All language subtitles for Obama In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union S01E02

I'm the son
of a Black man from Kenya

and a white woman from Kansas,

and in no other country on Earth
is my story even possible.

I was interested in issues
of social change,

and I tried
community organizing.

I worked
as a civil rights attorney.

I've been continually
experimenting

with ways to bring about change.

He was restless,
he was broke.

Wanted to go to Washington.

Well, he had credentials,

but didn't have
community credibility.

Who are you?

You know, a lot of Black people,
"This Ivy League person.

Who's ya mama? Who's ya daddy?
What's your background?"

Where I first saw Barack Obama

was the 2004
Democratic National Convention

where he gave
the keynote speech.

There is not a liberal America
and a conservative America.

There is the United States
of America.

That was a tremendous coming out
party for Barack Obama.

It became clearer
that he might be interested

in running for president.

I told him my concern for you,
Barack,

is not that you're gonna lose,
it's that you're gonna win.

Okay, you're rolling?

You, uh-- Obviously, you put
a lot of thought

into, uh,
the decision to do this.

Have you given thought to,
when you're successful,

what would you want people
to say...

-Yeah.
-...about how America

was different than the day
you walked in the door?

Well, I-- I don't think
that we're going to solve

all of our problems
in eight years,

uh, or ten years.

You know, one of the things
about life,

both for each of us
and for the country as a whole,

is that there're always
going to be new challenges.

There are always going to be
new difficulties.

But I hope that at the end
of an Obama administration,

people will look back and say
"We changed our politics," uh,

so that people could take pride
in their government again

and could feel
that the government

was working for the people
and not just for the few.

That, at the end
of an Obama administration,

this country's
a little more fair,

and a little more just.

That our economy
is a little more balanced

and that people have
a-- a slightly better chance

of achieving the American dream.

And if we set this country
on the right trajectory now,

then we-- we won't have solved
every problem,

but we will have laid
the foundation

for future generations
to continue

what's been this
great experiment in democracy.

So this is
the Old State Capitol.

One thing you can say
with certainty

about Barack Obama is that
there has never been

another presidential candidate
like him.

He is ambitious
and just daring enough

to invite comparisons to one
of the few American presidents

who was elected with even
less political experience

than he has.

Three years ago,
you were a state legislator

here in Springfield.

What makes you think
that you're qualified

to be president
of the United States?

It-- You know, I think we're
in a moment of history

where... probably
the most important thing

we need to do is to bring
the country together.

Nice to meet you. Hi.

And, one of the skills
that I bring to bear

is being able to pull together

the different strands
of American life

and focus on what we have
in common.

Hi, how are you?

I'm Hillary Clinton...

Senator Hillary Clinton
has burst

onto the campaign field.

I'm running for president,
and I'm in it to win it

with your help!

A recent CBS news poll shows

that Black voters,
who could provide the key

to winning early
Democratic primaries,

are weary of Obama.

How important is race
in defining yourself?

I am rooted in
the African American community,

but I'm not defined by it.

I am comfortable
in my racial identity,

but, uh, that's not all I am.

The stage is set
for tomorrow's announcement.

Senator Barack Obama
will make it official.

He is in this race
for president.

And while he has never
positioned himself

as "the Black candidate"...

...the question of his race

is, of course, and will continue
to be much discussed

and debated, especially
among African Americans.

You think
the country is ready

-for a Black president?
-Yes.

You don't think
it's going to hold you back?

Well-- No. You know, the--

I think i--
if I don't win this race, uh,

it will be
because of other factors.

It's-- It's going to be
because I have not shown

to the American people

a vision for where
the country needs to go

that, uh, that they can embrace.

I was scheduled the next morning

to be in Springfield.

Due to the implication,
Senator Obama called me.

He called me three times
that day.

He was very worried
about my prayer.

And I said, "Why?"

He said, "You know,
I go to Iowa the next day,

don't say anything
in your prayer

that's gonna upset farmers."

And I said, man,
I'm the one talking about

how you brought
Southern Illinois together

to stop distrusting
and mistrusting Chicago.

I wouldn't do that in a prayer.

He called back,
"David's worried." Axelrod.

"David's worried.
Are you-- Are you sure?"

I said, "I'm straight."

The third call, he said, "Rev...

Rolling Stone has got
their hands

on one of your sermons...

and David feels that
if I take you out

on the stage with me

to open up the ceremony
with a prayer,

the press will only focus
on you.

You know, you can be
over the top sometimes."

I said,
"What are you talking about?"

...oppressions.

I'm thinking,
what have I done?

What have I said?

What sermon of mine
have you heard

that's over the top?

Maybe we need
to declare war on racism.

He said,

"I still want you to pray for me
and my family.

Can you do that
before I go out?"

I said, "Yes, I can do that."

He said,
"I'll see you in the morning."

I landed in Springfield.

There was a car waiting for me
that took me to the Capitol.

We joined hands in a circle,
and I prayed for the family,

I prayed for him,

I prayed
a non-partisan prayer...

...and asked
that the candidate...

most dedicated to the principles
of the founders

would be elected,

and that God would keep him
and his family safe.

Secret Service then took Barack
out to the platform.

I walked up with Michelle
and stood next to her

as he announced.

It was here in Springfield,

where North, South, East
and West come together,

that I was reminded
of the essential decency

of the American people.

Where I came to believe
that through this decency,

we can build
a more hopeful America.

And that is why, in the shadow
of the Old State Capitol,

where Lincoln once called
on a house divided

to stand together,

where common hopes
and common dreams still live,

I stand before you today
to announce

my candidacy...

...for President
of the United States of America.

When he made
the announcement

that day in Illinois,
at the same time in Virginia

there was
a Black Agenda Conference.

That I was there.

I wish, you know,
all of this about,

uh-- uh, our friend, Barack,
announcing today,

I wish Obama had announced here.

Because Lincoln--

Lincoln did not free us,

the abolitionist movement
freed us.

And I was not yet there
supporting him.

We've got to quit
giving the wrong people credit

for our history.

Black leaders
were kind of resentful

'cause he kind
of did an inrun

around Black leadership.

Most Black people
who rise in Black communities

have to come through
and kiss the ring

of the Black political
dignitaries and potentates.

Obama leap frogged over them.

By ourselves,
this change will not happen.

Divided, we are bound to fail.

But the life of a tall, gangly,
self-made Springfield lawyer

tells us that a different future
is possible.

He makes
the announcement at Springfield,

tied to the legacy
of Abraham Lincoln,

which is a rich one.
So, we-- we understood--

Okay, I mean,
political calculation,

every politician has to do that.

And you don't want to alienate
your white fellow citizens

coming out of the box.

He tells us that there is power
in words.

He tells us that there's power
in conviction.

That beneath all the differences
of race and region,

faith and station
we are one people.

He's got large numbers
of white brothers and sisters

who have fears and anxieties,

and he's got to speak to them
in such a way

that he holds us at arm's length
enough to say he loves us,

but doesn't get too close
to scare them off.

So, he's walking
this tightrope.

I want us to take up

the unfinished business
of perfecting our union

and building a better America!

I'm not for or against him
as a brother,

if there's any
white supremacist perception

of Barack, I defend him. Why?
'Cause I hate white supremacy.

But he's gotta be accountable.

And starting off
in Springfield, Illinois,

is not impressive to me.

Hey.

He called me up.
He said "Professor West,

I-- I heard what you said
about my speech,

why did you say it?" I said,
I said it because I believed it.

He said "I was wondering
whether you would work with me?"

I said, "I've got one question.

What is your relation
to the legacy

- of Martin Luther King, Jr.?"
- Barack Obama!

"And how
will your campaign

enact the struggle
against poverty,

militarism, racism,
and materialism?

Those are the evils
that Martin Luther King, Jr. saw

right before he was murdered."

I can still sing
"We Shall Overcome!"

We shall overcome
because the arc

of the moral universe is long

-but it bends towards justice.
-...bends towards justice.

