"The Audacity of Hope"

12.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 7th Aug 2007

I was recently watching Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address "The Audacity of Hope" on the American Rhetoric website and while I don't know much about what Barack Obama stands for or intends to deliver for America I can certainly see why there is a big buzz around him.

I was particularly impressed when he said:

"If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there is a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription drugs, and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties".

"The Audacity of Hope" speech is impressive to me because to start of with Barack Obama uses the history of his family to show how the American Dream can come true for anyone and Barack Obama highlights the diversity of the American people just tries to prove that in the end the ambitions, dreams and hope of most American are the same.

Another passage from "The Audacity of Hope" which impressed me was:

"Now, don't get me wrong. The people I meet -- in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks -- they don't expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead, and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted, by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Go in -- Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach our kids to learn; they know that parents have to teach, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know those things".

A lot of the time people talk about people are willing to sit back and live off benefits and I don't deny that some people who wish to that exist however I believe that most of the people who rely on benefits and government programmes are people who want to earn their money and control their economic destiny but they find that they are victims to the situation they find themselves in. I find it difficult to believe that there are many people out there who want government to do things for them or to give them things what most people want is some help from government in achieving their dreams. These very people are the same people who are pissed off when governments commit to spend millions or billions of pounds on defence contracts where helicopters wont be able to fly in certain conditions or where they military spend money on weapons which we may never use and these very people are also annoyed when governments spend millions or billions of pounds on benefits systems which are expensive, ineffective and futile.

I am not sure if Barack Obama will get the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2008 Presidential election he will face a tough challenge from Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and maybe even Bill Richardson but if he can continue to deliver speeches like "The Audacity of Hope" people will certainly play along with the buzz that has already been created.

Related Links:

"The Audacity of Hope".

American Rhetoric.

Barack Obama.

Bill Richardson.

Democratic National Committee.

Hillary Clinton.

John Edwards.