I am here tonight not just as the Governor of Virginia who knows the people of my state need a better partner in the White House, but as an American who wants to see American values guiding our country again. For eight years we've seen what happens when a president lets Washington values become more important than American values.Gas prices skyrocket when the white house lets oil companies call the shots. Our children are left behind when an administration cares more about sound bites than sound schools. And middle class families are left to fend for themselves to save their grasp on the American dream.
Maybe for John McCain the American dream means seven houses - and if that's your America, John McCain is your candidate. But for the rest of us, the American dream means one home, in a safe neighborhood with good schools and good health care. Does that seem like too much to ask?
John McCain will keep answering to the special interests and Washington lobbyists. We're ready for leadership that answers to us. And the leader who will deliver the change we need Barack Obama.Now folks, it won't be easy. Change never is. That's why we'll need a little extra something. The Gospel of Matthew says, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, 'Move, mountain," and it will move.
My life-long faith deepened when I traveled to Honduras to work with Catholic missionaries during law school.
Hay algunos latinos aqui? Estamos unidos, verdad?
I learned from a great mentor there, Brother Jim O'Leary that faith is about more than words or doctrine - it's about action. And that led me to spend my life in public service. While I was learning how to put my faith into action in Honduras, Barack Obama was doing the same thing on the streets of South Side Chicago, helping people reclaim their lives after the steel plants closed down.
Joe Biden has also spent his lifetime putting faith into action, overcoming unspeakable tragedy in his personal life and as a U.S. Senator making our world safer, our air cleaner, and protecting the women from violent crimes.
For Barack Obama, for Joe Biden, for me, for all of us the principles of faith call us to service. With faith in the American Dream, we strive for better schools, economic justice, and smarter foreign policies, because we believe in the God-given principles of equality, freedom, and opportunity. With faith in each other, we work for a commonsense approach to politics that focuses on results, not partisan division because we know that we're all in this together.
Aren't we all tired of a Washington that doesn't have any faith in us?
Now is the time to put our faith into action - to elect a President who will create jobs and put middle class Americans first again. We need to put our faith into action - to elect a president who will invest in our students, teachers and schools and make college affordable again for every American family. We need to put our faith into action - to elect a President who will responsibly end the war in Iraq, give our veterans and their families the support they need, and reinvigorate our military to face the challenges ahead.
If we put our faith into action, we can move mountains. Does anybody here have a little faith tonight? Is anybody here ready to move those mountains. Starting right here in the mile high city, we will put our faith into action. We will reject the failed policies of George Bush and John McCain. We will elect Barack Obama our next president.
In the words of the gospel hymn, we will say: "Move mountain." Say with me: "Move mountain." Say it like you mean it: "Move mountain." One more time: "Move mountain."
Mountain get out of our way!