若还有人怀疑美国是实现所有梦想之处；若还有人怀疑我们开国先烈们的梦想在今日是否依旧存在；若还有人怀疑我们民主的力量，今夜就是你们的答案。
那些绵延在学校和教堂外前所未见的投票人潮回答了你们的疑问。那些今生第一次宁愿等待三、四小时投票，只因他们相信这次将会不同，而他们的挺身而出就是那关键的不同。
青年和长者，富人和穷人，民主党人，共和党人，黑人、白人、拉丁裔、亚裔、原住民，同性恋、异性恋，身体残障的、四肢健全的... 美国绝非仅由单一个体，或政治立场不同的州所组成，我们昭告世界，我们永远都是美利坚合众国。
多年以来许多愤世嫉俗、许多怀疑、恐惧的人们口耳相传，不肯相信我们能够逆转历史走向，让它走向更光明未来的人们，今夜他们也得到了答案。
虽然历经许多时光，但今夜，因为我们今天的抉择，在这场选举中，在这个关键时刻，改变降临在美国。
我刚接到参议员麦肯卓有风范的道贺电话。他为了这场选战努力许久，他更曾为了所挚爱的国家奋战和付出许多。 他为美国所做的奉献牺牲我们难以想像，由于这位勇敢无私领导者的付出，我们才能过的更好。我恭贺他和裴林州长的成就，我也期待未来能和他们合作，替国家开创更美好的未来。
我也要感谢这场旅程中的伙伴，一位全心参加选战，为Scranton街上和他一起成长的男女，那些和他一起乘坐火车回到Delaware家中的人代言的美国的副总统当选人，Joe Biden。
如果没有我家中的基础，我的挚爱过去十六年毫不退缩的支持，我不可能会站在此地。献给我国下一位第一夫人，Michelle Obama。 Sasha和Malia，我是如此的疼爱你们，你们也赢得了一只能一起住进白宫的新小狗。虽然我祖母已经不在人世，但她肯定和让我能有今日的家人们一起看顾著我。 今晚，我很想念他们，我亏欠他们的难以估计。
感谢我的姊妹Maya和Alma，以及我所有的兄弟姊妹们，感谢你们给予我的支持。
我还必须感谢我的竞选总召，David Plouffe，他是此次选举的幕后英雄，建立了美国政治史上最好的竞选团队。我的策略长David Axelord，他和我一起共度了这场旅程的每一步。献给政治史上最好的竞选团队，是你们让这一切发生，我将永远感谢你们的牺牲奉献。
但是，我从来没有忘记这场胜利真正的关键，这场胜利属于你们。
我从开始就不是最有希望的候选人。 我们参选时既无大笔预算，也无名人站台。 我们的选战并非自首都的华丽大厅中开始。它是从Moines市的后院，Concord镇的客厅，Charleston的门廊上开始的。
我们的选战是由那些辛勤工作的人们所组成，他们从微薄的存款中掏出五元、十元、二十元来支持这场选战。 这场选举从那些愿意摆脱年轻世代冷漠形象的青年手中获得力量。他们离开家园领取微薄工资、牺牲睡眠，只为了和我们共同努力。同时我们也从那些在艳阳下、寒冬中跋涉，只为拜访陌生人的长者身上获得力量。我们更从那些自告奋勇挺身而出的美国人身上获得力量，他们证明在两百年之后，民有、民治、民享的政府并未消失。这是属于你们的胜利。
我知道你们并非只为赢得选举而努力。我知道你们并非是为了我而牺牲。 因为你们知道未来的挑战依旧沉重，所以你们愿意付出。 即使我们今夜欢呼庆祝，但我们都知道明天要面对此生最大的挑战：两场战争，残破不堪的地球，本世纪最严重的金融风暴。即使我们今夜在此庆祝，我们也不能忘记在伊拉克的沙漠中，阿富汗的山区中，有我们英勇的同胞为我们冒著生命的危险。 无数的父母在孩子们入睡之后辗转难眠，因为他们担心要如何缴交贷款，要如何付清医药费，或是存下孩子上大学的学费。我们必须要驾驭新能源，创造新工作，建造新学校，对抗威胁，修补盟约。
我们任重而道远。 我们的前途充满挑战。 一年或是一个任期可能都无法达成这些目标。但是，同胞们，我从未像今日一样深信我们可以达成目标。 我向各位承诺，我们将以一个民族的力量达成这些目标。
我们会遭遇到打击，会遭遇到挫折。 有许多人不会认同我以总统身份所做的决定，我们也很清楚政府不可能解决所有问题。 但对于我们所面对的挑战，我一定会诚实告知各位。我会倾听各位的声音，特别是当我们意见纷歧时。 不仅如此，我还会邀请各位一起重建我们这国家。就跟过去两百二十一年中的每次挑战一样，我们要一砖一瓦，筚路蓝缕的重建这块土地。
