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That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted at least, most of the time. And until we do, our conscience cannot rest. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody.
We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. America, now is not the time for small plans.
They're deciding that their work, their possessions, their diversions, their sheer busyness, is not enough. And it offends our conscience. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors - found the courage to keep it alive. But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes.
But at the end of the day, we cannot walk away - not for the sake of passing a bill, but so that we can finally address the real concerns of Americans and the persistent hopes of all those brothers and sisters who want nothing more than their own chance at our common dream. God is still speaking. We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one." That is why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. This history is well known.
John Edwards calls on us to hope. I was not raised in a particularly religious household. People are coming together around a simple truth - that we are all connected, that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. I'm hearing from evangelicals who may not agree with progressives on every issue but agree that poverty has no place in a world of plenty; that hate has no place in the hearts of believers; and that we all have to be good stewards of God's creations. The issues that I have described will not be easy to address.
Thank you very much everybody.