It bends towards justice.

He was very honest
with me and he said,

"Professor West, you know that
I'm-- I'm not as radical
as you are,

but I do see myself
directly connected

to the legacy
of Martin Luther King, Jr."

I said, "That sounds wonderful
to me."

Hillary!

Forty-two years ago,
it would have been unimaginable.

Two Democratic
presidential contenders,

one a woman,
another an African American,

courting Black voters
in Alabama,

preaching
to overflowing churches.

Are you ready to march?

Every year,

there's a commemoration
of Selma,

a great encounter
between the forces

of the civil rights movement
led by John Lewis and others...

...and police with truncheons.

And Hillary Clinton
and Barack Obama

want to make
an impression in Selma.

Many black voters
say they're torn

between voting
for the African American, Obama,

or sticking
with the Clintons...

...who've supported civil rights
for years.

That's the agonizing choice
for John Lewis,

bludgeoned
during the Selma March,

and now a congressman.

It was tough, it was very--
It was tough.

I supported, uh,
President Clinton

and got to know Hillary.

It was one
of the tough decisions

of my political life.

The Clintons felt
that they had deep inroads

with the African American
community and with--
with reason.

You'll remember in the-- in a
certain New Yorker magazine,

Toni Morrison wrote
that Bill Clinton

was the first Black president,
said with some irony,

said with all kinds of...
But mostly with admiration too.

Obama gives his speech
at Brown Church.

And Hillary is down the street
at another church.

Yes, that long march to freedom

that began here has carried us
a mighty long way.

It's-- It's a contest.

Thank you, thank you.

Oh, giving all praise and honor
to God...

- Amen!
- ...for bringing us here today.

I just want to talk
a little bit about... Moses,

and Aaron and Joshua...

because we are
in the presence today...

- of a lot of Moseses.
- A lot.

Uh, we're in the presence today
of giants...

whose shoulders we stand on.

He begins
paying tribute

to what he calls
the "Moses generation."

Who's Moses?

Martin Luther King,
who did not see--

Famously says it in his speech,

"I might not get there
with you."

As great as Moses was...

despite all that he did...

leading a people
out of bondage...

he didn't cross over the river
to see the Promised Land.

God told him, "Your job is done.

We're going to leave it
to the Joshua generation...

...to make sure it happens.

There are still some battles
that need to be fought.

Some rivers
that need to be crossed."

Obama pronounces himself

the head
of the Joshua generation.

S-- That's incredibly nervy.

Moses told
the Joshua generation,

"Don't forget
where you came from."

And I worry sometimes
that the Joshua generation

in its success
forgets where it came from.

Thinks it doesn't have
to make as many sacrifices.

You think
people in the 1940s

and 1950s woke up and said,

"We are the civil rights
generation, let's do this,"

as though it was,
you know, fantastic?

Our nostalgia has made us
look back

at that period of time
as though it was great,

but it was not great
getting hit in the head

on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

These weren't fun times.

These were times of commitment,
when people decided

that they weren't gonna
take it anymore

and that they could make
this country better.

Folks complaining about
the quality of our government,

I understand there's something
to be complaining about.

I'm in Washington.

I see what's going on.

It means
we can't sit out elections.

It means we can't just vote
for people

and then not show up
to hold them accountable.

It means we can't think
that government

-is something other people do.
-But I'll tell you what.

I also know that,
if cousin Pookie would vote...

...and... if Uncle Jethro
would get off the couch

and stop watching
SportsCenter...

...and go register some folks
and go to the polls,

we might have
a different kind of politics.

That's what the Moses generation
teaches us.

Kick off your bedroom slippers.
Put on your marching shoes.

Go do some politics.

Change this country!

That's what they teach.

To me, that event is
as much his declaration

to run for president...

as his announcement speech
in Springfield...

but it's made particular
to the Black community.

You got my vote.
You got my vote, man.

He got my vote.
You got my vote.
You got my vote.

Hey, I appreciate that.

I think that
there is a assumption

on the part
of some commentators

that somehow,
the Black community

i-- is so unsophisticated

that the minute you put
an African American face

up on the screen,
that they automatically say,

"That's our guy."

I wanted to say hello.

A Black candidate
has to earn Black votes

the same way that
he's gotta earn white votes.

Uh, and-- and that's exactly
how it should be.

People were asking me,
"Who you gonna support?"

And I said that,
"Well, everybody

that's my color
is not my kind."

I bring you the senator
from Illinois,

Senator Barack Obama.

He had always said
to me,

"I'm not asking you
to support me,

-just don't hurt me."
-Thank you!

There was concern.
Is he going to represent us?

Is he going
to take our issues seriously.

What does he know about us?
Who-- We don't really know him.

I am proud to be a candidate

for the presidency
of the United States of America.

And Black people
are practical,

we're no longer interested
in symbolic politics run

as a-- a reaction
to white supremacy,

run as, you know, a--
a candidate who will protest.

No, we want real people
who are able to really win.

I am mindful

that I wouldn't be here...

...if it had not been
for Reverend Al Sharpton

running for president...

...and Carol Moseley Braun
running for president,

and Jesse Jackson
running for president,

and Shirley Chisolm
running for president.

My candidacy changes
the present course

of our nation.

I got involved
as a protest, really.

Resisting how liberals
were taking us for granted

and dismissing us
and marginalizing us

in the process.

And so one thing led to another.

I felt that
we had the right to run

and the reason to run
and the capacity

to take our case
to the next level.

- Who would have thought?
- I would.

We love Jesse Jackson.

In '88 he really, what?
Got seven million votes?

So that was tremendous.

After 38 contests...

I would be in front.

That's more than symbolic,
that was substance

but we need more of that.

I sense all across America
a desire for something new,

a desire to turn the page...

...a desire to write
a new chapter

in American history.

And if I have all of you working
with me,

then I guarantee you

that not only will we win
this election,

but we are also going
to transform America.

Thank you very much!

I appreciate you guys,
thank you!

The more
I talked to him, the more I felt

that Barack Obama was authentic,

because he wouldn't say to me
what he knew I wanted to hear.

But he said to me
what I needed to hear.

And that was,
"I really do believe

we can make the country
go forward,

and that our community
can get what they want."

All right!
We're ready, thank you.

How's it going, Cedar Rapids?

Thank you! Thank you!

Early in the campaign,

our strategy was all hands
on deck in Iowa.

And the theory of the case was
that if we can win Iowa,

then he would be credible.

Not just to people
in white America

but also people
in Black America,

who were hesitant
about his chances of winning.

- Is this fun to do?
- I love doing this.

This-- This is what politics
is all about.

Can I say hello?

- Yeah.
- You sure can!

But that strategy came
with a cost,

and the cost was Black people
feeling somewhat neglected.

Now we came up
with a magic solution,

which was we asked Michelle
to go to South Carolina.

I don't think
that any of us ever thought

that we would see
a Black president in our lives.

I used to say that in 2007

there were only four people
in the United States

who thought that
it was possible

for a Black man
to be elected president,

and they all lived
at the same address

on the South Side of Chicago.

Hi, how are you?

-I'm Michelle Obama.
-Yes, ma'am.

Nice to see you.

Black people
were very skeptical.

Any Black man that rises, boy,
it's gonna be tough,

and white folk
are gonna be pissed,

and you gonna be vulnerable,
and it might not work out.

Now I know
folks talk in the barbershops

and beauty salons.

I've heard it myself.
See people say, you know,

"That Barack Obama
he's a nice guy,

but I'm not sure America's ready
for a Black president."

She gave
an extraordinary speech

that really spoke
to the feelings

in the
African American community,

the feelings of fear.

Of worrying, "Would he lose?"
Worrying, "Would he be hurt?"

I know that people understand
that Barack is special.

You don't see

this kind of man often.

And I equate it to like,
you know,

we all have that aunt,

that grandmother that bought
all that new furniture?

Spend her life savings on it,
and then what she do?

She puts plastic on it
to protect it.

