President Obama to Netroots: “Change is hard. But we’ve shown that change is possible.”
As a presidential candidate in 2007, Barack Obama first spoke to the gathering of bloggers, organizers, and grassroots activists known as Netroots Nation during their annual conference in Chicago. Over the weekend, the President again addressed this year’s Netroots Nation in Las Vegas, this time with a video message. Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the crowd first and then introduced the President’s video:
The President emphasized that while for many—himself included—change hasn’t come fast enough, we have made great progress amidst challenging times. From passing health reform and Wall Street reform to working to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and wind down the war in Iraq, these are changes that are making our country into the kind of place we want it to be.
And with November’s elections only a few months away, the President asked everyone to keep up the fight so that we can continue to move forward:
“We’ve begun to deliver on the change you fought for — and we’re not done….
We’re moving America forward, and when we’ve come so far, we can’t afford to slide backward. That’s the choice America faces this November. Going back to failed policies that got us into this mess, or moving forward with policies that are leading us out….
“Keep making your voices heard, keep holding me accountable, keep up the fight. Change is hard. But if we’ve learned anything these past eighteen months, change is possible.”