1、奥巴马在民主党代表大会接受总统提名的演讲Remarks of President Barack Obama at the 2012 Democratic National Convention Charlotte, N.C. September 5, 2012Thank you! Thank you. Thank you.Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.Michelle, I love you so much.A few nights ago, everyone was remind
2、ed just what a lucky man I am.Malia and Sasha, we are so proud of you.And yes, you do have to go to school in the morning.And Joe Biden, thank you for being the very best Vice President I could have ever hope for, and being a strong and loyal friend.Madam Chairwoman, delegates, I accept your nominat
3、ion for President of the United States.Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!Now, the first time I addressed this convention in 2004, I was a younger man; a Senate candidate from Illinois who spoke about hope, not blind optimism or wishful thinking, but hope in the face of difficulty; ho
4、pe in the face of uncertainty; that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long.Eight years later, that hope has been tested, by the cost of war; by one of the worst economic crises in history; and by political gridlock th
5、ats left us wondering whether its still even possible to tackle the challenges of our time.I know campaigns can seem small, and even silly sometimes. Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. The truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. If youre
6、 sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am I.But when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs, the economy; taxes and deficit
7、s; energy, education; war and peace, decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our childrens lives for decades to come.And on every issue, the choice you face wont be just between two candidates or two parties.It will be a choice between two different paths for America.A choice between
8、 two fundamentally different visions for the future.Ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known.The values my grandfather defended as a soldier in Pattons Army; the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber a
9、ssembly line while he was gone.They knew they were part of something larger, a nation that triumphed over fascism and depression; a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the worlds best products, and everyone shared in that pride and success, from the corner office to the factory fl
10、oor.My grandparents were given the chance to go to college, buy their own - their - their own home, and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of Americas story: the promise that hard work will pay off; that responsibility will be rewarded; that everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fai
11、r share, and everyone plays by the same rules, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, D.C.And I ran for President because I saw that basic bargain slipping away. I began my career helping people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill, at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move
12、overseas. And by 2008, we had seen nearly a decade in which families struggled with costs that kept rising, but paychecks that didnt; folks racking up more and more debt just to make the mortgage or pay tuition; put gas in the car or food on the table.And when the house of cards collapsed in the Gre
13、at Recession, millions of innocent Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their life savings, a tragedy from which we are still fighting to recover.Now, our friends down in Tampa, at the Republican convention, were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they
14、didnt have much to say about how theyd make it right.They want your vote, but they dont want you to know their plan. And thats because all they had to offer is the same prescription theyve had for the last thirty years:“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.”“Deficit too high? Try another.”“Feel a cold comi
15、ng on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning.”Now, Ive cut taxes for those who need it, middle-class families, small businesses. But I dont believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our deficit. I don
16、t believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy, or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of China.After all that weve been through, I dont believe that rolling back regulations on Wall Street will help the small businesswoman expand,
17、 or the laid-off construction worker keep his home. We have been there, weve tried that, and were not going back.We are moving forward, America.I wont pretend the path Im offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didnt elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear.You elected me to tell you the tr
18、uth.And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. Itll require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one.And by t
19、he way, those of us who carry on his partys legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington.But know this, America: Our problems can be solved.Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better
20、 place. And Im asking you to choose that future. Im asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit; real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger f
21、oundation. Thats what we can do in the next four years, and thats why Im running for a second term as President of the United States.We can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. After a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed, were getting back to bas
22、ics, and doing what America has always done best:Were making things again.Ive met workers in Detroit and Toledo who feared theyd never build another American car. And today, they cant build them fast enough, because we reinvented a dying auto industry thats back on top of the world.Ive worked with b
23、usiness leaders who are bringing jobs back to America, not because our workers make less pay, but because we make better products. Because we work harder and smarter than anyone else.Ive signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions of new customers, goods that a
24、re stamped with three proud words: Made in America.After a decade of decline, this country created over half a million manufacturing jobs in the last two and a half years. And now you have a choice: we can give more tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding compan
25、ies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here, in the United States of America. We can help big factories and small businesses double their exports, and if we choose this path, we can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. You can make that happen.
26、You can choose that future.You can choose the path where we control more of our own energy. After thirty years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so that by the middle of the next decade, cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas.Weve doubled our use of renewable energy, and thousan
27、ds of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines, and long-lasting batteries. In the last year alone, we cut oil imports by one million barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history. And today, the United States of America is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in th
28、e last two decades.So, now you have a choice - between a strategy that reverses this progress, or one that builds on it. Weve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last three years, and well open more. But unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this countrys
29、 energy plan, or endanger our coastlines, or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. Were offering a better path.Were offering a better path, a future where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal; where farmers and scientists harness new biofuels to power our
30、cars and trucks; where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy; where - where we develop a hundred year supply of natural gas thats right beneath our feet.If you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020 and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natur
31、al gas alone.And yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet because climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. Theyre a threat to our childrens future. And in this election, you can do something about it.You can choo
32、se a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. It was the gateway for most of you.And now more than ever, it is the gat
33、eway to a middle- class life.For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning.Some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading. Millions of students are paying less for college today becau
34、se we finally took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders.And now you have a choice. We can gut education, or we can decide that in the United States of America, no child should have her dreams deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. No famil
35、y should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they dont have the money. No company should have to look for workers overseas because they couldnt find any with the right skills here at home. Thats not our future. That is not our future.A government has a role in this. But teachers mu
36、st inspire; principals must lead; parents must instill a thirst for learning, and students, youve gotta do the work.And together, I promise you, we can out-educate and out-compete any nation on Earth. So help me ,Help me recruit 100,000 math and science teachers within ten years, and improve early c
37、hildhood education.Help give two million workers the chance to learn skills at their community college that will lead directly to a job. Help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next ten years. We can meet that goal together.You can choose that
38、future for America.Thats our future.You know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did.I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And we have. Weve
39、 blunted the Talibans momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over.A new tower rises above the New York skyline, Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama Bin Laden is dead.And tonight, we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harms way. We are forever in debt to a
40、 generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you. And so long as Im Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known.When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as youve served us because no one who f
41、ights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the care that they need when they come home.Around the world, weve strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Weve reasserted our power across the Pacific, and stood
42、up to China on behalf of our workers. From Burma to Libya to South Sudan, we have advanced the rights and dignity of all human beings, men and women; Christians and Muslims and Jews.But for all the progress weve made, challenges remain. Terrorist plots must be disrupted. Europes crisis must be conta
43、ined.Our commitment to Israels security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit of peace.The Iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. The historic change sweeping across the Arab World must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of
44、 extremists, but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here today.So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy,but from all that weve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of bluster
45、ing and blundering that cost America so dearly.After all, you dont call Russia our number one enemy, not Al Qaeda, Russia, unless youre still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you cant visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.My opponent
46、- my opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he wont tell us how hell end the war in Afghanistan. Well I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs dont even want, I will use the money were no longer spending on war to
47、pay down our debt and put more people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways.Because after two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, its time to do some nation- building right here at home.You can choose a future where we reduce our deficit
48、 without sticking it to the middle class. Independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficits by $4 trillion. And last summer, I worked with Republicans in Congress to cut billion in spending because those of us who believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anyone to
49、 reform it, so that its leaner, and more efficient, and more responsive to the American people.I want to reform the tax code so that its simple, fair, and asks the wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000, the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was president; the same rate we had when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history, and a whole lot of millionaires to boot.Now, Im still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipar
