Barack H. Obama Speech at 2004 Democratic National convention.

July 27, 2204

Barack H. Obama Speech at 2004 Democratic National Convention. July 27, 2004
This text is a speech of Barack Obama, so we can easily classify it as a political and narrative historical text. It was delivered on July 27, 2004, in the Democratic National Convention which is held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. This convention has two purposes, on the one hand, the primary goal is to nominate and confirm a candidate for President and VicePresident of the United States and on the other, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party. That year the Democratic candidates were John Kerry for President and John Edwards as running mate. Barack Obama was born in 1961in Honolulu (Hawaii). He is the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black immigrant from Kenya. Barack Obama has to a certain extent been marked by biracial origin. In fact, the appeals to his origin have been continuous both in this speech and in others. Nonetheless, he was always a good student and soon became a good political scientist and a doctor in law. In 2004 his name appeared in the lists as a candidate for senator of the Illinois State. At that time, most people out of the Illinois State didnt know Barack Obama. It was precisely this speech, in which he supported John Kerry as candidate for the Presidency, which made Barack Obama known. This address wasnt indifferent to the Democratic people because of his rhetoric, which was and continues being Barack Obamas better arm. The first words that he pronounces are words of thanks to people for being there and specially to Dick Durbin to whom he devote these words: You make us all proud. Dick Durbin is a United States Senator from Illinois since January 3, 1997 and he was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama when Obama was the junior senator from Illinois. Thus, there isnt surprise in these words to Durbin. Next, he speak about the gratitude he feel for addressing that convention since, as he himself admit, it is pretty unlikely. We know that he is the first black president of the United States, a dream nearly impossible to think a few years ago. Slavery was in force until the end of the 19th century which was abolish when Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States. In addition, black
Cristina Gonzlez Angs

Barack H. Obama Speech at 2004 Democratic National convention. July 27, 2204

people have had to struggle and work consistently throughout the years to achieve the same rights than white people had. A struggle that hasnt been easy and Barack Obama know it. He speaks about his origin, his grandparents jobs and the ideals and dreams that his family had for him. He is enormously thankful for the assortment of his heritage and he believes that his parents dreams still live on in his two precious daughters. He knows how to make the most of his origins, he knows that people are waiting a change, people want a change, and he shows us his story as an example of it, an example of change, an example of struggle to achieve that change. So far, Obamas words have been an introduction, a backdrop of his speech and from now on, he leads his speech to different lines. He begins mentioning the Declaration of Independence written by Jefferson in 1776. The most important words written in that document are a certain inalienable rights which, according Obama, are the base of the United States pride: the right to Life, the right to the Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and next to them, the belief that all men are created equal. This value of equality began with Jefferson in the eighteenth century, was redefined by Lincoln in the nineteenth to include blacks, and was made urgent by Martin Luther King in the twentieth century. Here, Obama calls for a reaffirmation of American values of equality and liberty, all the while indicating that such precepts have not been fulfilled, and that the country has not lived up to this creed displaying examples. His words People dont expect government to solve all their problems are repeated in two occasions. With these words Obama assumes the government can work in concert with other agents to achieve the general purpose. It is in this point of the speech when he names to John Kerry as the ideal candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. He states that John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and service because theyve defined his life. Obama lists the purposes of John Kerry as follow: jobs at home, health coverage for all Americans whatever the economic position of people, energy independence, Constitutional freedoms and caution as regards going to the war. This last point is very interesting because the president in that time was George W. Bush who became the 43th president of the United States in 2001. A year later, there were several terrorist attacks which changed not only the
Cristina Gonzlez Angs

Barack H. Obama Speech at 2004 Democratic National convention. July 27, 2204

international situation but also the domestic policy and the Bush presidency. In March 2003, without obtaining approval from United Nations, the United States went to war with Iraq, with Great Britain as its sole significant ally. Obama emphasizes the necessity of protecting not only people who serve America but also their families and he stresses the necessity to understand that when something happens to somebody although those people are neither my family, nor my friend or my neighbour, all of us must be concern. Obama summarizes this idea with these words: I am my brothers keeper. I am my sisters keeper that makes this country work. E pluribus unumi are the words included in the Seal of the United States and they are one of the nation's mottos at the time of the seal's creation. Obama uses these words to state that above all, there is only an America, the United States of America, not a variety of different Americas, with different people and different beliefs. All of them must pursue an only aim and all together can achieve this purpose. One of the most striking sections of the speech is devoted to a series of binary oppositions or thinking which hint at the geographical, racial, political and sexual differences in the United States and situates them in what they share in common. Lastly, in the last section of his speech, Obama speaks about hope. He names this word eleven times and finally he finishes saying that hope is Gods greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. Obama opens a path towards the change offering belief and opportunity, job and home without making distinctions. He appeal to Americans to vote in elections. To sum up, Barack Obama took the dais as the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention and told a classic American story of immigration, hope, effort and opportunity. Until then, Barack was an unknown out of Illinois and from them on he was catapulted into conversations about his partys future. Obamas rhetoric played a decisive role in his rise to prominence, focusing his rhetoric on his unique ethnic heritage.

Cristina Gonzlez Angs

Barack H. Obama Speech at 2004 Democratic National convention. July 27, 2204

BIBLIOGRAFA Arroyo Vzquez, M.L y Sagredo Santos, A. (2010). Anglofone worlds from a historical and cultural perspective: United States and other English speaking countries. Madrid: Editiroal Centro de Estudios Ramn Areces, S. A. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2008/09/internacional/elecciones_eeuu/candidatos/o bama/index.html http://change.gov/learn/presidentelect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Durbin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum

Cristina Gonzlez Angs

E Pluribus Unum included in the Seal of the United States, being one of the nation's mottos at the time of the seal's creation