in this together. i thought we were supposed to move this country forward together. so my question to these folks, sara palin, glenn beck and all those other folks, my question is this. who are the we they are talking about? take it back from whom? and how far back do you want to go? we saw what happened when they were in charge. george w. bush and karl rove and the republicans in washington took our nation backwards once before, and we cannot let them do it again. you see, they took us from record budget surpluses to record budget deficits. they took us from the greatest period of economic prosperity in this country's history to one of the worst recessions in american history.

but carl rove is back and he has brought millions in secret money, special interest money from undisclosed donors and undisclosed amounts to try and drown out the voices of ordinary illinoisens. karl rove and his minions have spent more money in illinois on vicious false attack ads. this is a fact. than in any other state in the country. and every dime, every dime of this unlimited, unreported secret money from secret donors has been spent to trash democrats. every single dime of it. but here's what they don't want you to know. karl rove and his gang of special interests aren't just trying to convince the people in the middle to vote their way with these lies and the attacks. you see, they are trying to make democrats stay home. they are trying to discourage

you from coming out and exercising your rights. they want you to stay home and give them the chance to take us back. so tell me this, chicago. are you going to let karl rove keep you home on tuesday? >> gounge to let millions of dollars of special interest money keep you home on tuesday? are you going to let a tidal wave of negative ads and lies keep you home on tuesday? that's right. let's let illinois voices determine this election, not out-of-state special interests. so let me ask you one last question. will we, can we, join president obama to move this great country forward? [cheers and applause] yes, we can. yes, we can. yes, we can. yes, we can. god bless you all.

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ladies and gentlemen, to introduce the president, please welcome our governor and a great leader of illinois, governor pat quinn. ♪ ♪

>> my name is pat quinn. i'm is the governor of

illinois. now, are you ready to vote? are you fired up and ready to go? you know, illinois, we believe in government of the people, and by the people, and for the people. it shall not pairish from this earth. and what do people do best? they vote in election. that's what it's all about this tuesday. we want to make sure that everybody in our society gets a chance to really have a say so. and that's why this election on tuesday is so important. because in 2008, we changed the guard in america and in 2010 we're going to guard the change to our country. now, yesterday, yesterday in our state of illinois we buried a very special person, bishop arthur brazer, 89 years old arks great man. and hebled in voting. if you don't vote, you don't

have a voice in democracy. and those of us who gathered at that funeral i think bishop brazer would want us on tuesday and every election day to exercise our right to vote. it will make you big and strong if you vote. we believe in that in our country and our state. and i think it's especially important because when we're voting this tuesday, we're voting for jobs in america. we believe in our president. i want to tell you a story about our president. he came to illinois a couple weeks ago. he landed on a big airplane there, air force one in oh hair field. and i'm the governor of illinois and i have the honor to get to say hello to the president and greet him when he comes off the airplane. and i said, welcome home mr. president. thank you for what you're doing for all of us. you're working as hard as you can for decent health care, making sure that we have in our country consumer protection and definitely fighting hard for jobs.

and i said, i want to thank you because earlier this year in may our state of illinois, all of us, we got federal money to put people to work. that's what we believe in. and we put 26,000 people to work in our state of illinois, 26,000 people in private sector jobs, 5,000 different businesses participated. and on that day i thought it would be pretty porpt for the president to see first hand some of the people that he helped get a j-o-b. so i asked tiffany han beyond a reasonable doubt who owns good burgers. i know she is here somewhere. i wanted tiffany to be there at the airport. and i also wanted ok tavia jones who got a job because of president obama, a good job. she's working at good burger at

tiffany, and they were both at the airport. and after i shook happeds with the president, i said mr. president would you like to see two hard-working people from illinois who want to make our country go forward? and he said, yes, i do. so we went over, the president shook the hand of tiffany and oktavia and what do you do? you start hugging the president. right? and what do you do if you're the governor of illinois? well, what happened is ocketavia flew me her disposable camera and said take this picture. and that's what we've got to do is we've got to band together. we believe in grass roots democracy. our country wasn't built by people on top of the power heap apologizing on why the special interests should get all the breaks and the wealthy get all the special tax breaks. that isn't america. america is built by everyday people banding together not by

profit. that's why we elected our president, barack obama. that's why we're here today, to make sure that we keep that movement going, that hope going. in the scripture they talk about faith and hope and love. we've got to have faith in each other, we have to have hope. the president ran on hope and i have hope all the time. but i also know the president believes in love. love is patient, love is kind, and love never fails. that's what we believe in. [cheers and applause] and if you have any doubt of why you should vote on tuesday, i want to tell you about somebody who is all about love. he was a lance corporal in the united states marine. john sparks. he gave his life for us. i was with his mother a week or two ago, and it's pretty hard when you have to talk to a mom and she has to bury her son who stood up for our democracy. there is no words in the

