Election 2012|President Obama Delivers Acceptance Speech(text+video+audio)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.

It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.

Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.

I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. By the way, we have to fix that. Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.

I just spoke with Gov. Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.

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I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America’s happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, Joe Biden.

And I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago. Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation’s first lady. Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes you’re growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful young women, just like your mom. And I’m so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now one dog’s probably enough.

To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics. The best. The best ever. Some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every valley. You lifted me up the whole way and I will always be grateful for everything that you’ve done and all the incredible work that you put in.

I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you’ll discover something else.

You’ll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who’s working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. You’ll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who’s going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift. You’ll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse who’s working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home.

That’s why we do this. That’s what politics can be. That’s why elections matter. It’s not small, it’s big. It’s important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.

We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. We want to pass on a country that’s safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this – this world has ever known. But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being.

We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president – that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we share. That’s where we need to go – forward. That’s where we need to go.

Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin.

Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over. And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you’ve made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do.

But that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we were founded on.

This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America great.

I am hopeful tonight because I’ve seen the spirit at work in America. I’ve seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. I’ve seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back.

I’ve seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.

I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening to that father’s story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes, because we knew that little girl could be our own. And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That’s who we are. That’s the country I’m so proud to lead as your president.

And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.

I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.

And together with your help and God’s grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.

谢谢，非常感谢。今晚，是在一个殖民地赢得它自主权200多年之后，我们来到这里，不断前行，这主要是因为你们坚信这个国家能够实现永恒的希望，实现移民想的梦想，我们是一个大家庭，我们共同以一个国家，一个民族奋斗。

我要感谢每位参加这次选举的人，不管你是从第一天就投票了，还是一直等待了很长的时间才投的票。当然了，我们要解决这个排队投票的问题。不管你是自己上门投的票，还是打电话投的票，不管你是投了给我，还是投给罗姆尼，你的声音都被大家听到了，并且你对我们国家做出了某些改变，刚刚我跟罗姆尼通了电话，我祝贺他在这个艰难卓绝的战役当中所取得的胜利。

我们这场战役是十分激烈，但是这正是因为我们深爱着这个国家，并且我们十分在意他的未来。从罗姆尼整个家庭，孙子辈，孩子辈，整个家庭都献给了美国，这种精神我们将永远铭记。未来这几周我也希望和罗姆尼一起来讨论怎么样使我们的国家不断前进。我要感谢我的朋友，我的搭档，这是我四年来最好的搭档，也是美国历史上最好的副总统拜登，如果没有他，今天我就不会站在这里，如果没有20年前跟我结婚的妻子，今天我就不会站在这里。我要跟大家说，妻子，我比以前更加爱你，我更加自豪，因为我看到全国人民也十分热爱你这位第一夫人，我感到十分自豪。

对我的女儿，两位女儿，你们一天天在成长，你们成为了两位向你们的妈妈一样的淑女、美丽，有才华，我也为你们感到骄傲，但是目前我觉得给你们养一条宠物狗就够了。我还要感谢我的竞选团队和志愿者，他们是历史上最棒的。他们是最好的，最棒的，而且是史上最棒的。有些人是第一次来听我的演说，有些人四年前就听了我的获胜演说，但是每个人对我来讲都是我的一分子，不管你做了什么，不管你去了哪里，你一定会记得我们今天晚上所创的历史，你会一生都感激今天晚上的时刻，而且你们会一直记得有一个心怀感激的总统，我要感谢你们所做的每一件事情，正是因为有了你们，我才会一路坚持下来。我对此将永远感谢，不管你做的什么，你们所做的一切我都心怀感激，并且永远鸣谢。

我知道这些政治的竞选，可能有的时候看起来很愚蠢，而且我们也听到很多人跟我们讲政治有的时候十分愚蠢，可能他只是利益的追求和冲突，但是如果你们真的有机会去机会和竞选活动上和人们谈论一些问题，或者你看到一些竞选团队，非常辛勤工作的志愿者们，你们的印象会有所改观，因为你们能听到这些年轻的组织者他们的决心，你能够看到他们在面临这个机会的时候，是有多大的决心。你还会听到群众，还有志愿者，他们上门挨家挨户的进行竞选。你也会听到我们深深的爱国情绪在针对的成员的爱国情绪，因为我们相信那些曾经为我们国家抛头颅撒洒血的军队，他们不应该在工作上遇到任何问题，这就是为什么我们要进行大选。

这并不是一件小事实，这是至关重要的事。举足轻重的事，我们国家的民主，我们3亿人民的民主的情绪可能十分复杂，可能十分混乱，每个人可能都有自己的观点，每个人都有自己深深的信仰，但是在我们经过艰难时刻的时候，当我们做出艰难的抉择时，我们很自然会有冲突，会有情感的表达。但是我认为它不应当影响我们今晚的表现，我们有的争论是民主的象征，而且我们不应当忘记在世界上很多别的国家，他们都正在为自由言论，自由讨论民主这样的权利所奋斗，所努力。

