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Obama vows to forge ahead
09/01/2008 09:15 - (SA)
Nashua, New Hampshire - Flashing his confident smile, Barack Obama took defeat in New Hampshire in his stride and vowed to forge ahead in his bid to be America's first black president.
"We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change," he told cheering supporters on Tuesday night.
As the 2008 White House heats up, Obama found himself in a tough fight for the Democratic nomination after he finished second in New Hampshire even though opinion polls had given him a double-digit lead over rival Hillary Clinton.
But with his stunning win in Iowa last week when he beat Clinton into third place, Obama has emerged as the first African-American to have a serious chance of winning the presidency.
'We want change'
His promise of change is proving a powerful draw to voters, particularly the young and independents, who are flocking to his rallies, and he has put the more seasoned Clinton on notice that she can take nothing for granted.
"Yes we can," he told supporters late on Tuesday as they chanted "we want change".
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes, we can," he said.
"It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights. Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westwards against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes, we can.
"It was the call of workers who organised, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier and a king who took us to the mountain top and pointed the way to the promised land. Yes, we can, to justice and equality!"
The 46-year-old, with only two years under his belt in Congress, has had a meteoric rise to the top of US politics, built on dazzling rhetorical skills, a blazing charisma and his winning smile.
The son of a black Kenyan father and white American mother, Obama exploded onto the scene with a stunning speech at the Democratic national convention in 2004.
It drew immediate comparisons with civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr., and Democratic icons John and Robert Kennedy.
Since then, he has developed his mantra of hope and change, and portrayed Clinton as a symbol of a fractured, political system in desperate need of renewal.
- AFP
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