Everyone in the audience,

which was comprised of primarily
African American women,

all knew
about their grandmother's couch.

I think folks just want to...
protect us...

from the possibility
of being let down.

Not by us, but by the world.

She gave them permission
by acknowledging their fear,

but then said "Look,
I have the most to lose."

If you're willing to heed
Coretta Scott King's words

and not be afraid of the future,
but have faith in God's grace,

then I truly believe
that together,

there's no challenge
that we can't overcome.

Thank you.

There are African Americans

who don't think
that you're Black enough,

who don't think that you have
had the required experience.

The truth of the matter is,
you know,

when I'm walking down
the South Side of Chicago

and, uh, visiting my barbershop,
and...

playing basketball in, uh,
in some of these neighborhoods,

those aren't, uh, those aren't
questions that I get asked.

I didn't know
he was this or that.

Normally when you come
into a shop,

into Hyde Park Hair Salon,
you're just-- you're yourself.

No titles.

There were some reporters
in the shop at one point

during the campaign, and one
of the reporters asked me,

"Oh, do you cut his hair
to appear like he's white?"

I'm like, "Excuse me?"

I said, "How do you do that?"

That was my reply,
but it stunned me.

It was unnecessary.

But it's necessary, I guess,
for a lot of people.

Barack Obama has said
that the big-city cab drivers

who once refused to pick him up

had no doubt
about his Blackness back then,

nor should anyone else now.

But recent polls show
Hillary Clinton

is the choice
of more Black Democrats,

and it's clear
that Obama's racial identity

gives pause to some.

He was loudly
condemned by some.

And in private even more loudly,
"He wasn't Black enough.

He didn't have
the slave experience."

Thank you, Apollo!

There's always been
a kind of heterogeneous idea

of like what it is to be Black
in this country.

And so, what was more important
than his name

or his lineage was his ability
to culturally interact

on terms with African Americans.

One of the things
the campaign did

in South Carolina
was they released this DVD

of him going around
and talking to voters.

-Retired Sergeant Major, sir.
-Man, retired Sergeant Major.

He still looks like
a Sergeant Major.

And there's one point
where he goes into a barbershop

and he starts, uh,
cracking on this guy's shoes.

-How you doing, President?
-I'm doing good, man.

And check out those shoes too.

Check 'em out.

Man.

You got some, you got some.
What's that?

-I dunno--
-You got some alligator?

And that was just something

that only a person
who was comfortable

in this culture would do.

- Are you fired up?
- Fired up!

Are you ready to go?

Of course
there are whites
who will never vote for Obama

-because he is Black.
-Let's go change the world.

I don't want to sound prejudiced
or anything, but for one, um,

I'm not gonna...

I don't want to vote
for a-- a colored man

to be our president.

Barack Obama's bus
rode through rural Iowa Monday,

as he takes his message
to small towns in the state.

We'll show that we value farming
in this country

by launching a program
that gives a hand

to the next generation
of farmers

and helps them buy
their first farms.

It's an interesting move

just two weeks
before the caucus,

because rural Iowa is certainly
not Obama's base.

The question is whether
or not Obama can connect

with the primarily-white
rural voters here.

It's still my neighbors
in small towns

who don't have jobs.

Uh, it's still people
in my parish

who are struggling
with retirement incomes,

and those are no different
whether we live in Chicago

or-- or in, uh, Laurens, Iowa.

How many people here
definitely plan

to caucus tomorrow?
Raise your hands.

That's what I'm talking about.

The campaign
picked up momentum

over the course
of the year in Iowa.

We knew that if we didn't win
the Iowa caucuses we were done.

We had to-- We had to
break through there.

Tonight,
the Democratic front runners

are in a frantic drive
to rally supporters

and win over converts.

Barack Obama,
Hillary Clinton, John Edwards

have been virtually tied

according to some
of the late polling

going on surrounding this race.

And just
so supporters know
what's at stake...

Tomorrow night,
the future of the free world

is riding on your shoulders.

Don't feel any pressure.

Thirty-one,
32, 33. Obama...

I was living in Atlanta
and there was a watch party.

And I-- I don't think...
very many people

really, really thought
that he was going to win Iowa.

And then all of a sudden,
he won Iowa.

They said this country
was too divided,

but on this January night,

at this defining moment
in history,

you have done
what the cynics said

we couldn't do.

I remember like,
leaving,

and there was a white guy
wearing a t-shirt that said,

"He's Black, I'm proud."

And then right after that,
I saw a t-shirt

that had Martin Luther King

and Barack Obama
next to each other.

And then I saw that t-shirt
everywhere

in the days that followed.

After he won in Iowa,

Black people were like,
"What's that? What's his name?

Barack Oberman? What's his name?

Yeah, let's we'll do--
Yeah, he's good!

He's like really good."

Hillary Clinton
was darn near knighted

as the heir apparent.

It was her turn, she had waited
as a woman in this country.

But Obama swooped right in

and figured out,
now, it's kind of my time.

Obama! Obama!

So he earned it, right,
the old fashioned way.

Shoe leather, meeting people,
winning at the polls,

and Black people were like,
"This man could really win!"

How's it going, New Hampshire?

He rocketed
out of Iowa

and into New Hampshire

and this morning
woke up to a poll

showing a comfortable lead
here over Senator Clinton.

In his stump speech,

he now says "we" instead of "I."
The implication?

What happened in Iowa
was the start of a movement.

Obama's victory
has recast the Democratic race,

creating new pressure
on Senator Hillary Clinton.

I did very,
very well with people over 45,

and I didn't do as well
with people under 30.

And I take responsibility
for that.

The Obama crowds
are large and energized,

they also tend to be young.

That's why you're here,

and in one day's time

we can stand up for change...

...that all of us
can believe in.

In another corner of the state,

a different side
of Hillary Clinton.

You know, I have so many
opportunities from this country.

I just don't want
to see us fall backwards.

No. So...

Thank you!

Well, first of all,

I want to congratulate
Senator Clinton

on a hard-fought victory
here in New Hampshire.

She did an outstanding job,

give her a big round
of applause.

I want, especially,
to thank New Hampshire.

Over the last week,
I listened to you.

And in the process,
I found my own voice.

New Hampshire voters
have redefined the race

for The White House,

but what drove people
to vote the way they did?

Even Hillary Clinton's
own tracking poll

showed that she was
going to lose big.

Something happened
in that last 48 hours

that changed people's minds.

Hillary Clinton retooled
her campaign a little bit.

Started getting out
of the bubble,

started actually talking
to voters,

answering all
of their questions,

had an emotional moment,
humanized herself.

Is it possible people lied
to pollsters

saying they were
going to vote for

for an African American
candidate and then not?

I've gotten a number
of emails now from people

in different campaigns,
Democratic strategists,

other people out there saying,
"Well, could it be a race?

Could it be a race?
Could it be a race?"

We turn next
to the campaign trail.

The politics of race
and possible trouble

for the Clinton campaign.

It involves comments
Senator Clinton made

about Martin Luther King,

and something Bill Clinton said
about Barack Obama.

This whole thing

is the biggest fairy-tale
I've ever seen.

Clinton said
what he was describing

as a fairytale
was the media portrayal

of Obama's record on Iraq.

As the Democratic campaign

moves forward,
Hillary Clinton is backpedaling.

So, the Obama campaign
is deliberately

- distorting this...
- Today on Meet the Press,

she sought to blame Barack Obama
for the firestorm caused

by a remark of hers
in New Hampshire.

Dr. King's dream, uh,
began to be realized

when President Lyndon Johnson
passed

the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

She said
she did not mean to belittle

Dr. King's accomplishments,

which is exactly how many
African Americans took it.

Sources
in the Obama campaign say

African American leaders
are outraged

and believe the Clinton campaign
is using racial code words.

His fairy-tale
comment was all over talk radio,

and there was an email
being sent around

with a detailed list of comments
from the Clintons.

All this led

experts to worry
that this historic campaign

between a woman
and an African American man

now threatens to divide
Democrats along racial lines.

