C-SPAN: Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention
Summary
TLDRIn 2004, then-Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama delivered a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. He shared his personal story, highlighting the American dream and the opportunities it offers. Obama discussed the need for the nation to reaffirm its values, focusing on issues such as job loss, healthcare, and education. He introduced John Kerry as a candidate who embodies American ideals and has a vision for a better future, emphasizing unity, hope, and the collective responsibility to ensure every American has a fair chance at success.
Takeaways
- 🌟 Barack Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston emphasized the American dream and the opportunities available in the United States.
- 👨👩👧👦 Obama shared his personal story, highlighting his diverse heritage and the aspirations his parents had for him, reflecting the larger American narrative of hope and potential.
- 🏛️ He discussed the fundamental values of the United States, such as equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are central to the American identity.
- 🤝 Obama called for unity and a collective effort to address issues like job loss, affordable healthcare, and educational opportunities for all Americans.
- 💼 He criticized companies moving jobs overseas and advocated for policies that support businesses creating jobs within the United States.
- 🏥 Obama emphasized the need for affordable health coverage for all Americans, similar to the benefits enjoyed by politicians.
- 🌱 He touched on the importance of energy independence to reduce reliance on foreign oil and to protect the environment.
- ✊ Obama expressed the belief that war should be a last resort and that the United States must be prepared and just in its military engagements.
- 👥 He argued against divisive politics and for a united America, where the well-being of every citizen is considered important, regardless of race or background.
- 🌈 Obama concluded with a message of hope, urging Americans to participate in a politics of hope rather than cynicism, and to believe in a better future for the country.
Q & A
Who was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention?
-Barack Obama was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
What personal background does Barack Obama mention in his speech?
-Barack Obama mentions his father was a foreign student from Kenya, his mother was from Kansas, and he discusses their struggles and dreams.
What does Obama emphasize as the true genius of America in his speech?
-Obama emphasizes the true genius of America as a faith in simple dreams and an insistence on small miracles that ensure basic rights and opportunities for all.
What are some of the values and commitments Obama calls to reaffirm in the 2004 election?
-Obama calls to reaffirm values and commitments such as equal opportunities, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the importance of community and service.
Who does the Democratic Party nominate as their presidential candidate in the speech?
-In the speech, Barack Obama endorses John Kerry as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.
What are some policy positions of John Kerry mentioned by Obama?
-Obama mentions that John Kerry believes in rewarding hard work, providing affordable health coverage, achieving energy independence, and not sacrificing constitutional freedoms.
How does Obama describe the attitude of Americans towards government involvement?
-Obama describes Americans as not expecting the government to solve all their problems but believing that with slight changes in priorities, the government can ensure opportunities for all.
What does Obama say about the importance of unity and the concept of 'out of many, one'?
-Obama emphasizes the importance of unity, stating that despite differences, there is only one United States of America, and that the country functions best when it operates under the belief that everyone is connected as one people.
What is the message Obama conveys about the politics of hope versus cynicism?
-Obama conveys that the politics of hope is more substantial than cynicism, advocating for a belief in a better future and the audacity to hope for positive change despite difficulties.
What does Obama mean by 'The Audacity of Hope'?
-Obama refers to 'The Audacity of Hope' as a belief in a better future, inspired by the resilience and aspirations of various groups in American history, such as slaves, immigrants, and working-class individuals.
Outlines
🌟 Introduction and Personal Background
In paragraph 1, Barack Obama introduces himself as an Illinois Senate candidate and delivers the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. He shares his personal story, highlighting his father's journey from Kenya, his mother's background from Kansas, and their shared dreams for their children. Obama emphasizes the American dream and the opportunities it provides, reflecting on his parents' faith in America's potential and the sacrifices made by previous generations. He acknowledges the diversity of his heritage and how it is intertwined with the larger American narrative, concluding with a call to affirm America's greatness based on its founding principles of equality and the pursuit of happiness.
💼 Economic Challenges and the American Dream
Paragraph 2 delves into the economic struggles faced by everyday Americans, as observed by Obama during his interactions with workers in Galesburg, Illinois, and other individuals across the country. He discusses the plight of workers losing jobs to outsourcing, the challenges of accessing affordable healthcare, and the barriers faced by students in pursuing higher education due to financial constraints. Obama emphasizes the need for a change in priorities to ensure equal opportunities for all, and he introduces John Kerry as a leader who embodies the best of America, with a commitment to community, faith, and service. He outlines Kerry's policy stances, including rewarding hard work, providing affordable healthcare, and pursuing energy independence, while also stressing the importance of not sacrificing liberties or using faith to divide the nation.
