Barack Obama. Presidential Victory Speech Page #2

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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.

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,

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