In terms of accountability,
Senator Obama,

Senator Clinton
on Sunday told me

that the Obama campaign had
been pushing this story line.

And true enough,
your Press Secretary

in South Carolina, four pages

of alleged comments
made by the Clinton people

about the issue of race.

In hindsight, do you regret
pushing this story?

Well, not only in hindsight,
but, uh, going forward.

I think that our supporters,
our staff get overzealous.

Uh, they start saying things
that I would not say.

And it is my responsibility
to make sure

that we're setting a clear tone
in our campaign.

South Carolina
is the first southern primary.

It was a crucial primary
for both us

and for Hillary Clinton.

The majority of voters
who participate

in the Democratic primary there
are African American...

...but Barack needed white votes
as well and wanted them

because he didn't want to win
on that basis.

I wanna be so persuasive
that nobody leaves this room

thinking they should vote
for anybody else.

I want everybody here to vote
for Barack.

Everybody!

Barack Obama hit
the lunch crowd

at a restaurant in Columbia,

where he greeted n
early every customer.

Nearly all of them white.

Of course,
we can take a picture,
what's your name?

-Sean.
-Sean.

Polls show
he's been losing support

among white voters here,

and spent much of the week
trying to downplay race.

He's blamed the media
for hyping it,

and encouraged voters
to look past color.

If I came to you
and I had polka dots...

but-- but you were convinced...

...that I was gonna put
more money into your pockets,

and help you pay for college,

and help keep America safe,
you'd say, "Okay.

You know, I-- I wish
he didn't have polka dots,

but I'm still voting for him."

Partly out of curiosity,

and partly out
of legitimate support,

I decided that I was going to go
to South Carolina.

We are in this place,
Denmark, South Carolina,

on the Get Out the Vote
operation.

We walk up to this house,

and this older white woman
comes to the door

and tells me not to come
any closer.

And I said, "Okay." And,
you know, I stopped where I was

and she said, "I already know
the date and I know the time,

I'm going to be right there
to vote for Senator Obama."

All the signs
have been positive.

Encouraging polls,
the big crowds,

the confident campaign,

but Obama has seen this before
in New Hampshire.

Who can you trust to be there
for you in sunshine and storm?

- Hillary!
- For her last big rally

in South Carolina,

Hillary Clinton called
in her number one surrogate.

The former president
today sought

to lower expectations

suggesting Obama has the edge
here because he's Black.

Jesse Jackson won South Carolina
twice in '84 and '88.

And he ran a good campaign,

and Senator Obama's run
a good campaign here,

he's run a good campaign
everywhere.

He's got a good--
He's a good candidate

with a good organization.

When Bill Clinton came out
at the South Carolina primary

and, uh, tried to dismiss
the significance-- Kind of,

"Well, even Jesse Jackson
won that."

What are you saying?

Translation,

even if he wins,

Obama is just this year's
Jesse Jackson.

Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
Yes, we can!

-Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
-Thank you. Thank you!

Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
Yes, we can!

-Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
-Thank you, everybody.
Thank you!

You know,
over two weeks ago,

- we saw the people of Iowa...
- Whoo!

...proclaim that our time
for change has come.

But there were those who doubted

this country's desire
for something new.

Who said Iowa was a fluke
not to be repeated again.

Well, tonight,
the cynics who believed

that what began in the snows
of Iowa was just an illusion,

were told a different story

by the good people
of South Carolina.

South Carolina
was a beautiful night.

He got about 30 percent
of white votes in the state

in addition to a majority
of Black votes,

and built
the multi-racial coalition

that we had hoped for.

Completely outstripped
everyone's expectations.

And in that hall
the night when he spoke,

there were people chanting
race doesn't matter.

Now that was premature.

That was more of a hope
than a reality,

but this was a big moment
in the campaign,

and I think a big moment
for the country.

I did not travel around
this state over the last year

and see a white South Carolina
or a Black South Carolina.

I saw South Carolina.

This is not, though
they are enormously important,

Jesse Jackson,
Reverend Al Sharpton,

stalwarts
of the Civil Rights movement.

But those who were perceived
to be, necessarily so, as people

who could channel Black anger,
to express Black grievance,

to realize Black progress.

With Barack Obama,
there's a different moment here.

I saw what America is,

and I believe
in what this country can be.

That is the country I see.
That is the country you see,

but now it is up to us

to help the entire nation
embrace this vision.

He really resonated
in a more transcendent way.

In a way that was informed
by a broader sweep

of the American possibility,

because his own life
was the product of that.

He gave an interracial pedigree
to hopefulness.

I know what America can achieve,
I've seen it!

I've lived it!

And with Barack Obama
we can do it again!

The Kennedy endorsement

was incredibly important
for Obama.

Not because Kennedy would bring
large numbers of votes...

but because Kennedy
was an establishment figure

and his willingness
to lay hands on Obama

and say he's ready
to be president

really spoke to concerns
that people had about that.

The next president
of the United States,

Hillary Clinton!

The endorsement
is a huge blow
to Hillary Clinton,

a longtime friend and colleague
of Ted Kennedy.

The senior senator
from Massachusetts

repeatedly scolded Bill Clinton

for his divisive tactics
in South Carolina.

For Bill Clinton,
who has always

cast himself
as President Kennedy's
political heir,

today's endorsement
is a slap in the face.

We need to nominate somebody
with the experience,

and the fortitude,
and the know-how

to take whatever
they send our way

and send it right back.

As of tonight,
our latest CBS News
Democratic delegate count

shows Obama leading Clinton
by 97.

So the battle goes on,
and with ten straight wins

momentum is on Obama's side.

This is our moment!

This is our time!

And another blow
today to the Clinton campaign.

She's lost 11 straight primaries
and caucuses to Barack Obama

and now Clinton has lost
a very important supporter.

Congressman John Lewis
of Georgia switched sides today.

He is now backing Obama.

He represented something new.

He represented a real sense
of hope and optimism.

It was daring,
just daring.

It became uncomfortable
for Black people to explain,

as political leaders,
why they weren't with Obama.

So, it's not that they swayed
the people to support Obama.

Obama's love among the people

swayed the leaders
to come along.

Obama!

I felt that
it was my responsibility

to be true to the cause.

What really was going to help
the cause?

Putting a guy like this
in The White House,

if we could help do that
and not get in the way.

Or playing to the--

what, uh, my pastors call
the "cheap seats"

of just rah-rah-rah,
and we end up with nothing.

- Thanks for being here.
Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Now moving on
to the Republicans,

John McCain clinched
the nomination last night.

And today, he went over
to The White House.

Last night, both Senator Obama
and Senator Clinton called

to congratulate me.

I pledged at that time
and I pledge again,

a respectful campaign.

A respectful campaign
based on the issues

and based
on the stark differences

and vision that we have
for the future of America.

How's it going Mississippi?

In another win
for Barack Obama

last night in Mississippi,

he regained a significant lead
over Hillary Clinton

in the pledge delegate count.

But the talk
of the Democratic race today

was once again about race,

and prominent Democrat
Geraldine Ferraro's assertion

that Obama wouldn't have gotten
this far if he was not Black.

I rejected
what she said,

and I certainly do repudiate it.

And, uh, regret deeply that, uh,
you know, it was said.

I-- This-- This is politics, uh,

and, you know,
part of the problem

that we have right now is that,
uh, we have too much at stake

to be engaged in these politics.

You know, uh, campaigns
are really long oral exams

and character tests
for the presidency.

Ours really came on a day
in March of 2008.

I served Trinity church
for 36 years.

I had never taken a sabbatical.

So, I told the congregation,

Don't call, don't text,
don't email,

I'm going on sabbatical.

First thing we're gonna do
is go on a family vacation.

We're going on a cruise.

We want to turn now
to an in-depth look

at a very important figure
in Democratic frontrunner,

Barack Obama's life.

His long-time pastor,
the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Reverend Wright has made
a number

of controversial statements
over the years.

