Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
Richmond，Virginia｜February 9，2008
It has now been one year since we began this campaign for the presidency on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield，Illinois - just me and 15，000 of my closest friends.
At the time，there weren’t too many who imagined we’d be standing where we are today. I knew I wouldn’t be Washington’s favorite candidate. I knew we wouldn’t get all the big donors or endorsements right off the bat. I knew I’d be the underdog in every contest from January to June. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
But then something started happening. As we met people in their living rooms and on their farms；in churches and town hall meetings，they all started telling a similar story about the state of our politics today. Whether they’re young or old；black or white；Latino or Asian；Democrat，Independent or even Republican，the message is the same：
We are tired of being disappointed by our politics. We are tired of being let down. We’re tired of hearing promises made and ten-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change when everyone goes back to Washington. Because the lobbyists just write another check. Or because politicians start worrying about how they’ll win the next election instead of why they should. Or because they focus on who’s up and who’s down instead of who matters.
And while Washington is consumed with the same drama and division and distraction，another family puts up a For Sale sign in the front yard. Another factory shuts its doors forever. Another mother declares bankruptcy because she cannot pay her child’s medical bills.
And another soldier waves goodbye as he leaves on another tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged. It goes on and on and on，year after year after year.
But in this election - at this moment - Americans are standing up all across the country to say，not this time. Not this year. The stakes are too high and the challenges too great to play the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expect a different result. And today，voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say that it is time to turn the page. We won Louisiana，and Nebraska，and the state of Washington，and I believe that we can win in Virginia on Tuesday if you’re ready to stand for change.
Each of us running for the Democratic nomination agrees on one thing that the other party does not - the next President must end the disastrous policies of George W. Bush. And both Senator Clinton and I have put forth detailed plans and good ideas that would do just that.
But I am running for President because I believe that to actually make change happen - to make this time different than all the rest - we need a leader who can finally move beyond the divisive politics of Washington and bring Democrats，Independents，and Republicans together to get things done. That’s how we’ll win this election，and that’s how we’ll change this country when I am President of the United States.
This week we found out that the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party is Senator John McCain. Now，John McCain is a good man，an American hero，and we honor his half century of service to this nation. But in this campaign，he has made the decision to embrace the failed policies George Bush’s Washington.
He speaks of a hundred year war in Iraq and sees another on the horizon with Iran. He once opposed George Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest few who don’t need them and didn’t ask for them. He said they were too expensive and unwise. And he was absolutely right.
But somewhere along the line，the wheels came off the Straight Talk Express because he now he supports the very same tax cuts he voted against. This is what happens when you spend too long in Washington. Politicians don’t say what they mean and they don’t mean what they say. And that is why in this election，our party cannot stand for business-as-usual in Washington. The Democratic Party must stand for change.
This fall，we owe the American people a real choice.
It’s a choice between debating John McCain about who has the most experience in Washington，or debating him about who’s most likely to change Washington. Because that’s a debate we can win.
It’s a choice between debating John McCain about lobbying reform with a nominee who’s taken more money from lobbyists than he has，or doing it with a campaign that hasn’t taken a dime of their money because we’ve been funded by you - the American people.