The poetics and the politics

All of us (are) driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do – that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be… It’s what (Barack) did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe. It’s what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.

HILLARY CLINTON

If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they’re shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going.If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But we don’t need four more years of the last eight years. More economic stagnation and less affordable health care. More high gas prices and less alternative energy. The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock and our government in partisan gridlock. The biggest deficit in our nation’s history.

Money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis. Putin and Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

JOE BIDEN

For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honouring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: “The vice president’s office is on the phone.”

In the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. When John McCain proposes $200 billion in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that’s not change; that’s more of the same. He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

BILL CLINTON

Barack Obama is on the right side of history. His life is a 21st Century incarnation of the American Dream. His achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward the “more perfect union” of our founders’ dreams.

Look at the example the Republicans have set: American workers have given us consistently rising productivity. They’ve worked harder and produced more. What did they get in return? Declining wages, less than 1/4 as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s.

BARACK OBAMA

I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you. You have shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America. I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. I will cut taxes – for 95 per cent of all working families. And I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.