Now that Obama
is a national figure,

the question is,

could the Reverend
become a liability?

The media
had been taking a hit,

saying that they were going
too soft on Barack Obama

and that they were having
you know this, basically,

love fest,
and that he hadn't gotten, uh,

the kind of critical coverage

that a presidential candidate
needs.

And so they go
to Jeremiah Wright.

The angels in Heaven
were singing,

God never fails!

ABC had all these tapes
of Jeremiah Wright's sermons,

and there were millions of them
and it kind of
wasn't a priority.

They had a lot to do
during the campaign.

Most of them are long
and irrelevant to anything.

Bless the Lord.
Oh, my soul.

And then they stumble upon
a couple of these sermons

that seemed incendiary.

The government
gives them the drugs,

builds bigger prisons,
passes a three-strike law,

and then wants us to sing
"God Bless America"?

No, no, no,
not God Bless America,

God Damn America!

That's in the bible,
for killing innocent people.

God Damn America.

They took clips
and wove them together

into, you know, the most
incendiary things he had said

over a 30-year career
in like two minutes.

Uh, but it had
the desired effect.

We have supported
state terrorism

against the Palestinians
and Black South Africans,

and now we are indignant!

Because the stuff
we have done overseas

is now brought right back
into our own front yards!

They were deeply critical
of American foreign policy

and in a language...

that was, uh,
way more inflammatory

than most of America
White America, could stomach.

And Obama had found a home
in this church.

Cruise ships
only broadcast certain stations.

They had Fox News on the boat...

and were playing a-- a clip...

from a sermon I preached...

the Sunday after 9/11/01.

I say, "What?"

So, we started changing
the channel.

It was on all of the channels.

I want to show you a clip
from Barack Obama's pastor,

it's getting a lot of play
right now.

We bombed Hiroshima,
we bombed Nagasaki!

What you're about to hear
is inflammatory to some,

to others, harsh as it sounds,
it's the truth.

And we nuked far more
than the thousands in New York

and the Pentagon
and we never batted an eye.

Obviously, his remarks
are incendiary.

It comes
at a particularly bad time.

Obama was in the Senate the day

this "greatest hits
of Reverend Wright" surfaced.

He was voting all day.

I don't think he had a sense
of how much it had captured

the imagination of the media.

God damn America.

We tried to reach
Reverend Wright

to get his reaction now

to the fallout from his fire
and brimstone sermon,

but we're told he's on vacation
and not available.

On a cruise ship
they sit you at one table

where you sit every meal.

The white families
at the table next to ours

had requested to be moved.

They don't want to sit next
to an "anti-American racist."

A what?

And they will
not only attack you

if you try to point out
what's going on

in white America, US of KKK A.

This is going to scare
the hell out of white people,

-and you know that that's true.
-No, it's designed

to attempt to scare.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s
last sermon was gonna be

"Why America may go to hell."

It was not "America
should go to hell."

It didn't-- It was not
"America ought to go to hell."

It may go to hell

because if you don't come
to terms with racism,

poverty, militarism,
materialism,

those evils are gonna suck
all the good stuff

out of your democracy.

That's in part
what Jeremiah Wright

was talking about.

Barack knows what it means

to be a Black man
living in a country

and a culture that is controlled
by rich, white people.

Hillary can never know that.

Hillary ain't never been called
a.

That became for us
the cruise from hell.

I stayed in the cabin
most of the time

so that the nasty remarks,
name calling...

would not be something
my family had to be exposed to.

But they heard that,
my grandkids were hearing this.

Breaking news at this hour,
after a day of headlines

about the controversial remarks
by Pastor Jeremiah Wright

of the Trinity United Church
of Christ,

Pastor Wright is quote
"no longer

on the Obama presidential
campaign committee."

I was a chairperson
of his religious advisory team.

I saw myself... get dismissed

from that position
on television.

Your campaign saying
this afternoon it had no plans

to ask Reverend Wright
to step down.

Obviously, that has changed.

Did he step down tonight
or did you ask him to leave?

You know, I-- I think
there was a recognition

that, uh,
he's on the verge of retirement,

he's taking a sabbatical, uh,
and that it was important, uh,

for him to step out
of the spotlight

in this situation.

Unfortunately,
as an American politician,

you can't get too close
to that kind of prophetic fire

or you get burned.

So, I can understand Barack,
in some sense,

wanting to get a distance
as a politician.

I-- These particular statements
that have been gathered,

uh, are ones
that I strongly objected to

strongly condemned.
I-- Had I heard them in church,

I would have expressed
that concern

directly, uh,
to Reverend Wright.

So, I didn't become familiar
with these until, uh, recently.

But on a personal level

and on a very deep, uh,
truthful level,

you had to try to teach people

that there are voices in
our society that are radical...

that are not up for elections.

He called me
that night and said,

"I want to make a speech.

I want to make a speech
about race, and I want to put

this Reverend Wright issue
in context."

And we said, "Okay."
And he said,

"And I want to do it
no later than Tuesday."

This was Friday.

He felt that he owed
the American people

an explanation

and that they had
to hear it directly

and honestly from him.

A very painful thing
for Obama

was dealing with his pastor,
very painful.

And it was very painful
to the community

because people were angry

because they were trying
to act like he threw his pastor

in front of the bus.

We set up this speech
for the Constitution Center

in Philadelphia

on the theory
that if you're gonna go down,

go down on a big stage.

The anxiety in the room
was palpable.

And he turned to me and said,
"You know,

I'm gonna go out there
and give this speech..."

"...and people will either
accept it or they won't."

Thank you. Thank you.

- "And if they don't..."
- Thank you. Thank you.

"...then I just won't be
president,

but at least I'll have said
what I think needs to be said."

He said,
"That's worth something."

We the people, in order to form
a more perfect union...

221 years ago...

in a hall that still stands
across the street,

a group of men gathered
and with these simple words

launched America's improbable
experiment in democracy.

The document they produced
was eventually signed,

but ultimately unfinished.

It was stained by this nation's
original sin of slavery.

I chose to run for president
at this moment in history

because I believe deeply

that we cannot solve
the challenges of our time

unless we solve them together.

Unless we perfect our union.

I think
what was extraordinary

about Obama's
so-called race speech

is the fact
that it happened at all.

There was no precedent.

I mean, yes, Black people
had run for president before,

but at this stage in the game,

there wasn't a clearly
marked road that said,

this is how this kind
of Black person deals

with people trying
to disparage him

and take him down
in the name of race.

Throughout the first year
of this campaign,

against all predictions
to the contrary...

we saw how hungry
the American people were

for this message of unity.

Despite the temptation
to view my candidacy

through a purely racial lens,

we won commanding victories
in states

with some
of the whitest populations

in the country.

Obama was forced to give
a speech on race,

he was forced to.

He was in trouble.

This is not to say that race

has not been an issue
in this campaign.

And yet, it's only been
in the last couple of weeks

that the discussion of race
in this campaign

has taken
a particularly divisive turn.

Smaller things had ended
presidential candidacies.

Howard Dean just yelled off key

and that was it, you know,
his presidency is done.

I have already condemned,
in unequivocal terms,

the statements
of Reverend Wright

that have caused
such controversy,

and in some cases pain.

But the truth is, that isn't all
that I know of the man.

The man I met
more than 20 years ago

is a man who helped introduce me
to my Christian faith

and who, over 30 years,
has led a church

that serves the community

by doing God's work
here on earth.

The church contains, in full,
the kindness and cruelty,

the fierce intelligence,
and the shocking ignorance,

the struggles and successes,
the love

and, yes, the bitterness
and biases

that make up
the Black experience in America.

I can no more disown him

than I can disown
the Black community.

I can no more disown him

than I can disown
my white grandmother.

A woman who helped raise me,

a woman who sacrificed again
and again for me,

a woman who loves me

as much as she loves
anything in this world,

but a woman who once confessed
her fear of Black men

who passed her by on the street.

