character and his convictions and his heart, Barack Obama is
still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.
(APPLAUSE)
He is the same man who started his career by turning down
high- paying jobs and instead of working in struggling
neighborhoods where a steel plant had shutdown, fighting to
rebuild communities and get folks back to work. Because for
Barack, success isn't about how much money you make. It is
about the difference you make in people's lives.
(APPLAUSE)
He is the same man -- he is the same man when our girls
were first born, would anxiously checked their cribs every few
minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing
them off to everyone we knew. You see, that's the man who sit
down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night,
patiently answering questions about issues in the news,
strategizing about middle school friendships. That's the man I
see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk,
pouring over the letters people have sent him. The letter from
the father struggling to pay his bills. From the woman dying of
cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care. From the
young people with some much promise but so few opportunities.
And I see the concern in his eyes, and I hear the determination
in his voice as he tells me, ``You won't believe what these folks
are going through Michelle. It's not right. We have got to
keep working to fix this. We have so much more to do.''
(APPLAUSE)
I see how those stories...
AUDIENCE: Four more years!
OBAMA: I see how those stories, our collection of
struggles and hopes and dreams, I see how that's what drives
Barack Obama every single day. And I did not think it was
possible, but let me tell you today, I love my husband even more
than I did four years ago. Even more than I did 23 years ago
when we first met.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me tell you why -- I love that he has never forgotten
how he started. I love that we can trust Barack to do what he
says he is going to do, even when it is hard, especially when
it's hard. I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as us
and them. He doesn't care whether you are a Democrat, a
Republican, or none of the above. He knows that we all love our
country, and he is always ready to listen to good ideas, he is
always looking for the very best in everyone he meets. And I
love that even in the toughest moments, when we're all sweatin'
it -- when we're worried that the bill won't pass, and it seems
like all is lost, see Barack never lets himself get distracted
by the chatter and noise. No, just like his grandmother, he
just keeps getting up and moving forward with patience and
wisdom, and courage and grace.
(APPLAUSE)
And he reminds me -- he reminds me that we are playing a
long game here, and that change is hard, and change is low and
never happens all at once, but eventually we get there, we
always do. We get there because of folks like my dad, folks
like Barack's grandmother, men and women who said to themselves,
``I may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams but maybe my
children will. Maybe my grandchildren will.'' See, so many of
us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice, and longing
and steadfast love, because time and again, they swallowed their
fears and doubts and did what was hard.
So today, when the challenges we face start to seem
overwhelming or even impossible, let us never forget that doing
the impossible is the history of this nation.
OBAMA: It is who we are as Americans. It is how this
country was built.
(APPLAUSE)
And -- and if -- if our parents and grandparents could toil
-- and -- and struggle for us, you know if they could raise
beams of steel to the sky, send a man to the moon, connect the
world with a touch of a button, then surely, we can keep on
sacrificing and building for our own kids and grandkids, right?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
OBAMA: And if so many brave men and women could sacrifice
their lives for our most fundamental rights, then surely we can
do our parts as citizens of this great democracy to exercise
those rights. Surely we can get to the polls on a election day
and make our voices heard.
(APPLAUSE)
If -- if farmers and -- and blacksmiths could win an
independence from an empire, if -- if immigrants could leave
behind every, if women can be dragged to jail for seeking to
vote, if a generation could defeat a depression and define
greatness for all time, if a young preacher could lift us to the
mountain top with his righteous dream, and if proud Americans
can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they
love, then surely, surely, we can give everyone in this country
a fair chance at that great American dream.
(APPLAUSE)
Because in the end -- in the end, more than anything else,
that is the story of this country. The story of unwavering hope
grounded in unyielding struggle. That is what has made my story
and Barack's story and -- and so many American stories possible.
And let me tell you something, I say all of this tonight, not
just as a first lady, no, not just as a wife. You see, at the
end of the day, my most important title is still mom-in-chief.
(APPLAUSE)
My -- my -- my daughters are -- are still at the heart of
my heart and the center of my world. But, let me tell you,
today, I have none of those worries from four years ago, no.
Not about whether Barack and I were doing what was best for our
girls. Because today, I know from experience that if I truly
want to leave a better world for my daughters, and for all of
our sons and daughters, if -- if we want to give all of our
children a foundation for their dreams, and opportunities worthy
of their promise, if we want to give them a sense of that
limitless possibility, their belief that here in America, there
is always something better out there if you are willing to work
for it, then we must work like never before, and we must once
again come together, and stand together for the man we can trust
to keep moving this great country forward.
(APPLAUSE)
My husband, our president, Barack Obama.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.
