More work to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Ill., who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. I thought of the families I’ve met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were Reservists. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. And I’m glad to see that. So America will defend itself respectful of the sovereignty of nations and the rule of law. This history is well known.

If you’re working forty hours a week, you shouldn’t be living in poverty. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice. “I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path.

That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That is the true genius of America – a faith in simple dreams,, an insistence on small miracles. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. The fifth issue that we must address together is religious freedom.

I have a plan that would have already begun redeploying our troops with the goal of bringing all our combat brigades home by March 31st of next year. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings. But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America.

His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. It should help us, not hurt us. We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words – within our borders, and around the world.

Thank you.