Barack Obama speaking on 11/04/08: 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.

Its 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 very first time in their
lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that
their voice could be that difference.

Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and
Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay,
straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to
the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue
States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so
many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of 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.

Its been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on
this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to
America. …

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for
generations. But one thats on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast
her ballot in Atlanta. Shes 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 shes seen throughout her century
in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress;
the times we were told that we cant, 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
and 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 doubt, and those who tell us that we cant,
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. (11/05/08)
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