尽管我们有许多不同，我们中的大部分对美国的未来都有共同的希望，我们希望我们的孩子能够上最好的学校，接受最好的教育，我们希望整个国家能够延续我们的遗产，促进科技的发展，就业的发展和商业的发展。我们希望孩子们不是负债累累，而是面对高质量的国家，他们不会受到恐怖力量的威胁。我们希望传递安全有尊严的国家，并且受别人尊重的国家，这个国家是由最强的军事力量所定义，并且最安全定义的过程。与此同时我们也希望自己的国家，有信心，并且能够不断推动每个人的自由、繁荣和发展，我们相信美国的慷慨，美国的宽容、包容，美国的自由和开放，我们将伸开双手迎接移民的美国人民，我们会欢迎他们的子孙后代来到美国。我们相信在芝加哥任何一个孩子都可以看到他的希望，在北卡州那些想要成为科学家和医生的学生，想要成为工程师，甚至是总统的学生，这是我们共同要争取的未来，这是我们共同分享的愿景，这也是我们前进的方向。

我们有的时候会对于怎么样向前进有非常强烈的分歧，200年来，大家知道我们的进步一直不是直线的，也不是一帆风顺，我们伴随着很多分歧和不同，我们随着有很好的希望和梦想，但是很多时候我们要付出艰苦卓绝的努力才可以达到目标，我们也需要进行妥协才可以使国家前进。但是我们的共识是我们的起点，现在经济正处于复苏期间，我们的十年的战争也已经结束了，我们的竞选也已经将告尾声，不管我没有当选，我听到了你们的声音，你们使我成为最好的。

今晚，你投给的不是政治，而是我们的行动。但是因为大家，我们才能关注你们的工作，而不是我们的工作，而在未来的几个月当中，我会期待和我们两党的领导人一起来共同寻求那些我们只有共同努力才能解决的矛盾的问题，比如说我们的税法，我们的移民，我们的工作，还有我们对进口石油的依赖这些问题，我都会寻求各种解决之道。但是这不意味着你们的工作就结束了，我们所有的公民，所有的同胞们，你们不是说投了票就轻松了你们的任务就没有了，你们一定要问问自己，不是美国能为你们做什么，而是我能为美国做什么，我们要进行自我治理，自我约束，这是我们的原则，也是我们建国的理念。

我们这个国家是世界上最富有的国家，但是这并不是让我们每个人更富有，虽然我们的军队十分强大，但是我们的个人并不强大，我们的大学、我们的文化，虽然是全球最优秀的，但是却并不是说我们就是全球最优秀的。是因为我们是一个多民族的国家，多样性的国家，但是在这样多样性的国家当中我们有共同的愿景和共识，并且我们的子孙后代会给他们更多的公民和自由，我们的子女后代必将获得更多的尊严，更多的爱护和尊敬。而且相信子孙后代只有他们正直，他们爱国，辛勤劳动才会使我们的美国变得更为强大。

我今天晚上充满了希望，因为我看到我们这些美国劳动人民的精神，还看到了那些商业人士你们所做的工作，提供了很多工作机会，而且我还看到那些失业的人民得到了帮助，我看到战士们，他们再次征兵，而且我还看到战士们他们仍然守卫着我们的国家，因为他们也知道我们在支持着他们。我还看到新泽西纽约每个政党的领导人，都开始抛开他们的旗舰，来探讨怎么从桑迪中重建我们的家园。我们还看到俄亥俄州一个父亲说他有一个八岁的女儿，她的肺病使他的家庭一贫如洗，他们之前并没有得到医疗保障的保护，但是几个月之前他开始得到了医疗保险，这对他们来讲是非常好的消息。

我和这位父亲，还有他的女儿都见面了，他对于群众说，他对大家说，当他说的时候，在场所有的父母都落泪了，因为我们知道，他的女儿也可能是我们的女儿，我们都希望自己的孩子未来充满光芒，这是每个父母的希望，这是我身为总统引以为豪的。今晚尽管我们经历了这么多的困难，尽管我们经历了这么多的挫折，我对于未来却格外充满希望，我对于未来格外充满希望，对于美国格外充满希望，我希望大家延续这种希望，我这里讲的并不是盲目的乐观，指的是我们对未来的挑战，忽视未来的挑战，我也不是说的天真或者理想化的乐观的情绪，我真正的希望，不管我们遇到多少的挫折，多少的困难，只有我们内心坚定的希望，才是我们保持不断努力、不断斗争，不断勇往直前的力量来源。

我相信我们我们能在取得成就的基础上取得新的机会，为美国的中产阶级提供新的希望，我相信我们能够继续延续我们的建国者的承诺，不管你来自哪里，不管你的肤色是什么，不管你是黑人、白人，亚裔人，任何种族，不管你是同性恋还是非同性恋，不管你是贫困的还是富裕的，你可以在美国做你想做的一切，我们可以共同迎来这样的未来，因为我们对未来是充满了希望，我们有雄心壮志，我们赢得的不仅仅是这一个选举，而且是一个未来，是美国的未来，我们会一起赢得这场战役。而且上帝会引导我们走向这条道路，并且我们相信，我们会成为世界上最伟大的国家，谢谢你们，上帝保佑美国！