"Hey, Joe"

From Barack Obama democraticparty@democrats.org
To Joe Albero alberobutzo@wmconnect.com

Joe --

Ten years ago today, I got to tell my story to the country at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Back then, I was just a state senator from the South Side of Chicago, running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate -- a guy with a funny name who no one had heard of.

Since then, a lot has changed. Our troops are coming home, we fought back from the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, and we extended health insurance for millions of Americans -- I guess we won a couple of pretty big elections, too.

But some fundamentals are as true now as they were then.

I still believe in the idea that we're all in this together. I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper, and that is what makes this country work.

I still believe that the politics of hope will trump the politics of cynicism -- because cynics didn't put a man on the moon, cynics didn't march on Washington to demand full citizenship for all Americans, and cynics have never cured a disease, started a business, or passed the New Deal.

We've shown that if we work together, we can move this country forward. I still believe that if we join together, we can make sure that all Americans have a road to opportunity -- no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they come from.

But we need people in Congress who share that belief, Joe. We need people who believe in something more than cynicism, gridlock, and dysfunction -- and we've got exactly 100 days left to work to elect people like that.

Thanks,

Barack Obama