Barack Obama

Bush 대통령의 재선과 공화당의 압승으로 이번 선거는 마무리 되었지만 민주당의 “떠오르는 별” 로 불리우는 Barack Obama 가 미상원 의원에 초선으로 당선되었다. 지금 현재 유일의 흑인 상원의원이 된 Barack Obama 는 Kenya 에서 온 유학생의 아들로 1961 년 Hawaii 에서 태어났으며, 1988 년Harvard Law School 에 입학하여 미국 대통령이 되기보다 힘들다는Harvard Law Review 의 President 를 역임하였으며 이번 민주당 전당대회에서 기조연설 을 통하여 미국민에게 알려지기 시작하였다. 혹자는 Barack Obama 가 머지않아 미국 초유의 흑인 대통령이 될 것이라고 예상하고 있다. Barack Obama 의 민주당 전당대회 기조 연설문의 일부를 보면 민주주의의 아주 간단한 원리와 소박한 꿈이 잘 나타나 있다.

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody’s son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted—or at least, most of the time.

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!