Organizing for America | Donna Godin's Blog: Senator Obama is only candidate that will unite us

Senator Obama is only candidate that will unite us

By Donna NH - Thank you my fellow Granite Staters! Yes we did! - Nov 22nd, 2007 at 2:48 pm EST

Also listed in: Barack Obama is a Berliner | Coos County for Obama | Northern NH for Obama

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content

To the editor: Of all of the candidates running for president of the United States, I truly believe Senator Barack Obama is the only candidate that will unite our country for a common purpose to improve our lives and renew American’s standing in the world. I’d like to share with you a quote from Barack Obama from the Jefferson-Jackson dinner held in Iowa on November 10. "...We are in a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it’s slowly slipping away. We are working harder for less. We’ve never paid more for health care or for college. It’s harder to save and it’s harder to retire. And most of all we’ve lost faith that our leaders can or will do anything about it."..."I am not in this race to fulfill some long-held ambitions or because I believe it’s somehow owed to me. I never expected to be here, I always knew this journey was improbable. I’ve never been on a journey that wasn’t. I am running in this race because of what Dr. King called ‘the fierce urgency of now.’ Because I believe that there’s such a thing as being too late. And that hour is almost upon us." Let’s not wait another four years to say "what happened" or "what didn’t happen." We need a president who will unify the country by bringing Republicans and Independents together with Democrats to solve the nation’s most pressing problems. We need a president who will take on the special interests and lobbyists and lift up the voices of the American people. We need a president who will tell the American people not just what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. People may not always agree with Senator Obama’s views, but they will be clear where he stands and why. We need a president who will renew our hope and inspire us to be involved in our political process. I truly believe that person is Barack Obama. Some of you may already know a lot about Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, but for those who may not know much about him, I would like to share with you a brief biography of this special man. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, to Ann Dunham, originally of Kansas, and Barack Obama, Sr., originally of Kenya. After graduating from Columbia University, Barack moved to Chicago, where he worked with a church_based organization to improve living conditions in Chicago neighborhoods that had been devastated by steel plant closings. After a few years, Barack went to Harvard Law School, where he became the first African_American president of the Harvard Law Review. He then returned to Chicago, where he practiced as a civil rights lawyer, lectured on constitutional law, and started a voter registration drive that registered 100,000 new voters. During this time, he met and married his wife, Michelle. They have two beautiful daughters: Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6. Barack’s advocacy work culminated in his election to the Illinois State Senate, where he served for 8 years. During these years, Barack brought Democrats and Republicans together to make government work for Illinois families. He passed $100 million dollars in tax cuts for working families. He pushed through an expansion of early childhood education programs, and was able to expand health care coverage for 20,000 more children and 65,000 more parents. He reformed a death penalty system that had sent 13 innocent people to death row. And he worked with both parties to pass the first major ethics reform in twenty_five years. In 2003, Barack launched his improbable race for the U.S. Senate, where he stood alone among all the candidates in opposing the invasion of Iraq. While still an Illinois state legislator, Obama delivered a powerful and memorable keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has focused on tackling our challenges with fresh thinking and a new kind of politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. He was his party’s point person on passing the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate, and he’s worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to pass a law that will prevent some of the world’s most deadly weapons from falling into terrorist hands. Whether it's the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics, Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century, believing that in order to change our country and our politics, we must come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans. The Obama family lives on Chicago’s South Side and attends Trinity United Church of Christ. Barack Obama has authored two best-selling books: a memoir of his youth titled Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, a personal commentary on U.S. politics. An October 2005 article in the British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of "10 people who could change the world." In 2005 and again in 2007, Time magazine named him one of "the world's most influential people." If you have some time, consider reading one or both of Barack’s best-selling books or listening to his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, or, most recently, the inspiring speech he gave at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner. These speeches can be found on YouTube online. Senator Obama may not have the name recognition as some of the other candidates running, but, when people get to know him, they are deeply moved by his vision and passion to change America and the world. As he says, "I run to give my children and their children the same chances that someone, somewhere gave me. I run so that a year from today, there is a chance that the world will look at America differently, and that America will look at itself differently. And I run to keep the promise of the United States of America alive for all those who still hunger for opportunity and thirst for equality and long to believe again." To learn more about Senator Obama, please visit www.barackobama.com online or stop by or call the Berlin Obama for America Office at 752-2208. Thank you. Donna Godin Gorham

Show 2 Reader Comments	Comments RSS
Comments are closed for this post.

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.