二十一个月前在深冬开始的旅程，不会在这个秋夜结束。 这场胜利并不是我们所寻求的改变。这只不过是让我们可以造成改变的开端而已。 如果我们重蹈覆辙，就不可能有真正的改变。没有你们，改变不可能发生。没有新的奉献与牺牲的精神，这一切不会发生。
让我们唤醒新的爱国主义；每个人决定为这个国家多付出一些，多扛起一些责任，不只自立自强，也携手互助。 让我们记住这次金融危机带给我们的教训。若是全国受苦，华尔街不可能独享繁华。这个国家，这个民族必须同舟共济。
我们必须抵抗那毒害我国政治已久的结党营私、小题大作和不成熟的传统。 我们必须记住，第一位带著共和党旗帜进入白宫的人出身此州。共和党的价值是自力更生，独立自由以及国家团结。这是我们共通的价值，虽然今晚民主党获得大胜，但我们怀著谦卑和决心，要医治这阻断进步的歧见。 林肯当年所面对的国家比今日更为分裂，但他依旧说道：「我们不是敌人，而是同胞。虽然不同立场的热情考验我们的情谊，但绝不可让它切断我们同根相连的情感。还有那些我尚未赢得支持的美国同胞们：我或许没有赢得各位的选票，但我听见了各位的声音。我需要你们的帮助，我也会成为你们的总统。
那些在海外的议会、宫殿目击这一切的人们，以及那些在海角聆听著收音机的人们，我们的故事或许独特，但我们的命运却是共同的。新的美国领导世代即将到来。 那些意欲撕裂这世界的人们，我们将击垮你们。那些寻求和平与安全的人们，我们将支援你们。 那些质疑美国的灯塔是否依旧闪耀的人们，今夜我们再度证明美国的力量不是来自于坚甲利兵，也不是来自于国富民强。那力量是来自于我们的信念：民主、自由、机会和绝不放弃的希望。
这才是美国真正的力量，美国可以改变。 我们的团结可以更臻完美。 我们今天达成的目标，让我们更对明天必须完成的任务抱持希望。
这次选举有许多创举，也将有许多故事流传后代。 但我今晚所想到的是一名在亚特兰大投下一票的妇女。 她和数百万耐心排队，在这选举中努力发声的人们一样。唯一不同之处在于，Ann Nixon Cooper今年一百零六岁。
她在蓄奴时代结束后出生，那时路上没有汽车，天上没有飞机。像她一样的人不能投票，因为两个原因：她是女性和她的肤色。今晚，我思考著她在美国一整个世纪所看到的历史：那些心痛和希望的时刻，那些努力和进步的时刻，那些我们被告知自己作不到，但美国人民却抱持著信念的时刻：我们作的到。
当女性的声音被压抑，希望被剥夺的时候，她目击妇女挺身而出，大声呼吁，最终获得了投票权。 我们作的到。
当美国大地上充满了绝望，全国满是萧条时，她看见我国克服恐惧，实施新政，创造出新的工作和新的全民目标。 我们作的到。
当炸弹落在我们的港湾，暴政威胁全球时，她目睹了一整个世代扛起责任，拯救了民主世界。 我们作的到。
她目睹了种族歧视的巴士，民权示威的镇暴水柱，和平示威却换来了血腥镇压，她亲耳听到了一名来自亚特兰大的牧师告诉大家：我们终将获胜。我们作的到。
当人类登上月球，柏林围墙倒下，世界被我们的科学和想像力结合在一起。
今年，这场选举，她在电脑萤幕上按钮投票。因为在她经历的一百零六年的时光中，她见过光明与黑暗的时刻，她知道美国可以改变。 我们作的到。
美国的同胞们，我们已越过漫漫征途。 我们见识过无数的景象。 但眼前依旧有许多任务等著我们完成。 今夜，让我们自问：如果我们的子女可以活到下一个世纪；如果我女儿可像Ann Nixon Cooper一样幸运长寿，他们将会看到什么样的改变？ 我们将会如何进步？
这将是我们回应下一代期待的机会。 这是属于我们的时刻。 这是我们的转捩点，让人们重回工作岗位，让孩子们获得平等的机会，恢复社会的繁荣，推动世界的和平；重建美国的梦想，重新挽回那最基本的信念：虽有亿万国民，但我们是同一民族。我们呼吸，我们期待，我们会遭遇冷嘲热讽和怀疑，将会有人告诉我们作不到。
而我们将会用美国人民每一个世代的信念来回答：我们作的到。
谢谢各位，天佑诸位，天佑美利坚合众国。
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
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