奥巴马于2008年在艾奥瓦州德斯莫内斯的竞选演讲

背景介绍

奥巴马的演讲集传道士的雄辩和推销员的机敏于一身，既激情四射、振奋人心，又言简意赅、主题突出。这样的演讲技巧，再经过媒体的放大，便能产生明星效应。奥巴马成功当选美国第四十四任总统，也是美国历史上第一位黑人总统。美国新一场变革即将来临。

奥巴马面临的金融和经济危机从程度上虽不能与罗斯福时期相比，但却是罗斯福之后历任总统所面临的危机中最为严重的一次。次贷危机引发的金融危机摧毁了很多美国家庭在过去十多年积累起来的财富，能否尽快稳定市场和稳定投资者的信心，决定了奥巴马是成为像罗斯福那样的民族英雄，还是昙花一现的黑人总统。

2008年11月5日正午，美国作出了一个伟大的决定，历史上第一次，一个黑皮肤的人登上了世界的权力之巅。而仅仅十二年前，他还只是一介平民;是什么令他如此平步青云?

贝拉克·奥巴马于2007年1月16日宣布，他有意参加2008年的总统竞选，已于当天向美国联邦选举机构提交了有关文件，将成立一个委员会，以评估他参加总统竞选的可行性。

奥巴马16日在其网站上发表声明说，数月来他一直在考虑是否参加2008年的总统选举，但参加与否不会取决于媒体宣传和个人抱负。过去六年中，联邦政府所作的决定以及所忽视的问题使美国处于一种非常不安全的境地，美国陷入了一场本不应该发动的“不幸的、代价高昂的”战争，而身在华盛顿的领导人却不能以一种实际的方式进行合作。

而在1月20号，前总统克林顿的妻子希拉里在其个人网站上宣布参加2008年美国总统大选。她的竞选标语是：“我来了，为胜利而来。”

由于双方在党内支持者众多，一场激烈的抢票大战必不可免，绝不逊色于之后的总统选举。

奥巴马主攻年轻选民，特别是通过网络。2007年3月，奥巴马在“Yahoo! Answers”(雅虎知识堂的美国版)发表题为《How can we engage more people in the democratic process?》(如何吸引更多人参与民主进程?)的问题，回复量超越一万七千个。之后他还在社交网站Facebook开了一个账户，版面很受欢迎。

而希拉里最大的优势是丈夫克林顿和其本身身为女性，容易吸引女性选民的目光。当一位民意测验专家马克·迈尔曼让十位黑人妇女选出她们心中的政治英雄时，有八个人选了希拉里。

6月7日，希拉里正式宣布停止竞选，呼吁她的选民转而支持党内初选胜出者奥巴马。

2008年美国总统选举将于当地时间1月3日晚打响第一枪，届时民主共和两党党内初选将在艾奥瓦州率先拉开大幕。艾奥瓦州民主党初选在当地时间1月3日晚上6时30分(北京时间1月4日上午7时30分)开始。半个小时后，共和党初选开始，结果最快在一至两个小时后得出。

盖洛普最新民调显示，美国选民认为，艾奥瓦州党团会议初选的结果，就民主党参选人而言，对奥巴马的影响较大，对希拉里·克林顿及爱德华兹的影响较小。盖洛普1月2日公布的民调显示，如果奥巴马在即将于1月3日举行的艾奥瓦党团会议初选中获胜，67%的全国选民认为其将在未来的提名战中对希拉里形成“严重挑战”，只有31%认为是“暂时胜利”。

而如果希拉里在艾奥瓦党团会议初选中落败，则有高达70%的全国选民认为只是“暂时挫败”;只有28%认为这将对她提名之路带来麻烦。如果艾奥瓦党团会议的胜利者是爱德华兹，只有40%的全国选民认为这将对希拉里造成“严重挑战”;58%认为这只是“暂时胜利”。

经过一系列的拉票，美国当地时间2008年6月3日，美民主党总统竞选人奥巴马宣布他在该党初选中胜出，获得民主党总统候选人提名。

据悉，希拉里、奥巴马和爱德华兹均在媒体上买下广告时段或版面，为大选第一仗作最后冲刺。希拉里与奥巴马目前在不同民调中分别领先，爱德华兹则名列第三。

奥巴马在两分钟的电视广告中说：“这个国家需要一个可以把我们都团结起来的领导人，那样我们才算真正地赢得了这场选举，也只有这样我们才能解决医疗、教育、能源以及战争等问题。”

