Obama: I delivered 'change you can believe in'

November 14, 2011 11:20pm
by Joel Gehrke Commentary Staff Writer

To recapture some of his 2008 magic, President Obama attacked Republicans while assuring a hometown Hawaii crowd that he has delivered "change that you can believe in" during his first term in office. He acknowledged, however, that not all Americans wanted that change at the time, and that the last three years have seen some "false starts."

After greeting a crowd that included his tenth-grade teacher, Obama contrasted his campaign with the "narrow, cramped vision of an America where everybody is left to fend for themselves" that he implied Republicans hold. "That was what the campaign was about -- the belief that the more Americans succeed, the more America succeeds," Obama said. "We knew it wouldn't come easy, we knew it wasn't going to come quickly, but three years later, because of what you did in 2008, we've already started to see what change looks like."

"Let me give you some examples," Obama said, beginning to justify the claim that he has brought the change promised in his 2008 run. He repeated a litany of legistive and executive items. "Change is," Obama said, the auto industry bailout, higher fuel efficiency standards, ending "don't ask, don't tell," ending the war in Iraq., and mandating equal pay for men and women.

"Change is health care reform. After a century of trying, a reform that will finally make sure that nobody goes bankrupt in America just because they get sick," Obama told the applauding audience. "That's the kind of changes that you brought about because of the work you did in 2008."

Obama did acknowledge that not all Americans wanted this kind of change -- "it's no secret that the steps that we took weren't always politically popular" -- but put a dramatic spin on the signficance of the election that included a dig at his opponents.

"Everything we fought for in the last election is now at stake in the next election. The very core of what this country stands for is on the line," Obama warned. "The basic promise that no matter who you are or where you come from, what you look like, that you can make it in America if you try -- that vision is on the line."

"I know it’s been a tough three years," Obama said, "and I know that the change that we fought for in 2008 hasn’t always been easy," he said. "There have been setbacks. There have been false starts." But he called for his supporters to "recommit yourselves and feel just as energized about 2012 as you did in 2008."