Barack Obama never delivered this speech (below) in the 2008 presidential campaign. But if he had, it would have been honest and forthright and a clear vision of his path forward.
It also would have featured ingredients that would have made the liberal left disillusioned, and it would have provided a new set of talking points for the conservative right to portray Obama as a scary candidate.
Can anyone imagine Obama winning that ’08 presidential election if he had given this address?
*****
How are you all doin’?
Fired up (Crowd—Fired Up!) … Ready to go (Crowd—Ready To Go!)
I want to thank you all for being here and I have a number of issues to discuss with you regarding this campaign and what I will do when I become president.
First, I want to tell you that, during my time as a senator and in the presidential primaries, I had concerns about the National Security Administration, the NSA, engaging in widespread surveillance of Americans’ telephone calls. But today, seven years after the unspeakable attacks on 9/11 by al-Qaida, I’m here to say that I will enhance and expand the Bush administration’s anti-terror programs.
If I am president, I will instruct the NSA to keep records on virtually every phone call made in America on a daily basis, whether local, long distance or overseas. To keep tabs on all communications, not just those with known terrorists, we will also establish an enormous database that will track Americans’ overseas emails and online searches.
Second, I will ramp up the current drone program in dramatic fashion and I will make sure that, that, that we hunt down and kill bin Laden.
Now … I will bring the Iraq war to an end, but I will also triple the number of troops in Afghanistan. If I have to, I will make the military conflict in that nation, still plagued by Taliban extremists, the longest in U.S. history.
Third, the notion that our anti-terrorism efforts will continue to be hampered by so-called whistleblowers, those within the bureaucracy that have leaked sensitive national security material to the press … is wrong. I promise that my administration will engage in an unprecedented crackdown on these leaks. We will prosecute leakers. If we have to wiretap reporters and maintain surveillance on them, so be it. If we have to indict as a co-conspirator a ‘rogue’ reporter at Fox News — how many of you watch Fox? (chuckle) — we will do that to protect our nation.
We also will deport far more undocumented immigrants than President Bush has ever done. I pledge to you that I will be tough on national security and the rule of law. But let me be perfectly clear. I think it’s time for a president who will maintain comprehensive immigration reform as a top priority, even when it becomes politically unpopular. We will get this done. Just not right away. It may … uh … take five or six years.
Fourth, at a time when our nation is facing a massive federal deficit and a huge loss of revenues, I will not tolerate any attempts by political groups to unfairly attain tax-exempt status. This will be the job of officials within the IRS and I will place my full confidence in them to carry out this enforcement process on a nonpartisan basis.
And let me just say that my intention is to balance the budget eventually, but the economy will take a long time to recover and, at least for several years, we will be running deficits in excess of $1 trillion.
I also will put forward the most transparent administration in history.
I may, from time to time, block Freedom of Information Act requests or charge exorbitant fees for those seeking documentation. And my Cabinet members may delay FOIA requests for a year or more. But transparency will be our goal.
So … folks, we need a new politics, a politics that calls on our better angels instead of encouraging our worst instincts. I will put an end to the gridlock and partisanship that constantly pits Republicans against Democrats in Congress.
Of course, I will not be talking with congressional Republicans, especially the key players on key committees. They will be swayed by my national leadership. That’s how we will get to bipartisanship and compromise.
If that doesn’t work, who knows? Maybe in my second term I will invite a bunch of GOP senators to dinner. (big, broad smile; crowd laughter)
As for the big banks that got us into this financial mess, I will not let the cynical Republicans whine about TARP and ‘Too Big To Fail.’ What’s their answer? We shall see. Could it be that Wall Street might have engaged in fraud or illegal misrepresentations? I can tell you that my attorney general will look into all of these matters.
Finally, we also have to be mindful of our planet. I will take whatever steps are necessary to reverse the effects of climate change. It will have to wait until my second term — I do plan on winning a second term (chuckle, big smile) — but we will eventually do this together. That doesn’t mean the journey will not be difficult. The road will be long.
But all of these problems, all of them, have solutions.
If we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, (voice rising) then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we achieved change that we can believe in.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
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