希拉里也在广告中再次发动了她的煽情攻势，她说：“如果你们支持我一个晚上(指1月3日晚)，我作为总统将支持你们每一天。我将呕心沥血，把我们热爱的国家带入一个新起点，我将从第一天开始就进入状态。”

爱德华兹则请了一位名叫多格·比谢普的下岗工人做“代言人”。比谢普说：“我心目中的候选人要能坐下来，看着一个七岁孩子的眼睛告诉他：‘我会为你爸爸的工作而战。’而爱德华兹就是我的选择。”

每个选举年，艾奥瓦州都会成为全美瞩目的中心，也是每届美国选战最为激烈的战场。一项研究发现，艾奥瓦州初选获得的媒体关注是其他州的143倍。

在初选阶段，一个州的面积大小和人口多寡与该州对选举的影响力并不成正比，最重要的是它的初选日期——往往日期越早影响越大。在初选中最早获胜的候选人会得到更多的关注，在接下来的竞选过程中也会拥有更大的优势。正因如此，艾奥瓦州尽管以人口和面积而论都是小州，却在整个初选阶段具有“风向标”的作用，因此也受到各位竞选人和各路媒体的高度关注。

其次是艾奥瓦州特殊的初选制度，选民决定自己支持谁可能需要多达五小时。艾奥瓦州的初选称为Caucus，意为集会，与绝大多数州不同。在艾奥瓦州，初选其实并没有“投票”这个环节，而是选民到达投票所后，依据其支持的对象分类，一群一群地集中。然后好戏登场，参选人边喝茶吃点心边拉票，游走穿梭于各群间。既要设法把别的“群”里的选民拉到自己这个“群”里，还要防止自己“群”里的选民被别的参选人“群”拉走。这样来来往往，所以需要花费五小时才能最后确定每位候选人的得票数。

奥巴马于2008年在艾奥瓦州德斯莫内斯的竞选演讲

Thank you, Iowa.

You know, they said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.

But on this January night—at this defining moment in history—you have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this New Year, 2008. In lines that stretched around schools and churches; in small towns and big cities; you came together as Democrats, Republicans and Independents to stand up and say that we are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come.

You said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that’s consumed Washington; to end the political strategy that’s been all about division and instead make it about addition—to build a coalition for change that stretches through Red States and Blue States. Because that’s how we’ll win in November, and that’s how we’ll finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation.

We are choosing hope over fear. We’re choosing unity over division, and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.

You said the time has come to tell the lobbyists who think their money and their influence speak louder than our voices that they don’t own this government, we do; and we are here to take it back.

The time has come for a President who will be honest about the choices and the challenges we face; who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree; who won’t just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to know. And in New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that president for America.

Thank you.

I’ll be a President who finally makes health care affordable and available to every single American the same way I expanded health care in Illinois—by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done. I’ll be a President who ends the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it. I’ll be a President who harnesses the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil once and for all.

And I’ll be a President who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home; who restores our moral standing; who understands that 9/11 is not a way to scare up votes, but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century; common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

Tonight, we are one step closer to that vision of America because of what you did here in Iowa.

And so I’d especially like to thank the organizers and the precinct captains; the volunteers and the staff who made this all possible. And while I’m at it, on "thank yous," I think it makes sense for me to thank the love of my life, the rock of the Obama family, the closer on the campaign trail; give it up for Michelle Obama.

I know you didn’t do this for me. You did this—you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas—that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it. I know this—I know this because while I may be standing here tonight, I’ll never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa—organizing, and working, and fighting to make people’s lives just a little bit better. I know how hard it is. It comes with little sleep, little pay, and a lot of sacrifice.

There are days of disappointment, but sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like this—a night—a night that, years from now, when we’ve made the changes we believe in; when more families can afford to see a doctor; when our children—when Malia and Sasha and your children-inherit a planet that’s a little cleaner and safer; when the world sees America differently, and America sees itself as a nation less divided and more united; you’ll be able to look back with pride and say that this was the moment when it all began.

This was the moment when the improbable beat what Washington always said was inevitable. This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long—when we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause; when we finally gave Americans who’d never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so. This was the moment when we finally beat back the politics of fear, and doubt, and cynicism; the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up. This was the moment. Years from now, you’ll look back and you’ll say that this was the moment—this was the place—where America remembered what it means to hope.

