《我们一定能》
总统侯选人巴拉克•奥巴马的竞选成功后的演讲稿，为竞选成功而作
竞选之夜
2008年11月4日，星期二
伊利诺斯，芝加哥
是否还有人仍然怀疑美国是可以创造任何可能性的国家；是否还有人仍然对我们这个时代能缔造梦想感到困惑；是否还有人仍在质疑我们民主党的执政能力，答案就在今夜。
这个答案正以前所未见的那些延伸至学校和教堂的横幅昭示着；人民只须再等待三到四个小时，将会看到平生第一次的那个时刻来到，人民相信那将是如此不同的时刻；他们的呼声也会因此前所未有的响亮。
人们都在谈论这个答案，老少无异，贫富不分，民主斗士和共和大军也都没有什么分别，黑人，白人，拉丁美洲人，亚裔，本土美国人，同性恋者，异性恋者，残疾人士和非残疾人士全都在关心这个答案——美国人民在向世界发出一种信号，我们从不在红色州盟和蓝色州盟之间进行选举：我们是并将永远是美利坚合众国。
这个答案曾经引起如此长久如此广泛的谈论，曾经带来那么多的愤世嫉俗、担惊受怕和怀疑困惑，那是因为我们渴望能够触摸到历史的苍穹并让希望它尽快转向更加美好的时代。
长时间的等待已经过去，而在今夜我们已为这次选举做出了抉择，就在这一决定性的时刻，我们也抉择了美国的命运将会被改变。
我刚刚收到了麦凯恩参议员礼貌大方的电话祝贺。他在这场战役中进行了艰苦卓绝的战斗，而他已为自己深爱的祖国更加持久更加艰苦地奋斗过。他为美国所做出的牺牲非常人所能想象，让我们祝这位以敬业诠释了勇敢和无私精神的领袖一路走好。我祝贺他和佩琳州长所取得的辉煌成果，并期待着像过去数月所承诺的那样，能与他们一道努力以革新我们的国家。
我要感谢我的旅途伙伴，他是一个为内心而战斗的人，一个敢于为男人们和女人们讲话的人，一个从斯克兰顿街区中长大的人，一个乘火车回家却跑到达拉华去了人，他就是美国副总统侯选人，乔•拜登。
没有过去十六年来挚友亲朋永不放弃的支持和帮助，今晚我就不能站在这里；今夜我能站在这里，更不能没有稳如磐石的家庭和妻子的爱，我的妻子将成为我们国家下一任的第一夫人，她就是米歇尔•奥巴马。萨莎和玛丽亚，我是如此地爱你们俩，你们已经获得了牵着刚买来的小狗和我们一起入住白宫的权力。祖母虽已不在人世了，但我知道她在注视着这一切，并将同生我养我的家庭一起关注我将成为什么样的人。今夜我想念他们，也深知自己仍无以报答他们的深情厚意。
我要对我的竞选负责人大卫•普罗菲说，对我的首席竞选战略家大卫•亚克瑟罗德说，对有史以来最优秀的竞选团队说——正是你们成就了今天，我将永远感激你们付出牺牲所取得的胜利。而最重要的是，我将永远不会忘怀这次胜利应该归功于谁——它当然应该归功于你们。
我从来不敢奢望成为这次选举最有希望的候选人。我们不能依靠强大的资金支持和财力保障开始我们竞选。我们的竞选方案不是在华盛顿的辉煌大厅中策划出来的——它出自得梅因的农家小院、协和酒店的客房以及查尔斯顿的前廊。
我们的方案需要劳动男工和女工们亲手挖掘潜力才得以建成，正是他们掏出了五美元、十美元或二十美元的有限积蓄支持了这项事业。我们的方案通过那些拒绝将情感淡漠一代的胡说八道强加在他们身上的年轻人得以加强；通过那些抛家舍业、辛苦工作却收入甚微、缺乏睡眠的人得以加强；通过那些老大不小却还要冒酷暑、顶寒风敲开完全陌生人家门的人得以加强；通过数以百万计的美国自愿者和组织者、两个多世纪以来的见证者和人民的政府、人民大众和为了让人民大众不会从地球上消失的名义得以加强。这是你们的胜利。
我知道你们这样做不仅仅是为了赢得一场选举，我也知道你们这样做不仅仅是为了我个人。你们这样做是因为艰巨的任务就摆在眼前。苟有今夜举杯时，不忘明日事何急，我们将勇敢面对此生此世最为巨大的挑战——那将是两场战争，一场是我们的星球面临危险的挑战，另一场战争就是我们将遭受一个世纪以来最为严重的金融危机。
今夜此时站在这里，我们深知还有许多勇敢的美国人冒着生命的危险为了我们才刚刚在伊拉克沙漠中和阿富汗斯坦的群山中醒来。无数的美国父母安抚孩子们入睡后自己却仍然难以入眠，他们为如何面对抵押贷款、如何支付医生的账单或者如何攒足孩子上大学的学费而寝食难安。我们必须有新的能源加以利用，我们还必须创造出新的工作机会来；我们去必须建设新的学校，去面对新的威胁，去完善新的同盟。
前路虽漫长，攀登勇敢上。或许我们需要一年甚至一个时期才能达到那里，但是只要一想起美国——我从未像今晚这样对攀登顶点感到充满了希望。我向你们承诺——我们会团结得像一个人那样胜利完成登顶的。
总有许多挫折和欺诈需要我们去面对。也仍会有不少人不愿意赞成我出任总统后所做出的每一种决策和政策，我们也很清楚政府并不能解决所有的问题。但我会永远诚实地与你们一道去面对挑战。我会倾听你们的呼声，尤其是我们并不赞同的呼声。最为关键的是，我将邀请你们加入到沿着二百二十一年来那条被唯一确定了的道路去重造我们伟大国家的行列中来——让我们一砖一瓦地，一瓦一砖地，用我们布满老茧的双手去建设我们的家园。
既然已经从二十一个月前的隆冬开始了，也决不会在这个秋夜结束。这场胜利本身还不是我们追寻的变革——它只是给了我们变革的机会。如果我们又走回了被纷繁世事缠身的老路，那就什么也不会发生。如果没有了你们的帮助，任何变革也不会发生。
