If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you know I’m a fan of the President, and that I think very highly of him. I’ve watched a few speeches by him, seen him address politicians and regular people. I’ve heard him sing, I’ve heard him laugh. I’ve watched him do well and do poorly in debates. I’ve seen him be a leader and a husband and father to Michelle Obama and Sasha and Malia Obama. I been to see him speak live during both his campaigns, and I had the distinct honor of voting for him this past election. I even danced Gangnam Style with some friends of mine when we found out he won the election.
Yet this video here is the best speech I’ve seen him give yet. Obama speaks to some of the organizers for his campaign–most of them young, fresh out of college, on their way to amazing things–and he thanks them from the bottom of his heart. He tells how they look up to him as an example, yet when he was their age, he didn’t have a clue what he was doing, even though he was supposed to be trying to help organize churches on Chicago’s South Side to better the community. And about four minutes in, President Obama starts tearing up, telling the crowd how proud he is of his organizers and thanking them for sticking with him.
It truly is a moving speech, but it teaches us something important: great leaders are only as great as the people willing to follow him. I think we see how these youths are the essence of the Obama campagin, and how, even if they were drawn to the man himself by his charisma, intellect, and leadership, they are the ones who put him back in the White House. And the President is aware of this fact, and shows his gratitude to them.
It is the best speech I’ve seen any politician give, and I’ll be hard-pressed to find one I’ll like better in the future. Thank you, Mr. President.
Rami Ungar The Writer 