For many months, we’ve been teased, even derided for talking about hope. But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister who’s ill; a young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams. Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn’t been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq; who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s cause. Hope—hope—is what led me here today—with a father from Kenya; a mother from Kansas; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

That is what we started here in Iowa, and that is the message we can now carry to New Hampshire and beyond; the same message we had when we were up and when we were down; the one that can change this country brick by brick, block by block, calloused hand by calloused hand—that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things; because we are not a collection of Red States and Blue States, we are the United States of America; and at this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again. Thank you, Iowa.

谢谢你，艾奥瓦。

有人说这一天永远不会到来。有人说我们好高骛远。有人说这是一个分裂的国家，很难再为同一个目标风雨同舟、甘苦与共。

在这个新年的夜晚，你们让所有质疑的人闭嘴。这是个足以载入史册的时刻，五天之后新罕布什尔也会迎来同样的时刻，2008年整个美国都将迎来这样一个欢欣鼓舞的时刻!学校和教堂旁、乡村和城市中，民主党人、共和党人抑或无党派人士，你们怀揣着不同的政治主张而来，你们发出同一个声音：我们是一个国家，我们是一个民族，我们变革的时代已经到来!

长久以来，华盛顿被斤斤计较的政治风气所笼罩，早已难堪重负。国家的未来要求我们携起手去结束这种政治的尔虞我诈，重返联邦“合众为一”的伟大理想;要求我们抛弃党派隔阂、求同存异共谋改变!只有这样，我们才能在十一月相拥而笑，共同担当起这个国家的命运。

我们用希望对抗恐惧，用联合对抗分裂，我们用有力的声音向所有人宣布，美利坚革旧维新之日已至!

你们用强有力的声音告诉那些自以为能用金钱和权势压制人民意愿的说客：“你们不配做我们的政府，我们才是国家的主人!我们来，为我们自己的政府而来!”

人们需要的是一个能够直面选择与挑战的总统，一个虚己以听、从谏如流的总统，一个直言不讳、真诚坦率的总统。谢谢你，艾奥瓦，你们的选择让新罕布什尔州的选民信心百倍，你们将使这样的总统从可能成为现实!

谢谢你们。

我会让每一个美国人都能获得医疗服务。伊利诺伊州议会的成功经验告诉我，若能摒弃党派分歧通力合作，这一目标并非遥不可及。我会让每个将工作机会转移到国外的公司付出代价，为长久以来承担了巨大社会责任的美国中产阶级减税。我会努力让农场主、科学家和企业家们坐在一起，发挥创造力，根本性地解决美国对石油的依赖。

我会结束伊拉克战争，让士兵们重回家园;我要让美国重拾自己的道德准则;我要让所有人知道“9·11”不应成为诓取选票的幌子，而应是让美国与国际社会广泛开展合作，应对诸如恐怖主义与核扩散，全球变暖与贫困，种族屠杀与疾病等二十一世纪人类共同威胁的机遇。

今夜，艾奥瓦的选择让我们距离这样一个美国又近了一步。

在此我特别要感谢选举的组织者和选区负责人、志愿者和我的竞选团队，没有你们就没有这一切。同时，我要感谢我的妻子米歇尔·奥巴马，她是全家的坚实后盾，竞选旅途她陪我一路走来。

你们这样做并非因为我，我知道。我们胸中都有一个坚定的信念，改变的道路虽然崎岖艰险，但深爱着这个国家的人民必将为它殚精竭虑。此时此刻，我之所以能站在这里，是因为芝加哥的大街小巷闪动着你们的身影，是因为艾奥瓦州的每一寸土地都渗透着你们的辛勤付出。为了人们的生活能有一丝改变，你们不吝百倍努力。即便通宵达旦、薪酬微薄，你们仍旧全身心地付出。

虽然也曾有过失望，但那仅仅只是暂时，雨过天晴之后是这样美好的夜晚。当我们多年以后最终实现改变，当每个家庭不再因为健康没有保障而犯愁，当我们的孩子在一个更美好的环境中尽情嬉戏，当整个世界对团结一心的美国刮目相看时，请回望这个夜晚。你们将会为自己曾经做出的选择感到骄傲，你们将自豪地说，梦想始于今晚!

