i was never the likeliest candidate for this office. we didn't start with much money or many endorsements. our campaign was not hatched in the halls of washington - it began in the backyards of des moines and the living rooms of concord and the front porches of charleston.
it was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. it grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. this is your victory.
i know you didn't do this just to win an election and i know you didn't do it for me. you did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. for even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave americans waking up in the deserts of iraq and the mountains of afghanistan to risk their lives for us. there are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. there is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
the road ahead will be long. our climb will be steep. we may not get there in one year or even one term, but america - i have never been more hopeful than i am tonight that we will get there. i promise you - we as a people will get there.
there will be setbacks and false starts. there are many who won't agree with every decision or policy i make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. but i will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. i will listen to you, especially when we disagree. and above all, i will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in america for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