And who,
on more than one occasion,

has uttered racial
or ethnic stereotypes

that made me cringe.

These people are part of me.

And they are a part of America,
this country that I love.

As opposed to just cutting
Jeremiah Wright off immediately,

uh, or even kind of saying

"It's not possible
for me to win,"

he does exactly what a professor

or a teacher would do
in that circumstance,

which is step
into the middle of it

and look at it, panoramically,

and then try to understand it
for what it is.

Under other circumstances,
we would call that a class.

In Barack Obama's circumstance,

this is a public address
or speech.

The fact is that the comments
that have been made

and the issues
that have surfaced

over the last few weeks

reflect the complexities
of race in this country

that we've never really
worked through.

A part of our union that we have
not yet made perfect.

We do not need to recite here

the history of racial injustice
in this country,

but we do need
to remind ourselves

that so many of the disparities
that exist

between the African American
community

and the larger
American community today

can be traced directly
to inequalities

passed on
from an earlier generation

that suffered under
the brutal legacy of slavery

and Jim Crow.

The anger is real.
It is powerful.

And to simply wish it away,

to condemn it
without understanding its roots,

only serves to widen
the chasm of misunderstanding

that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists

within segments
of the white community.

Most working and middle-class
white Americans

don't feel that they've been
particularly privileged

by their race.

Their experience
is the immigrant experience.

As far as they're concerned,
no one handed them anything.

They built it from scratch.

So, when they are told
to bus their children

to a school across town,

when they hear
an African American

is getting an advantage
in landing a good job

or a spot in a good college

because of an injustice that
they themselves never committed,

when they're told
that their fears

about crime
in urban neighborhoods

are somehow prejudiced,
resentment builds over time.

Now I believe in staying
in contact with the humanity

of my precious white brothers
and sisters,

but they need to understand

that in a white supremacist
civilization,

you've been the beneficiary

of unbelievable privilege
and entitlement,

that you have a right
to justice,

you have a right to fairness,

but your resentment
will never have the same weight,

morally and spiritually,
as a Black rage

who had to come to terms
with foremothers and forefathers

raped and violated
and exploited and lynched.

And when he presented
that equivalent,

it made me upset. I said,
"You're not telling the truth!"

To wish away the resentments
of white Americans,

to label them as misguided
or even racist,

without recognizing
they are grounded

in legitimate concerns, this too
widens the racial divide

and blocks the path
to understanding.

It was the attempt, the desire,

to create a language of embrace.

And his critics will say

that's, uh, a language
that, um, ignores reality.

That it's too idealistic.

But that's him.

The profound mistake
of Reverend Wright's sermons

is not that he spoke
about racism in our society,

it's that he spoke
as if our society was static,

as if no progress had been made,
as if this country,

a country
that has made it possible

for one of his own members

to run for the highest office
in the land

and build a coalition

of white and Black...

...Latino, Asian, rich, poor,
young and old,

is still irrevocably bound
to a tragic past.

The Senator came
to my home to ask me

to stop preaching
until after the election.

I've been preaching this way
for 50 years...

regardless of who's running
for what office.

Carol Moseley Braun,
Harold Washington, Barack Obama.

That doesn't change or affect
or alter the gospel in any way.

He then paid me one
of the highest compliments

I've ever had paid to me.

He said to me, "You know
what your problem is?"

I said, "What's my problem?"

"As a preacher,
you have to speak the truth."

I said, "That's a good problem
to have."

Do you consider
yourself a Black man

-or an American first?
-An American, absolutely.

Is there a difference

between Black patriotism
and white patriotism?

No, I don't think so.

I mean, what...
what I think is that

the African American
community...

is much more familiar

with some of the darker aspects

of American life
and American history.

I think that they understand
America much less

as a marching band playing...

...John Philip Sousa,

and they understand America
much more

as a jazz composition
with blue notes.

And-- And I think
those are different things.

And so,
the African American community

can express great rage
and anger about this country

and love it all the same.

Tonight, Minnesota...

...after
54 hard-fought contests...

We love you, Obama!

...our primary season
has finally come to an end.

Because you chose to listen
not to your doubts

or your fears,

but to your greatest hopes
and highest aspirations.

Tonight, we mark the end
of one historic journey

with the beginning of another.

A journey...

a journey that will bring a new
and better day to America.

Because of you,

tonight I can stand here and say

that I will be
the Democratic nominee

for the president
of the United States of America.

He is 46 years old
and his life has been

an extraordinary
American journey.

Last night he made history
by becoming

the presumptive nominee
of the Democratic party.

The first African American
major party nominee.

He turned away Hillary Clinton,

the first woman
to get as far as she did.

This historic victory

comes with a two-fold challenge,

battling Senator John McCain

while trying to unify
a deeply divided
Democratic party.

So reporters
don't unpack your bags,

it'll be a long hot summer.

Senator McCain
talks a great deal

about his experience
as a-- as a prisoner of war...

-Right. Right.
-...and how it has shaped him.

What is the thing
that has shaped you?

It-- The story for me is...

of being born into
pretty humble circumstances.

Not having a dad in the house.

But having a mother
and grandparents who loved me,

who instilled in me
some pretty, uh,

you know, Midwestern Kansas
values of hard work

and stick-to-it-ness,
and honesty

and looking out
for other people, uh,

and-- and what's shaped me
most powerfully,

maybe because I'm half Black
and half white,

uh, that a big chunk
of my childhood,

I was sort of an outsider,
I didn't quite fit anywhere.

Part of what shapes me is--

is, uh, being able
to find a connection

with all kinds
of different people,

and-- and want to
bring them together

and bridge misunderstandings,
and-- and bridge conflict,

so that we can actually
get things done.

And that, I think is something
that led me into public service.

And in some ways,
that's something

very profoundly American
about me.

A fist bump? A pound?
A terrorist fist jab?

The gesture everyone seems
to interpret differently.

Rumors and innuendo

are as much a part
of a presidential campaign

as flag pins
and chicken dinners.

But after a week
of radio talk shows

and websites spreading
the word

that Michelle Obama
may have used

a racial epithet against
white people in a speech...

Some, uh-- uh,
reference to white people

as "whities," allegedly.

...and continuing whispers
about whether Obama is a Muslim,

the campaign has launched
a new counter offensive,

a website. It's called
FightTheSmears dot com

and is devoted to debunking
false rumors about the Obamas.

First it was my name, right?
That was a problem.

And then there was
the Muslim-email thing.

This particular one alleges,
among other things,

that you took the oath of office
on the Quran

and not the Bible?

Now it's the patriotism thing.

Barack Obama refuses to,
uh, salute the flag,

he refuses to wear a flag pin.

And my wife's comment.

Let me tell you something,

for the first time
in my adult lifetime,

I'm really proud of my country.

She already clarified herself.
She was very clear about it.

I'm proud of this country,
and I'm proud

of the fact
that people are ready

to roll up their sleeves
and do something phenomenal.

There's always some nonsense
going on

in general elections, right?

If it wasn't this,
it'd be something else.

You know, the Obamas
are remarkably focused.

Eyes on the prize.

The prize, by the way,
is not the presidency.

The prize is the work.

It's not that
it does not hurt

to be defamed and misnamed.

But I think that what served
both of them well,

was understanding
that they were in service

to a larger ideal,

and that what leadership meant
in that moment

was to just keep on the path.

Thank you, guys.

Racism is always
a very convenient tool

to use by those who want power.

They don't have to, themselves,
be motivated by race.

They can just be motivated
by the desire to hold on to,

attain, or broaden
their base of power.

And because racism
is so deeply baked

into the American psyche,

you only have to tap
into the vein.

Thank you. Thank you, guys.

- Senator, good luck.
- Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, guys.

A political firestorm
erupted today

over a magazine cover cartoon
of Barack Obama and his wife.

The New Yorker cover
depicts the couple

doing a fist bump
in the Oval Office.

He's in Muslim clothing,
she's in camouflage.

The cover also shows
an American flag

burning in the fireplace

and a picture of Osama Bin Laden
hangs on the wall.