english language or any language to relieve the pain of burying a real hero. and i think it's so important when people sometimes talk about democracy, we can't take it for granted. it's a god-given gift. it's all about voting. the people are the wunds who do the voting. so if you're thinking about voting on tuesday, i hope you remember that john sparks, lance corporal john sparks, united states marine, sempler if i, always faithful. we've had soldiers of our state and our country give their lives to make sure that we have a right to vote. that's why it's so important this tuesday that we vote our conscience. we know we have the issues, we know we have the president of the united states, we've got to have his back. we can't let those ankle biters in washington criticize our president unfairly. we've got to show the whole world that the people of illinois, the people of the home state of our president,

president barack obama, we know how to vote. we know how to flex our citizen muscles and we know how to make the will of the people the law ofert land. i think that's the way to go. ok. i think i've talked enough. what are we here for? are you ready to change america? [cheers and applause] are you ready to do what we did in grant park two years ago? are you ready to make the will of the people the law of the land? president president obama [cheers and applause]

>> hello, chicago.

[cheers and applause] it's good to be home. it is good to be home. thank you. i should mention to the national press that the weather is not always like this. in late october, early november. but it is a spectacular night, and you guys look beautiful. thank you so much. thank you. i want to make sure that everybody knows the outstanding elected officials who are here. first of all, the current governor and the next governor

of the great state of illinois, ed quinn is in the house. [cheers and applause] one of the finest mayors in the history of america, richard daily is here. the senior center and great friend of mine from the great state of illinois, dick durbin is in the house. the junior senator who has saved the state for so many years, roland burriss is here. a couple of wonderful members of congress, jan shack ski and bobby rush are in the house. attorney general lisa mattingen

is here, secretary of state jesse light is here, the elderwoman. we're in chicago, you've got to talk about your elderwoman is in the house. democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and my great friend sheila simon is here. another wonderful friend for treasurer robin kelly. outstanding young public servant nominee for comp troler david miller. alderman and democratic nominee for the president and my elderwoman is here. i want to thank carmen for doing such a great job in the

opening. chicago boy. and treasure and soon to be senator from the great state of illinois. you say you're fired up and ready to go? how about you? are you fired up and ready to go? i can't think -- [chanting]

>> thank you. look, i can't think of anything better than being with a hometown crowd that is fired up. [cheers and applause] plus, i'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight. now, chicago, in three days you have the chance to set the direction of this state and this country for years to come. and just like you did in 2008, you can defy the conventional wisdom, the kind that says you can't overcome cynicism in politics, you can't overcome the special interests, you can't overcome the big money, you can't overcome all the

negativity, you can't overcome the big challenges any more. you can't elect a skinny guy with a funny name to the u.s. senate or the presidency. in three days you've got the chance to once gain say what? >> [chanting] there is no doubt that this is a tough election. it's tough here in illinois, it's tough all across the country. and the reason it's tough is because we've been through an incredibly difficult time of the nation. it doesn't just start a year arkse it didn't just start two years ago. for the last decade, for the last ten years the middle class has been getting a tough time. between 2001 and 2009, the

wages, the incomes of the average middle class family went down 5%. between 2001 and 2009, job growth was slower than any time since world war ii. so families were seeing their incomes go down even as their cost force health care, for college education, for groceries were all going up. folks, we're having to keep two, three, jobs just to keep up. meanwhile, too many jobs were disappearing overseas. and all this culminated in the worst financial crisis since the great depression and the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. the families that were already worried, already having a tough time, already having to skip going to the doctor because they didn't have insurance or

already saying to their kids maybe you can't go to college this year, they've got it even worse. we lost 4 million jobs in the six months before i took the otes of office. 750,000 the month i took the oath, 600,000 a month after that. 600 a month after that. we lost almost 8 million jobs before any of our economic policies had a chance to take effect. now, when i got to washington, my hope was that we could bring both parties together, that we could put politics aside to meet this once in a generation challenge. that was my hope because although we are proud to be democrats, we are prouder to be americans. [cheers and applause]

