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It is the policy that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon, a politics that tells us to think, act and even vote within the categories that supposedly define us, the assumption that young people are apathetic, the assumption that Republicans will not cross, with the assumption that the wealthy care nothing for the poor and the poor do not vote, the assumption that African Americans can not support the white candidate, whites can not support the African American candidate, blacks and Latinos can not join.
They are here tonight to say that it is the United States believe in. The
I did not travel around this state over the past year and see a black South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina.
I saw crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children like. I saw shuttered mills and homes on the market six times belonged to Americans from all walks of life and men and women of every color and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag.
I saw what America is and I think what this country can be. That's the country I see. That is the country you see. But now up to us to help the nation embrace this vision.
Because in the end, we are not against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we are also wrestling with our doubts, our fears, our cynicism.
The change we seek always needed big fight and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard they are willing to work for it.
So let me remind you tonight that change will not be easy. Change will take time. There will be setbacks and false starts and sometimes we make mistakes.
But as hard as it may seem, can not lose hope, because there are people across this great nation who are counting on us, who can not afford another three years without medical attention, you can not afford another three years without schools pleasing, can not afford another three years without respectable wages because our leaders could meet and get it done.
Theirs are the stories and voices in the extension of South Carolina. The brother who can not get Medicaid to cover all the needs of her sick child. He needs us to pass a health plan that cuts costs and makes health care available and affordable for all Americans. That's what you're looking for.
The teacher who works nights at Dunkin 'Donuts after school ends meet, we must reform our teaching method is better pay and more support and her students get the resources they need to achieve their dreams.
The Maytag worker who is now competing with his own son for a job at $ 7 an hour at the local Wal-Mart because the factory he gave his life to shut its doors, we have to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas and start putting them in the pockets of working Americans who deserve it and put in the pockets of struggling homeowners who are having a difficult time and the care of older persons must be removed with dignity and respect.
That woman who told me that has not been able to breathe since the day her nephew left for Iraq or the soldier who does not know his son because he is in his third or fourth or fifth, even the duty, which require us to meet and end a war that should never have been authorized and should never have been waged.
So understand this, South Carolina. The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It's not about rich versus poor, young against old. And it is not black against white.
This election is about the past versus the future. It's whether or not to accept the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today or whether they seek to achieve a common sense policy and innovation, a politics of sacrifice and shared prosperity.
Some people keep telling us they can not do that, they can not have what you're looking for, you can not have what they want, we are peddling false hopes. But here is what I know. I know that when people say they can not overcome all the big money and influence in Washington, I think of that elderly woman who sent me a contribution the other day, an envelope that had a money order for $ 3.01 with a Scripture verse hidden inside the envelope. So do not tell us change is not feasible. That woman knows change is possible.
When I hear the cynical talk that blacks and whites and Latinos can not join and work together, I remember the Latino brothers and sisters I organized with and stood with and fought side by side for jobs and justice on the streets of Chicago. So do not tell us change can not happen.
When I hear that we'll never overcome the racial divide in our politics, I think about that Republican woman who used to work for Strom Thurmond, who is now dedicated to educating children from poor neighborhoods and who took to the streets and knocked South Carolina at the gates of this campaign. Do not tell me they can not change.
Yes you can. Yes, you can change. Yes you can.
Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, you can take advantage of our future. And out of this great state, with a new wind at your back and make this journey across this great country, a country they love, with the message that the drag from the plains of Iowa to the hills of New Hampshire, from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast, the same message they had when they were up and when they were below that of many who are one, that while you breathe, is hope.
And where he met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who say we can not, they will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in six simple words - yes, they can.
Thank you very much, South Carolina. I love you