I saw this speech in person at the DNC winter meetings, and it gave me chills. Still does, in fact. This was John Edwards at his best, which makes his personal, moral failings all the more painful to contemplate.
Ironically, one of Hillary Clinton's best speeches - possibly her best - was her concession speech. In the span of a few minutes, all my anger at her melted away and I went back to admiring this strong, smart, passionate, dedicated woman as the great American that she is.
There are so many great Barack Obama speeches, but I particularly like this one, delivered to the congregation of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, the day before the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Wow.
By the way, in hindsight it is clear to me that Obama losing New Hampshire was the best thing that ever could have happened, as it led to an extended primary season that had Obama and Clinton campaigning in every single state in America. That paid huge dividends in the general election, and will continue to pay dividends going forward.
My favorite quote, "Every day we get the color orange while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green. Wake up, America"
Dennis Kucinich, (OH-10) at the DNC Convention in Denver
It's Election Day 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake-up call. Wake up, America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy and have added 4 trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt. We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil and twice what we paid for health care.Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the president's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil.
Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia, while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.
If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four-year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy.
We can't afford another Republican administration. Wake up, America. The insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America. The pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing.
Wake up, America. The speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up, America. They want to take your Social Security. Wake up, America. Multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.
Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10-a-gallon gasoline. The oil administration wants to drill more, into your wallet. Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost 5 to 10 trillion dollars.
This administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.
Wake up, America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.
Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
I've heard so many political speeches in the last half century -- Humphrey, McGovern, the Kennedys, Clinton -- that I might be jaded. But this one by Obama topped them all. It runs 20 minutes but is well worth watching again.
I hope there is some miracle cure for Elizabeth. It's just sad any way you look at it.