因此，我们需要召唤起新的爱国主义精神；需要召唤起让我们每个人团结协作、努力工作和不仅仅要照顾好自己还要照顾他人的服务和责任精神。让我们记住一点，如果说这场金融危机带给我们什么深刻教训的话，那就是一旦主要街道的经济全都受损就别指望华尔街能一家繁荣（胡子注：正所谓“城门失火，殃及池鱼”是也）——在我们的国家，大家休戚与共，沉浮一体，牵一发而动全身。
让我们抵御诱惑，不再跌入危害我们政体如此之久的、毫无二致的政党之争、小气之战和青涩之苦。
让我们记住，正是从我们这个国家走出来的那个人首次将共和党人的旗帜插上了白宫——共和党是建立在自力更生、个人自由和国家统一价值基础上的伟大政党。
就是在民主党赢得伟大胜利的今夜，那些价值也仍然值得我们去分享，考虑到谦虚谨慎才能愈合那些已经阻碍了我们进步的分歧，让我们这样去做吧。林肯曾在我们的国家出现了比今天更大分歧的时候说，“我们不是敌人，而是朋友……尽管激情有时会失去理智，但它挣脱不了爱的锁链。”我要对那些我未能赢得支持的美国人民说——尽管我没能够赢得你们的选票，但我听见了你们的心声，我需要你们的帮助，我同样也是你们的总统。
我还要对所有远在大洋彼岸关注今夜的人们说，从美国国会和白宫这里对那些远在天涯海角围坐在收音机旁的人们说——尽管我们人生故事各有千秋，却可以分享相同的命运，美国新的黎明已在掌中。我正告那些企图毁灭这个世界的人——我们将击溃你们。我慰告那些追求和平安宁的人们——我们会支持你们。我要告诉那些怀疑美国的灯塔能否继续闪光的人——今夜我们再次证明了我们这个国家真实的力量并不来自于武器的威力和财富的数量，而是来自于我们理想的耐受能力：民主、自由、机遇和永不言败的希望。
这就是美国的真正天赋——美国也因此定能实现变革。我们的合众国是完美的。我们已经取得的成就将会给我以成就明天的希望。
这次选举已经出现了许许多多的第一次和许多必将代代相传的故事。然而，今夜在我心中仍然记挂那位在亚特兰大投票的女性。她一定就像数以百万计的其他选民一样排队在这次选举中倾诉心声，而有所不同的是——安•尼克松•库柏今年已经106岁了。她刚好出生在奴隶制其后的时代；那还是一个路上没有汽车、空中没有飞机的时代；在那个时代像她这样的人仍会因为两个原因而不能投票——她是女性以及她的皮肤有颜色。今夜，她所见证的一个世纪的美国让我想到了很多——有心伤有希望；有斗争有进步；如今时代似乎在告诉我们我们开始不能了，而人民以美国信条敦促我们：我们一定能。
在女性声音沉默和希望泯灭的时代，她活着看到了妇女崛起、大声说话并且投出自己的那一票。因此，我们一定能。
当绝望落入深处、萧条遍及大地的时候，她看见我们的国家自身以新政战胜了恐惧，新的工作机会和新的共同计划意识接踵而至。因此，我们一定能。
当炸弹扔进了我们的海港、暴政威胁着整个世界的时候，她就在那里目睹了一个时代兴起而至辉煌，民主得到了拯救。因此，我们一定能。
她就在那里目睹了蒙哥马利的汽车事件，目睹了伯明翰的水龙头事件，目睹了塞尔马的那座桥（胡子注：美国阿拉巴马州中部偏南一城市，位于蒙哥马利市以西。1965年，这里是小马丁• 路德•金领导选举者登记运动的所在地），也目睹了那位来自亚特兰大的牧师告诉人们“我们无往而不胜”。因此，我们一定能。
一个人可以登陆月球表面，一堵墙可以在柏林倒下，一个世界可以因为我们自身的科学和想象能力连接在一起。就在今年，就在这些选举中，她兰指触屏，投下了她的一票，那是因为在见证美国沧桑106年之后，在经历了美好时光和黑暗时刻之后，她仍然知道美国将怎样去实现变革。因此，我们一定能。
可爱的美国，迄今为止我们仍然挺立着。我们已经目睹了很多。但还有很多需要我们去做。所以今夜，我要问问我们自己——我们的孩子是否应该活着目睹下个世纪，我的女儿们是否能够如此幸运地像安•尼克松•库柏那样活得那么长久，他们又将会目睹什么样的变革？我们又能取得什么样的进步？
这正是我们做出回答的良机。这是属于我们的时刻。这是我们的时代——让我们的人民重新拥有工作，为我们的年轻小子打开机会之门；重返繁荣时代，促进和平事业；重新拾回美国之梦，重新加固真理之基——没有许多的悲伤，我们仍然是世界的唯一；我们照样呼吸，我们仍有希望，我们偶尔也会玩世不恭，偶尔也会怀疑一切，某些人说我们不能，我们将以凝聚着民族精神力量的永恒信条做出我们的回应：我们一定能。
感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
YES WE CAN
Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
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 the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
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.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.
Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
他的演讲。奥巴马
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