Barry Blitt drew
a cover that meant

to take every crazy stereotype
about Michelle and Barack Obama,

and put them into one image.

And you were seeing these images

and this rhetoric on Fox News
for example, all the time.

We didn't draw it out
of nowhere.

And, um, the reaction was not,

let's just say,
uniformly fantastic.

I can't tell you
how many people have said to me,

David, you know, if-- if they
wouldn't have known

this was on the cover
of The New Yorker magazine,

they would have just seen
this cartoon

and they would have--
and been asked,

"Which magazine
has this on the cover?"

Almost every one of us
would've said

some neo-Nazi magazine,
the Ku Klux Klan...

Oh, come on, Wolf,
come on, come on, come on.

The fact is-- Wait a minute,
the fact of the matter

is that it is on The New Yorker
and context means a lot.

The New Yorker cover
now appears on websites

of Obama's opponents,
many conservatives.

The New Yorker's
perceptive cover,

says RightWingNews dot com.

Obama had no response,
but his campaign said, quote...

We had published,
I don't know how many covers

making fun of George Bush,
politically, in myriad ways.

The reason for the reaction
to this cover

was that a mainly
liberal audience said,

"Of course, I understand this.

But those people out there..."

"...those rubes
in the big square states

who can't understand anything
are going to see this

as not something ironic
or a comment on something,

but as reality."

And I found that wrong
and condescending.

A new Newsweek poll
suggests 12 percent of voters

still think Obama
is a practicing Muslim,

26 percent think
he was raised Muslim,

and 39 percent think
he attended an Islamic school.

So, is the magazine
pointing out anti-Obama myths

or perpetuating them?

One sub current
of the 2008 campaign

had been
this really irrational fear

that Barack Obama represented

some sort of revenge-fantasy
for Black people.

What his identity did
was allow people to run wild

with the most
feverish conjurings

of their conspiratorial minds.

So there is
a really great moment

that expresses Obama's

kind of strategic relationship
to Black identity,

and that was in the
Democratic National Convention

in Denver in 2008.

No one can question
Barack Obama's patriotism.

Like all of us, he was taught
what it means to be an American

by his family.
His grandmother who worked

on a bomber assembly line
in World War II,

his grandfather who marched
in Patton's Army,

and his great uncle
who enlisted in the army

right out of high school
at the height of the war.

There's a point
where John Kerry mentions

that Barack Obama's uncle,

who is a veteran
of World War II,

was present
in the convention hall.

And he requests
that his uncle stand up

and be acknowledged
by the crowd.

Please join me

in saluting this American hero,
Charlie Payne.

This elderly white man
stands up,

you know, this man who would
not be out of place

at any VFW hall in the country.

And I happen to be with a group
of Black delegates

who all howled with laughter...

because you understood exactly
what he was doing.

And the guy next to me said,
"If I had a white uncle,

I'd take him to every
job interview I went to."

That was a kind
of brilliant inversion

of the one-drop rule in America.
Because as they say,

"If you are Black at all,
you are all Black."

Barack Obama turned that
inside out.

"If you don't understand
who I am,

if you're trying to figure out
who I am,

well, here's my uncle.

There's a good chance
that you have an uncle

who is just like this guy."

Charlie, your nephew,
Barack Obama,

will end this politics
of distortion and division.

That flag that hangs
from the rafters

and that you have waved here
this evening,

that flag doesn't belong
to any ideology,

it doesn't belong
to any political party.

It is an enduring symbol
of our nation,

and it belongs
to all the American people.

John McCain! John McCain!
John McCain!

John McCain! John McCain!

John McCain! John McCain!

My friends, I've spent
the last few months

looking--
looking for a running mate

who can best help me
shake up Washington

and make it start working again

for the people
that are counting on us.

We're going to turn
to the political preoccupation

of the nation.

Who will McCain pick
for Vice President?

Of course, we know
Barack Obama's selection

of a running mate
was a tightly held secret.

For months,
I've searched for a leader

to finish this journey
alongside me.

I've found that leader.

A man
with a distinguished record.

A man with fundamental decency.

And that man is Joe Biden.

My friends
and fellow Americans,

I am very pleased
and very privileged

to introduce to you

the next Vice President
of the United States.

Governor Sarah Palin
of the great state of Alaska.

If John McCain
had hoped

to use his announcement
of a running mate

to steal the spotlight
from the Democrats

the day
after their convention ended,

he succeeded.

The question of the day
was Sarah who?

Who is Sarah Palin?

I'm a hockey mom from Alaska.

I'm not one of those movers
and shakers

within the Republican party

that I think, conventionally,
you would think,

would be tapped.

Palin has been
governor less than two years,

but is already the state's
most popular politician.

She is the anti-Washington
Republican conservative.

Pro-gun, anti-abortion...

...with a political record
as far outside the beltway

as anyone can get.

Before I became governor
of the great state of Alaska...

...I was mayor of my hometown.

I guess a small-town mayor

is sort of like
a community organizer,

except that you have
actual responsibilities.

Whatever the long-term impact
of Sarah Palin

on McCain's chances,

uh, she gave him a short-term
adrenaline shot,

and his campaign began
to attract big crowds.

But the tone
and tenor of the crowds

turned uglier and uglier.

I was reading today a copy
of The New York Times.

And I was really interested
to read in there

about Barack Obama's friends
from Chicago.

Turns out
one of his earliest supporters

is a man who, according
to The New York Times,

was a domestic terrorist
and part of a group--

Part of a group that, quote,

"launched a campaign
of bombings

that would target the Pentagon
and the US Capitol."

Man.

The Palin factor.
The campaign

that's turned down and dirty.

Down in the polls,
the McCain campaign

has found a new attack dog.

Senator McCain
and his operatives are gambling

that they can distract you
with smears

rather than talk to you
about substance.

I am just so fearful
that this is not a man

who sees America the way
that you and I see America.

They'd rather tear
our campaign down

than lift this country up.

That's what you do
when you're out of touch,

out of ideas,
and running out of time.

I'm afraid
this is someone who sees America

as imperfect enough to work
with a former domestic terrorist

who had targeted
his own country.

Even as just
a journalist,

the cr-- crazy emails about
how really I got it all wrong,

and that Barack Obama
was created by terrorists

and bomb-throwing radicals.

Unfortunately, that crap entered
the mainstream.

In the--
In the name of Sarah Palin.

He's palling around
with terrorists.

This language was--
And feeling was--

It's not just some
American marginalia over here.

People saw it
as sufficient enough

that it needed whipping up.

I'm afraid if he wins,
the Black will take over.

He seems like a sheep,

or a wolf in sheep's clothing,
to be honest with you.

He must support terrorists.

You know, if-- if it walks
like a duck

and quacks like a duck,
it must be a duck.

And that, to me, is Obama.

You have to have some degree
of optimism

and some degree of faith
in white America

because the majority
of the population

can already be president.
I don't know how you become

president without that, right?

Or at least at that point,

I don't know how you
become president without that.

Uh, but I think also that
that faith might prevent you

from seeing certain things.

The belief
in the goodness of white America

did not allow you to see...

that this could actually
get really bad.

Yes, ma'am.

Ma'am, if you're going
to walk up like that

I'm not going
to give you the mic.

I'm not going
to give you the mic.

Okay, I gotta ask you
a question.

I do not, uh, believe in
I can't trust Obama.

I-- I have read about him,

and he's not-- he's not--
he's a, uh,

he's an Arab. He is not

- No, ma'am. No, ma'am.
- No?

No, ma'am. No, ma'am. No, ma'am.

He's a-- He's a decent,
family man,

citizen that I just happen
to have disagreements with

on-- on fundamental issues,

and that's what this campaign
is all about.

He's not. Thank you. Thank you.

Yes. ?

We all thought that was
McCain's finest moment

in the whole, uh, campaign.

Now, I want to acknowledge...

...uh, that Senator McCain,
yesterday, tried to tone down

the rhetoric
in some of his town halls.

