| 00:00:00 | There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.) |
| 00:00:36 | If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. |
| 00:01:11 | The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. |
| 00:01:32 | So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. That’s how we funded the GI Bill. That’s how we created the middle class. That’s how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam. That’s how we invented the Internet. That’s how we sent a man to the moon. We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that’s the reason I’m running for President -- because I still believe in that idea. You’re not on your own, we’re in this together. (Applause.) |
| 00:02:11 | So all these issues go back to that first campaign that I talked about, because everything has to do with how do we help middle-class families, working people, strivers, doers -- how do we help them succeed? How do we make sure that their hard work pays off? That’s what I've been thinking about the entire time I've been President. |
| 00:02:39 | Now, over the next four months, the other side is going to spend more money than we've even seen in history. And they don’t really have a good argument for how they would do better, but they're thinking they can win the election if they just remind people that a lot of people are still out of work, and the economy is not growing as fast as it needs to, and it's all Obama's fault. That’s basically their pitch. |
| 00:03:02 | Booo -- |
| 00:03:04 | No, no, I mean, I'm just telling you. You've seen the ads, and they're going to run more of them, and there will be all kinds of variations on the same theme. But it will be the same basic message over and over and over and over and over again. |
| 00:03:16 | Now, their ads may be a plan to win an election, but it's not a plan to put people back to work. It's not a plan to strengthen the middle class. And the reason it doesn’t worry me is because we've been outspent before. We've been counted out before. The pundits, they didn’t think I could win Virginia the last time. (Applause.) The last time I came to this part of Virginia, all the political writers, they're all like, well, he's not serious, he's just making a tactical move. No, I'm serious -- I'm going to get some votes down here. (Applause.) |
| 00:04:13 | And so the reason that I continue to have confidence is because when I look at you, I see my grandparents. When I see your kids, I see my kids. And I think about all those previous generations -- our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. Some of them came here as immigrants, some were brought here against their will. Some of them worked on farms, and some worked in mills, and some worked in mines, and some worked on the railroad. |
| 00:04:46 | But no matter where they worked, no matter how times were tough, they always had faith that there was something different about this country; that in this country, you have some God-given rights: a life in liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and a belief that all of us are equal -- (applause) -- and that we're not guaranteed success, but we're guaranteed the right to work hard for success. (Applause.) |
| 00:05:28 | They understood that, and they understood that succeeding in America wasn't about how much money was in your bank account, but it was about whether you were doing right by your people, doing right by your family, doing right by your neighborhood, doing right by your community, doing right by your country, living out our values, living out our dreams, living out our hopes. That’s what America was about. (Applause.) |
| 00:06:03 | And so when I look out at this crowd, you inspire me. (Applause.) And I have to tell you that the privilege of being your President is something that I thank God for every single day. (Applause.) |
| 00:06:29 | I said to you back in 2008 when I was running, I'm not a perfect man -- you can ask Michelle about that. (Laughter.) And I told you I wouldn’t be a perfect President. But what I did say to you was that I'd always tell you what I thought and I'd always tell you where I stood, and that I would wake up every single morning thinking about you and fighting as hard as I knew how to make your life a little bit better. (Applause.) |
| 00:07:05 | And over these last three and a half years, I know times have been tough, and I know change hasn't always come as fast as you'd like. But you know what, I've kept that promise. (Applause.) I thought about you. I fought for you. I believe in you. And if you still believe in me, if you're willing to stand up with me, and campaign with me, and make phone calls for me, and knock on doors with me, I promise you we will finish what we started -- (applause) -- and we will restore that basic bargain that built this country, and we'll remind the world just why it is that America is the greatest nation on Earth. |
| 00:07:50 | God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. |
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