🛡️ The Cost of War and the Importance of Unity
In paragraph 3, Obama addresses the costs of war, both in terms of human lives and societal resources. He recounts meeting a young Marine, Sheamus, and reflects on the sacrifices made by servicemen and women, as well as the responsibilities owed to them by the nation. Obama stresses the need for truthfulness in justifying wars, proper care for soldiers and their families, and sufficient troop strength to ensure victory and peace. He also touches on the broader theme of American unity, rejecting the notion of a divided America along political, racial, or regional lines. Instead, he calls for a collective identity as Americans, united in their pursuit of individual dreams while also recognizing their interconnectedness and shared responsibilities towards one another.
🌈 The Audacity of Hope and the Path Forward
Paragraph 4 concludes Obama's speech with a call for hope and a rejection of cynicism in politics. He defines hope not as blind optimism but as a substantive belief in a better future, drawing on historical examples of hope from various groups, including slaves, immigrants, and individuals who have overcome adversity. Obama expresses his belief in the potential for positive change in America, including providing relief for the middle class, creating jobs, and reclaiming opportunities for the disadvantaged. He envisions a future where the nation comes together, led by John Kerry and John Edwards, to reclaim its promise and emerge from political darkness into a brighter day. The paragraph ends with a note about the Democratic National Committee's announcement of Mark Warner as the keynote speaker for the upcoming convention and a prompt for viewers to follow the campaign on C-SPAN's politics site.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dreams
💡Diversity
💡Opportunity
💡Service
💡Hope
💡Freedom
💡Community
💡Responsibility
💡Equality
💡Prosperity
💡Unity
Highlights
Barack Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston
Obama's personal background as the son of a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas
The importance of the American dream and opportunities it provides to immigrants and the less fortunate
Obama's belief in the American values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
The need for the country to reaffirm its values and commitments in the face of hard realities
Obama's discussion of the struggles of workers in Galesburg, Illinois, and the need for better job opportunities
The importance of accessible healthcare and the challenges faced by families without insurance
The role of government in supporting education and not just relying on individual effort
Obama's endorsement of John Kerry as a leader who embodies the best of America
Kerry's stance on rewarding hard work and offering tax breaks to companies that create jobs in America
The necessity for energy independence to reduce reliance on foreign oil
Obama's call for a foreign policy that uses war as a last resort, not a first option
The story of Sheamus, a young Marine, and the responsibilities America has towards its servicemen and women
The interconnectedness of all Americans and the importance of community and shared responsibility
Obama's vision of a united America, rejecting the division into liberal and conservative, or racial and ethnic categories
The call for a politics of hope over cynicism, and the importance of collective action for a better future
Obama's closing remarks, urging the audience to join in the effort to reclaim America's promise
Transcripts
in 2004 then Illinois Senate candidate
Barack Obama delivered the keynote
address at the Democratic National
Convention in Boston he spoke about his
personal background and about the
Democratic party here is that speech in
its entirety
thank you so
much thank you so much thank you thank
you thank you so
much thank you so much thank
you thank
you thank you dick
Durban you make us all proud
on behalf of the great state of
Illinois Crossroads of a
Nation Land of
Lincoln let me express my deepest
gratitude for the privilege of
addressing this
convention tonight is a particular honor
for me because let's face it my presence
on this stage is pretty
unlikely my father was a foreign student
born and raised in a small village in
Kenya he grew up hurting goats went to
school in a tin roof Shack his father my
grandfather was a cook a domestic
servant to the
British but my grandfather had larger
dreams for his son through hard work and
perseverance my father got a scholarship
to study in a magical place America that
shown as a beacon of freedom and
opportunity to so many who had come
before
while studying here my father met my
mother she was born in a town on the
other side of the world in
Kansas her father worked on oil rigs and
Farms through most of the
depression the day after Pearl Harbor my
grandfather signed up for Duty joined
Patton's Army marched across Europe back
home my grandmother raised a baby and
went to work on a bomber assembly
line after the war they studied on the
GI Bill bought a house through FHA and
later moved West all the way to Hawaii
in search of
opportunity and They too had Big Dreams
for their
daughter a common dream born of two
continents my parents shared not only an
improbable love they shared an Abiding
Faith in the possibilities of this
nation
they would give me an African name
Barack or blessed believing that in a
tolerant America your name is no barrier
to
success they
imagine they imagine me going to the
