Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:37 pm
For all of the President Obama supporters who are already mourning the eventual end of his second term, the President addressed a packed St. Regis hotel ballroom Monday afternoon and promised OFA supporters that while he is only going to hold office for another 14 months, he’s not going anywhere.
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President Obama went through the laundry list of unfinished business after he touted a few of the major successes Democrats have accomplished under his guidance, pointing out that this is where the audience comes in. “That’s why your organizing skills are more important than ever. We’ve still got to keep rebuilding an economy that rewards hard work, and gives everybody — not just those at the top — a shot at success.”
“None of this unfinished business will be completed in the next 14, 15 months,” the President told his supporters. “It’s not going to be completed within my presidency, or the next, or the presidency after that. But that’s the thing about America — the task of perfecting our union is never complete.”
“But, OFA, understand this: I may only hold this office for another 14 months, but I’m not going anywhere.”
The room really liked that judging from the applause.
“I am — I will still hold the most important office in our democracy, and that’s the office of citizen. And the only that’s going to be happening is, is that I’ll get a chance to visit you more often because I won’t have — it won’t be such a hassle for me to move around.”
“The point is, when I ran for this office, I did not say, ‘Yes, I can. Just leave it to me.’ What did I say?”
The audience yelled back, “Yes, we can!”
The President reiterated, “Yes, we can.”
As Obama has been telling us during his entire time in the White House, the real power is with the people. When they are active and engaged, our democracy works better.
The President knows that he has a group of devoted supporters who find themselves energized by his leadership. So he reminded them, “Our unfinished business does not depend solely on me, or on a member of Congress, or the next President we elect. It depends on all of us — what we, the people, can do together.”
President Obama and OFA will be around to keep helping move this country forward, even after he finishes his second term. I don’t know about you, but those are soothing words as I prepare for another Republican debate in which the two leading contenders are Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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