices and any false claims about Obama to elect him president.
I'm also incredibly proud of my generation. I always have had hopes that my generation would come to the forefront and stand for something big and important, just like the 60s generation stood for peace and civil rights and made great strides for this country. Not only did young voters turn out in large numbers for Obama, but we volunteered our time and energy and gave our hard earned money to Obama's cause because we believed that this was the man our country needs. I'm a very shy person, but I even made some calls for Obama and volunteered to register voters. We're finally standing up and making ourselves heard, and we're taking the rest of the country with us. I think this is in large part because of Obama's belief in young voters and in the younger generation in general. He didn't write us off like most politicians do, and allowed us to really own a large part of his campaign. We are taught growing up that America is great because we are a democracy and that every vote and every citizen counts, and Obama has given a chance to not only believe that but act on it.
When it was first announced last night that Obama won I could hardly believe it, I was in a real state of shock. But today, in re-watching Obama's speech and the crowds all over the country and the world reacting so positively to Obama's victory, I find myself getting really emotional. I believe Obama is a leader who can truly unite us...not just in this country, but all over the world. Obama's campaign was successful in large part because he included and respected ALL people and ALL opinions, and I believe that is the way he will lead this country.
Not only will we have a great president in Obama, but a great Vice President in Joe Biden and a great First Lady in Michelle Obama. Joe Biden is a man of great character and great experience who will be a close advisor and ally to Obama, but will stand up to him if need be. Obama surrounds himself not only with people who believe in what he believes and will tell him he is right, but people who have great experience and intelligence on ALL sides of the issues -- people who will fill in any gaps in Obama's expertice and allow him to make a balanced and well informed opinion.
Michelle Obama is a very intelligent, warm human being and an incredibly strong woman. I look up to her as the kind of woman I aspire to be, and believe she will be an amazing role model for an entire generation of young women. She will not only work on important issues like caring for our military families and discrimination against women, but will also keep Barack Obama grounded. I can only imagine what I bright future Malia and Sacha Obama have, being raised by two people like Barack and Michelle Obama. Not only would they be a great example for their children if they didn't lead public lives, but these young girls get to see their father become the first African American president and their mother become first lady. Years from now, I bet we'll see them running for office somewhere.
This is the beginning of a new dawn, a bright new era for this country, and I couldn't be happier and prouder to be a part of it.
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