今晚，无畏的希望越过华盛顿的高墙。今晚，不同年龄、不同党派的人们聚集在一起，长久以来的隔阂最终烟消云散。那些对政治失望已久的人们第一次走向投票站，为这个国家承担自己作为公民的责任。今晚，曾让我们四分五裂的恐惧、疑虑和犬儒主义政治终于被击败。期待已久的一刻终于来到。数年以后回望今晚，回忆此时此景，我们会更了解它对希望的意义。

几个月以来，我们饱受挖苦和嘲讽，因为我们谈论希望。希望不是盲目的乐观主义，不是对未来的困难轻描淡写，不是对可能出现的艰难险阻视若无睹，更不是袖手旁观、畏首畏尾。尽管常常事与愿违，但希望永远是我们心中的信仰，只要我们敢于寻找，希望就总在不远的前方。

我在一个来自锡达拉匹兹市的年轻女士眼中看到了希望：她白天在学校读书，晚上加班挣钱，虽然仍然不能负担妹妹的医疗费，但她没有对这个国家失去信心，她仍相信自己的梦想终将实现。我从一个来自新罕布什尔州妇女的话语中听到了希望：她说自从侄儿被派往伊拉克战场之后她就一直惴惴不安，于是夜夜祈祷，希望他能平安归来。

希望曾带领殖民地人民奋起反抗帝国暴行;希望曾带领我们的伟大先辈解放了一个大陆，救活了一个国家;希望让青年男女为了自由的事业手挽手勇敢面对高压水柱，穿越塞尔玛直至蒙哥马利。希望让我今天站在这里——他的父亲来自肯尼亚、母亲来自堪萨斯，这样的故事只可能发生在美利坚的土地上。希望是这个国家的基石和信仰，我们的命运不受别人掌握，而是在我们脚下，在那些不甘受这个世界摆布的人手中，在那些立志改变世界的人心中!

从艾奥瓦我们燃起希望，希望将从这里传向新罕布什尔，传向更远的地方。经历等于浮沉，我们手中紧握希望;一砖一瓦、一石一垒，我们用粗糙的双手一起搭建希望，所谓平凡者亦不平凡。这个国家不应有党派隔阂，不应有红蓝之分，因为我们是美利坚合众国。“纵有万千之众，我等实为一体”，此情此境之下，我们愿意再次相信这句话。谢谢你，艾奥瓦!

精彩语录

We are choosing hope over fear. We’re choosing unity over division, and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.

我们用希望对抗恐惧，用联合对抗分裂，我们用有力的声音向所有人宣布，美利坚革旧维新之日已至!

You said the time has come to tell the lobbyists who think their money and their influence speak louder than our voices that they don’t own this government, we do; and we are here to take it back.

你们用强有力的声音告诉那些自以为能用金钱和权势压制人民意愿的说客：“你们不配做我们的政府，我们才是国家的主人!我们来，为我们自己的政府而来!”

You did this—you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas—that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.

我们胸中都有一个坚定的信念，改变的道路虽然崎岖艰险，但深爱着这个国家的人民必将为它殚精竭虑。

When we’ve made the changes we believe in; when more families can afford to see a doctor; when our children—when Malia and Sasha and your children-inherit a planet that’s a little cleaner and safer; when the world sees America differently, and America sees itself as a nation less divided and more united; you’ll be able to look back with pride and say that this was the moment when it all began.

当我们多年以后最终实现改变，当每个家庭不再因为健康没有保障而犯愁，当我们的孩子在一个更美好的环境中尽情嬉戏，当整个世界对团结一心的美国刮目相看时，请回望这个夜晚。你们将会为自己曾经做出的选择感到骄傲，你们将自豪地说，梦想始于今晚!

Hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.

希望不是盲目的乐观主义，不是对未来的困难轻描淡写，不是对可能出现的艰难险阻视若无睹，更不是袖手旁观、畏首畏尾。尽管常常事与愿违，但希望永远是我们心中的信仰，只要我们敢于寻找，希望就总在不远的前方。

Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

希望是这个国家的基石和信仰，我们的命运不受别人掌握，而是在我们脚下，在那些不甘受这个世界摆布的人手中，在那些立志改变世界的人心中!

When we were up and when we were down; the one that can change this country brick by brick, block by block, calloused hand by calloused hand—that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things; because we are not a collection of Red States and Blue States, we are the United States of America; and at this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again.

经历风雨沉浮，我们手中紧握希望。一砖一瓦、一石一垒，我们用粗糙的双手一起搭建希望，所谓平凡者亦不平凡。这个国家不应有党派隔阂，不应有红蓝之分，因为我们是美利坚合众国。“纵有万千之众，我等实为一体”，此情此境之下，我们愿意再次相信这句话。