Last week, SundayMonkey gave you a glimpse inside president-elect Barack Obama\'s election victory speech by showing you the first draft of that historic address ... up to a point. Mr. Obama\'s speech exceeded the meagre capacity of www.sundaymonkey.ca so you only got the first two-thirds-ish. Here, we bring you the final third-ish in all its first draft glory. Enjoy and remember ... Yes we can.
SPEAKING NOTES FOR SENATOR BARACK OBAMA
Election Day
November 4, 2008
Victory Speech - FIRST SECOND DRAFT - Continued
Let’s remember that your expectations need to take a big step down starting right now [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 is generally completely disorganized, sometimes blind squirrels do find nuts [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: Slavery blows, man [We are not enemies but friends]. Though passion may have been Bill Clinton’s trademark in office, you can count on me to keep it in my pants [strained, it must not break our bonds of affection].
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, you better get with the program ‘cause I’m the man in charge now [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 don’t you forget it.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, really, we don’t give a crap about you unless you’ve got oil, nice cheap child labor or nuclear weapons [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, so don’t you dare forget it. Every president gets his own war, so I’m making a list and the first sucker could be you, Canada.
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you unless you’re good at hiding in caves. To those who seek peace and security: We support you unless you don’t buy enough Nikes. 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 from our all-consuming desire to turn everything in our path into money [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: Simon Cowell. Wait a second, he might be British. [that America can change.] Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us modest hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow or sometime in the next eight years. Remember, keep those expectations low.
This election had many electronic glitches designed to keep Tim Robbins from voting [firsts] and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is 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 totally bootilicious [106 years old].
She was born pretty darned good looking [just a generation past slavery]; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky or shows to watch on late-night television that were not test patterns; 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: Where’s the beef? [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. Just do it. [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. Coke. It’s the real thing. [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. Coffee Mate tastes great. [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. A little dab’ll do ya. [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 prayed that the software wasn’t altered by the Republican National Committee 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 chew up and spit out anyone without the financial means to participate in our consumer culture [change].
Tastes great. Less filling. [Yes we can.]
America, we have accomplished nothing these last eight years except running up the debt come [so far]. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. I probably won’t do any of that, but seriously, how bad do I have to be to be worse than our current guy and you gave him two terms. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – How hard is it to lower our expectations? [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 lay low and try not to screw things up [answer that call.] This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work in jobs they don’t want and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity to my friends and promote the cause of peace except in the countries where we want to start wars; to reclaim the American dream from its current home in Bangalore, India and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope that we are not downwind of a coal plant. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we are probably meeting with smart people or Canadians and we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener. [Yes, we can.]
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