best
schools in the land even though they
weren't Rich because in a generous
America you don't have to be rich to
achieve your
potential they're both passed away now
and yet I know that on this night they
do look down on me with great pride they
stand here and I stand here today
grateful for the diversity of my
Heritage aware that my parents' Dreams
live on in my two precious
daughters I stand here knowing that my
story is part of the larger American
story that I owe a debt to all of those
who came before me and that in no other
country on earth is my story even
possible
Tonight We Gather to affirm the
greatness of our
nation not because of the height of our
skyscrapers or the power of our military
or the size of our economy our pride is
based on a very simple
premise summed up in a declaration made
over 200 years
ago we hold these truths to be
self-evident that all all men are
created
equal that they are endowed by their
creator with certain inalienable rights
that among these are life liberty and
the pursuit of happiness that is the
true genius of
America a
faith a faith in simple
dreams an insistence on Small
Miracles that we can tuck in our
children at night and know that they are
fed and clothed and safe from home
F that we can say what we think write
what we think without hearing a sudden
knock on the door that we can have an
idea and start our own
business without paying a
bribe that we can participate in the
political process without fear of
Retribution and that our votes will be
counted at least most of the
time this year in this election we are
called to reaffirm our values and our
commitments to hold them against a hard
reality and see how we're measuring up
to the legacy of our forebears and the
promise of future generations and fellow
Americans Democrats Republicans
Independence I say to you tonight we
have more work to
do more work to do for the workers I met
in Galesburg Illinois who are losing
their union jobs at the matag plant
that's moving to Mexico and now are
having to compete with their own
children for jobs that pay seven bucks
an hour more to do for the father that I
met who was losing his job and choking
back the tears wondering how he would
pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son
needs without the health benefits that
he counted
on more to do for the young woman in
East St Louis and thousands more like
her who has the grades has the drive has
the will but doesn't have the money to
go to college
now don't get me wrong the people I meet
in small towns and big cities and diners
and office Parks they don't expect
government to solve all their problems
they know they have to work hard to get
ahead and they want to going to the
collar counties around Chicago and
people will tell you they don't want
their tax money Wasted by a welfare
agency or by the
Pentagon go
in go into any inner city neighborhood
and folks will tell you that government
alone can't teach our kids to learn they
know that parents have to teach that
children can't achieve unless we raise
their expectations and turn off the
television sets and eradicate the
slander that says a black youth with a
book is acting white they know those
things people don't
expect people don't expect government to
solve all their
problems but they sense deep in their
bones that with just a slight change in
priorities we can make sure that every
child in America has a decent shot at
life and that the doors of opportunity
remain open to all they know we can do
better and they want that
choice in this election we offer that
choice our party has chosen a man to
lead us who embodies the best this
country has to offer and that man is
John KY
John krey understands the ideals of
community faith and service because
they've defined his life from his heroic
service to Vietnam to his years as a
prosecutor and lieutenant governor
through two decades in the United States
Senate he's devoted himself to this
country again and again we've seen him
make tough choices when easier ones were
available his values and his record
affirm what is best in
US John krey believes in an America
where hard work is rewarded so instead
of offering tax breaks to Companies
shipping jobs overseas he offers them to
companies creating jobs here at
home John KY believes in an America
where all Americans can afford the same
health coverage our politicians in
Washington have for
themselves John KY believes in energy
Independence so but we aren't held
hostage to the profits of oil companies
or the sabotage of foreign oil
fields John KY believes in the
Constitutional freedoms that have made
our country the Envy of the world and he
will never sacrifice our basic Liberties
nor use Faith as a wedge to divide
us and John KY
believes that in a dangerous world
war must be an option sometimes but it
should never be the first
option you know a while back a while
back I met a young man named Sheamus in
a VFW Hall in East Molen
Illinois he was a good-look kid 62 63
cleare eyed with an easy
smile he told me he joined the Marines
and was heading to Iraq the following
week and as I listened to him explain
why he didn't
the absolute Faith he had in our country
and its leaders his Devotion to duty and
service I thought this young man was all
that any of us might ever hope for in a
child but then I asked myself are we
serving Sheamus as well as he's serving
us I thought of the 900 men and women
Sons and Daughters husbands and wives
friends and neighbors who won't be
returning to their own
hometowns I thought of the families i'
