Hello Chicago.
If there is anyone out there
who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible
who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time
who still questions the power of our democracy
tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches
in numbers this nation has never seen
by people who waited three hours and four hours
many for the first time in their lives
because they believed that this time must be different
that their voices could be that difference.
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.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long
by so many to be cynical and fearful
and doubtful about what we can achieve
to put their hands on the arc of history
and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming
but tonight because of what we did on this date
in this election at this defining moment
change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening
I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
Senator 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 Governor 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.
I want to thank my partner in this journey
a man who campaigned from his heart
and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton...
and rode with on the train home to Delaware
the vice president-elect of the United States Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support
of my best friend for the last 16 years...
the rock of our family
the love of my life
the nation's next first lady...
Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia...
I love you both
more than you can imagine.
And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us
I know my grandmother's watching
along with the family that made me who I am.
I miss them tonight.
I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya my sister Alma all my other brothers and sisters
thank you so much for all the support that you've given me.
I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager David Plouffe
the unsung hero of this campaign
who built the best --
the best political campaign I think in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod.
who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics.
you made this happen and I am forever grateful
for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all
I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to.
It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.
We didn't start with much money or many endorsements.
Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington.
It began in the backyards of Des Moines
and the living rooms of Concord
and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women
who dug into what little savings they had to give $5
and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people
who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy.
who left their homes and their families
for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people
who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers
and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized
and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people
by the people and for the people
has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election.
And I know you didn't do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.
For even as we celebrate tonight
we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring
are the greatest of our lifetime --
two wars a planet in peril
the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight
we know there are brave Americans
waking up in the deserts of Iraq
and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder
how they'll make the mortgage
or pay their doctors' bills
or save enough for their child's college education.
There's new energy to harness
new jobs to be created new schools to build
and threats to meet alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long.
Our climb will be steep.
We may not get there in one year or even in one term.
But America I have never been more hopeful
than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you we as a people will get there.
Yes we can!
There will be setbacks and false starts.
There are many who won't agree with every decision
or policy I make as president.
And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.
I will listen to you
especially when we disagree.
And above all I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation
the only way it's been done in America for 221 years --
block by block brick by brick
calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago
in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek.
It is only the chance for us to make that change.
And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you
without a new spirit of service a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism
of responsibility
where each of us resolves to pitch in
and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything
it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country we rise or fall as one nation as one people.
Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness
and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state
who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House
a party founded on the values of self-reliance
and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share.
And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight
we do so with a measure of humility
and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours
we are not enemies but friends.
Though passion may have strained
it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn
I may not have won your vote tonight
but I hear your voices.
I need your help.
And I will be your president too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores
from parliaments and palaces
to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world
our stories are singular but our destiny is shared
and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those --
to those who would tear the world down:
We will defeat you.
To those who seek peace and security: We support you.
And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon
still burns as bright: 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.
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.
and here comes，the Vice President Joe Biden.