I don't think Obama
was surprised

by some
of the acrimony out there.

This is little Hussein.

He understood
that there were these

darker impulses out there.

But at the same time,
he was traveling the country,

and there were as many
as a hundred thousand people

showing up at his rallies.

That was a tonic in a way
for some of the ugliness

that we saw on the other side.

We have had
a-- a remarkable campaign...

and, uh, you know,
when we started 21 months ago,

I-- I didn't know
how it would turn out.

And no matter
what happens tomorrow,

I'm going to feel good
about how it's turned out

because all of you have created

this incredible campaign.

Uh, some of you heard
that my grandmother, uh,

who helped raise me,
passed away,

uh, early this morning...

...and I--

- Look, she-- she has gone home.
- Yeah!

And she died peacefully
in her sleep...

with my sister at her side.

And so, there's great joy
as well as tears.

I'm not gonna talk about it
too long,

because it's hard a little
to talk about.

Uh...

She was somebody
who was a very humble person

and a very plain-spoken person.

She was one
of those quiet heroes

that we have
all across America...

- Just like you!
- ...who--

They're not famous.

Uh, their names
aren't in the newspapers,

But each and every day
they work hard.

They look after their families.

They sacrifice
for their children

and their grandchildren.

They aren't seeking
the limelight.

All they try to do
is just do the right thing.

And the satisfaction
that they get

is seeing that their children,

and maybe their grandchildren
or their great grandchildren,

uh, live a better life than--
than they did.

And that's what America's about.

That's what we're fighting for.

And, North Carolina...

in just one more day,

we have the opportunity...

...to honor
all those quiet heroes

all across America
and all across North Carolina.

We can bring change to America

to make sure that their work
and their sacrifice is honored.

That's what we're fighting for!

They opened
the floodgates this morning

at voting places
across the country.

The lines
began forming,

even before the sun came up.

And in many cases,

lines as far
as the eye could see.

Even with the long lines,

both campaigns were still
working feverishly

to add to them.

Anybody else you can get
to come out and help us,

we'd really appreciate it.

In Indianapolis,
Obama worked the phones

in a last minute
"get out the vote" effort.

Hi, Pam?

This is Barack Obama,
how are you?

It wasn't unexpected
at that point

that he was going to be elected,
if you looked at the polling.

But, I was one
of the people

who firmly believed that,
"I'll believe it when I see it."

Of course in politics,
it ain't over until people vote.

I was one of those people

who that was my first time
ever voting, period.

Like, ever.

Like, Barack Obama
was the first person

that energized me
and made me say,

"Yo, I want to go out here
and vote."

I decided to call
a watch-night service

like we do on New Year's Eve,

down at Martin Luther King's
church in Atlanta.

This election is not
the promised land,

but I tell you,
it is a major down payment

on the promised land.

And when it flashed
across that screen,

Obama won Ohio,

I was in my fifties,

and it was the first time
in my life

that I could honestly tell
a kid,

you could be president.

We're only a few seconds

away from the top of the hour

when these states
will be closing

and there are some big ones.
And presumably,

we'll be able to see
what's going on and make,

perhaps, a major projection
at that point.

This is a moment that a lot
of people have been waiting for.

This is a moment that,
potentially,

could be rather historic...

Five, four, three,
two, one!

And CNN can now project
that Barack Obama,

47 years old, will become
the President-elect

of the United States.

We project he now
has enough electoral votes.

- More than...
- I never thought

that I would live to see
a Black man

or a Black woman as president
of the United States of America.

My own mother, my own father,
my grandparents

didn't become registered voters

until after
the Voting Rights Act was passed

and signed into law
on August 6th, 1965.

And to live to see

Barack Obama become president
of the United States of America

was almost too much.

I jumped up so high

I didn't think my feet
were going to touch the floor,

and I started crying.

It was the moment...

the movement and the mission
all came together.

Man, to my mind came
the martyrs.

Our warriors
fight for civil rights

in America, we're soldiers too.

Fighting for freedom in America
is risky, it's very dangerous.

And those who made it
possible were not there.

I wish Dr. King, Medgar Evers...

for a moment just--

God gave them 15 seconds
to look at-- look at their work.

This is their work,
he's the result of our work.

Ladies
and gentlemen...

...the next First Family
of the United States of America.

When he won, we all won.

I went to Grant Park.
If you're in Grant Park,

it seemed like America
had finally done

something significant.

It was an affirmation

of what America could be
at its best.

America's not always
at its best.

But, I-- I felt, that night,
election night,

as a Black man in America,

that this is what America
could be.

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.

It's 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.

That's the true genius
of America...

that America can change.

Our union can be perfected.

This election had many firsts
and many stories

that will be told
for generations,

but one
that's on my mind tonight's

about a woman
who cast her ballot in Atlanta.

She is a lot like the millions
of others

who stood in line
to make their voice heard

in this election,
except for one thing,

Anne Nixon Cooper
is 106 years old.

She was born
just a generation past slavery,

when someone like her
couldn't vote for two reasons.

Because she was a woman

and because of the color
of her skin.

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.
- Yes, we can!

America,
we have come so far.

We have seen so much.

But there's 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 Anne 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 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 can't,

we will respond
with that timeless creed

that sums up the spirit
of a people.

Yes, we can.

- Yes, we can!
- Thank you, God bless you,

and may God bless
the United States of America.

Oh wow!

Nice, guys. Thank you.

Thank you very much, everybody.
Thank you very much.

This morning, we woke up
to more sobering news

about the state of our economy.

Now, the United States
has only one government

and one president at a time.

And until January 20th
of next year,

that government
is the current administration.

I've spoken to President Bush.

I appreciate his commitment

to ensuring
that his economic policy team

keeps us fully informed
as developments unfold.

And I'm also thankful

for his invitation
to The White House.

For almost two years now,

Barack Obama has been
in campaign mode.

And suddenly overnight,
everything has changed.

Barack Obama
will replace

one of the most unpopular
presidents in modern history.

He will inherit two wars

and an economic crisis
not seen...

...since The Great Depression.

His first legislative goal

will be to get Congress to pass
an economic stimulus package

that he hopes will create jobs
and put money in the pockets

of ordinary citizens.

Have there been
moments when you've said,

"What did I get myself into?"

You know, surprisingly enough,
I feel, uh, right now that...

I'm- I'm doing
what I should be doing.

I, Barack Hussein Obama,
do solemnly swear.

That I will execute the office

of President
to the United States faithfully.

The day
when he was inaugurated,

I walked up to him
and asked him to sign something.

He wrote on this piece of paper,

"It's all because of you, John."

I said,
Well, thank you Mr. President.

He gave me a hug, I hugged him.

And we both teared up.

Now, you've got
a Black man in that White House

built primarily by Black slaves.

That's moment that, uh,
I think all of us

of all colors would feel very,
very deeply.

I'll never forget that as long
as I live.

Rappers
and basketball players.

That was the range in which
Black men existed

in the pop culture
for the most part.

That was it.

And so it was really
something beautiful

about, you know,
seeing something else.

This was Black Camelot.

How much more American
could we get than this?

After the parade,
he came back to The White House

for a meeting
with several of us,

uh, who had been friends
with him across the years.

And as he got ready to go,
he grabbed me and he said,

"Rev, I'm in it now."

He said, "Pray for me."

I wanted to get everyone
together, on the first day,

to welcome you to
the White House.

When he was elected,
a lot of Americans

had never had a Black boss,
and here he was,

the highest authority figure
in the land.

It was naive for us to think
there wouldn't be a backlash.

There's a huge number
of people out there

talking about taking
their country back.

If we
can recognize ourselves

in folks who,
on the surface

seem different,
we can move forward together.

Time-and-time again,
he's trying to find

some sort of middle ground.
There is no middle ground.

The strongest democracies
endure when people find a way

to set aside smaller
differences,

in service of a greater purpose.
I have full faith

and confidence
that we can do it.