met who were struggling to get by
without a loved one's full income or
whose loved ones had returned with a
limb missing or nerves shattered but
still lacked long-term health benefits
because they were
reservists when we send our young men
and women into Harm's Way we have a
solemn obligation not to fudge the
numbers or shave the truth about why
they are going to care for their
families while they're gone to tend to
the soldiers upon their return and to
never ever go to war without enough
troops to win the war secure the peace
and earn the respect of the
world now now let me be clear let me be
clear we have real enemies in the world
these enemies must be found they must be
pursued and they must be defeated
John krey knows this and just as
Lieutenant krey did not hesitate to risk
his life to protect the men who served
with him in Vietnam President kery will
not hesitate one moment to use our
military might to keep America safe and
secure John KY believes in
America and he knows that it's not
enough for just some of us to prosper
for alongside our famous individualism
there's another ingredient in the
American Saga a belief that we're all
connected as one people if there is a
child on the southside of Chicago who
can't read that matters to me even if
it's not my child if there's a senior
citizen somewhere who can't pay for
their prescription drugs and having to
choose between medicine and the rent
that makes my life poor even if it's not
my
grandparent if there's an Arab American
family being rounded up without benefit
of an attorney or due process that
threatens my civil
liberties it is that fundamental
belief it is that fundamental belief I
am My Brother's Keeper I am My Sister's
Keeper that makes this country
work it's what allows us to pursue our
individual dreams and yet still come
together as one American family
plur UNAM out of many
one now even as we speak there are those
who are preparing to divide us the Spin
Masters the negative ad Peddlers who
embrace the politics of anything
goes well I say to them tonight there is
not a liberal America and a conservative
America there is the United States of
America there is not a Black America and
White America and Latino America and
Asian America there's the United States
of
America the pundits the pundits like to
slice and dice our country into red
States and blue states red States for
Republicans blue States for Democrats
but I've got news for them too we
worship an awesome God in the blue
States and we don't like federal agents
poking around in our libraries in the
red States
we coach little league in the blue
States and yes we've got some gay
friends in the red
states there are patriots who opposed
the war in Iraq and they Patriots who
supported the war in Iraq We Are One
people all of us pledging allegiance to
the Stars and Stripes all of us
defending the United States of America
in the
end in the end in the end that's what
this election is
about do we participate in a politics of
cynicism or do we participate in a
politics of
Hope John KY calls on us to Hope John
Edwards calls on us to hope I'm not
talking about blind optimism here the
almost willful ignorance that thinks un
employment will go away if we just don't
think about it or Health Care crisis
will solve itself if we just ignore it
that's not what I'm talking about I'm
talking about something more
substantial it's the hope of slaves
sitting around a fire singing freedom
songs the hope of immigrants setting out
for diff Distant
Shores the hope of a young Naval
Lieutenant bravely patrolling the makong
Delta the hope of a mill worker's son
who dares to defy the odds the hope of a
skinny kid with a funny name who
believes that America has a place for
him
too hope hope in the face of difficulty
hope in the face of
uncertainty The Audacity Of Hope in the
end that is God's greatest gift to us
the Bedrock of this nation a belief in
things not SE a belief that there are
better days ahead I believe that we can
give our middle class relief and provide
Working Families with a road to
opportunity I believe we can provide
jobs to the jobless homes to the
homeless and reclaim young people in
cities Across America from violence and
despair I believe that we have a
righteous wind at our backs and that as
we stand on the crossroads of History we
can make the right choices and meet the
challenges that face US America to
tonight if you feel the same energy that
I do if you feel the same urgency that I
do if you feel the same passion that I
do if you feel the same hopefulness that
I do if we do what we must do then I
have no doubt that all across the
country from Florida to Oregon from
Washington to Maine the people will rise
up in November and John KY will be sworn
in as president and John Edwards will be
sworn in as vice president and this
country will reclaim its promise and out
of this long political Darkness a
brighter day will come thank you very
much everybody God bless you thank you
are
the Democratic National Committee
earlier this week announced that Mark
Warner will deliver the keynote address
at this year's convention in Denver the
former Virginia governor is running for
that state open senate seat this year
you can follow campaign 2008 Anytime by
logging on to our site for politics at C
span.org
politics there you'll find the latest
ads from the presidential and state
races including two new ads from
Senators Obama and McCain on the economy
here's a look at those ads
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