American President Barack Obama, born in 1961, became the American presidential candidate of the Democratic Party on June 3, 2008. ‘The black Kennedy’, as the former senator is also called because of his charisma, successfully competed against party colleague Hillary Clinton and the Republican John McCain. Obama managed to distinguish himself – also as president – on the political stage, with his performance often characterized by striking, famous or comic quotes.
Change? Yes we can!
In his victory speech, after defeating John McCain in early November 2008, Barack Obama said the following words:
- ,Change has come to America. […] The road ahead will be long. […] 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,.
,There is no…,
Barack Obama’s best-known, typical statement is undoubtedly the ‘unifying’ message that he presented to his audience in 2004, as a speaker at the National Democratic Convention. This concerns the following quote:
- ,There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America – there’s the United States of America,.
In American political culture, the term ‘liberal’ mainly corresponds to what we designate by the word ‘left’. However, the term bears less similarity to the political-economic liberalism we are familiar with.
Iraq war
Barack Obama is known as a strong critic of the war in Iraq, although he generally does not shy away from military action (for example in Afghanistan). The following statement is characteristic of Obama’s critical attitude towards the Iraq issue:
- ,I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war,.
Sustainability and environment
Barack Obama, like fellow party member Al Gore, is an advocate of a sustainable economy with an eye to the environment. With an eye for drama, Obama said the following words during a meeting in Berlin in 2008:
- “This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands.”
Religion and weapons
A controversial statement by Barack Obama about the frustration of some groups of voters:
- ,It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,.
Abortion
Commenting on the choice between pro-choice (abortion) and pro-life (Christian position), Obama stated:
- ,No one is pro-abortion,.
Comic slips of the tongue
Obama, like almost every politician, has misspoken several times. Particularly in the battle for the American presidency, slips of the tongue and incorrect statements are widely reported, preserving them for posterity forever. I don’t want to withhold the following quotes from you:
‘Socialism’
Perhaps not an obvious slip of the tongue, but Obama’s following statement was certainly unfortunate:
- ,I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody,.
This statement was used by Republicans during the 2008 presidential election campaign to demonstrate Obama’s alleged ,socialism.,
Joe Biden is..?
Obama, in August 2008, made a mistake about the position of his running mate and candidate for the vice presidency:
- “Let me introduce to you the next President — the next Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.”
Waffle, hmm…
The following quote was Obama’s response when he was asked a question about international issues during a dinner:
- ,Why can’t I just finish my waffle?,
There’s no sunshine…
When Barack Obama was campaigning in Sunrise, Florida, he greeted attendees with:
- ,How’s it going, Sunshine?,
US expansion imminent?
While campaigning in Beaverton, Oregon, Obama said the following:
- ,I’ve now been in 57 states — I think one left to go.,
Unfortunately, the United States, the country that Obama is trying to become president of, only consists of 50 states.