and i believeed then and i still believe now that there are a lot of republicans around the country who feel the same way and a lot of independents around the country who feel the same way. but the republican leaders in washington, they made a different decision. rather than role up their sleeves and get to worning, they all looked around and said, boy, we made a really big mess. we made such a big mess that it's going to take everything just to try to solve it and it may not be solved in a couple of years. so many folks have already lost their jobs. so many businesses have already closed. we might be better off jut sitting on the our hands, sitting on the sidelines, and just going after obama and saying no to everything single thing he proposes, and then maybe the democrats will get the blame when people get angry and frustrated for the lack of progress. in other words, the other side,

their political strategy was that all of you would get amnearbya. that was their strategy. they're betting that everybody around the country would forget who caused this mess in the first place. so chicago, it's up to you to let them know that we had not forgotten. we don't have acnearbya. it's up to you to remember that this election is a choice between the poll siss that got us into this meth and the polssizz that are starting to lead us out of this mess. if which ever side wins this election, the chatter of our republican -- chairman of the republican campaign committee promised the same exact agenda that we had before i took office. now, we know what that agenda was. we know what that agenda is.

they want to cut taxes, mostly for millionaires and billionaires. they want to cut the rules for special interests. they want to cut middle class families loose to fend for themselves. so if you're out of work, tough luck. you're on your own. if you don't have health insurance or your insurance company drops you when you get sick, too bad. you're on your own. you're a young person trying to make it to college but you don't have a lot of money. too bad. pull yourself up by your boot straps. you're on your own. it's the same agenda that turned record surpluses into record deficits, that allowed wall street to run wild that nearly destroyed our economy. so i bring this up. i want to just go down memory lane there for a moment.

not to reargue the past but because we don't want to relive the past. [cheers and applause] we've been there before. we've tried what they're selling and we're not buying it. we're not going back. [cheers and applause] around the country i've been trying to describe it this way. imagine the american economy as a car. and the republicans were at the wheel and they drove it into a ditch it's a steep ditch, it's a deep ditch. and somehow they walked away. but we had to go down there, me and all the democrats, we put on our boots and we rappelled down into the ditch. it's muggy down there and hot, we're sweating, pushing on the car.

peeper -- we called the republicans down there and said no we're not going to he. they're just sipping on a slurpee. they're saying you're not pushing the wrong way but they're just kind of kicking dirt down into the ditch. but that's ok. we know what our job is and we kept on pushing. we kept on pushing and we kept on pushing until finally we got that car on level ground. finally, we got the car back on the road. finally, we've got that car pointing in the right direction. and suddenly we have this tap on our shoulder and we look back and who is it? it's the republicans. and they're saying, excuse me, we'd like the keys back.

and we've got to say to them, i'm sorry, you can't have the keys back. you don't know how to drive. [cheers and applause] you don't know how to drive. you can ride with us, but we're driving. we're going to have the middle class sitting right beside us, because they're the folks that we're fighting for. look, because of the steps we've taken, we no longer face the possibility of a second depression. the economy is growing again. we've seen private sector job growth for nine months in a row. but we've still got a lock way to go. we've still got a lot of work to do. all across this state, from car

bobdale to eljib to quincy, to chicago, folks are hurting. there are too many folks without a job. some families are hanging on by a thread. that's what keeps me up at night. that's what keeps pat up at night. that's what keeps alexandriai up tonight. that's what keeps us fighting, because we know that we've still gt a long way to go. see, we've got a different idea about what the future should hold for families across illinois and across this country. and it's an idea rooted in our belief about how this country was built. you think about our storyiss. pat came from humble beginnings. aalexandriai from an immigrant family. me, you know my background. we didn't come to the same -- we didn't come to the scene with a silver spoon in our

mouth here. our families worked hard. and they knew that government doesn't have all the answers to our problems. we believe government has to be lean and efficient. we believe that free enterprise is the greatest engine for prosperity ever known to man. but in the words of the first republican president, abraham lincoln, we also believe that government should and must do for the people what they cannot do for themselves individually. we believe in america that we award hard work and responsibility for everybody and creates ladders of opportunity. we believe in a country where we look after one another. where we say i am my brother's keeper, i am my sister's keeper. that's the america we believe

in. that's the america we know. that's the choice in this election mofplt we believe in an america that invests in its future. and in its people. we believe in an america that's built to compete in the 21st century. we know that jobs and businesses of tomorrow will end up in the countries that have the best educational system. the best infrastructure. the strongest commitment to research and technology. i want that nation to be the united states of america. [cheers and applause] there's no reason why china should have the fa fastest railroadses or singapore have better airports. we're the nation that built the transcontinental railroad right through chicago. we're the nation that built the interstate highway system right through chicago.

today, we're seeing america put folks to work, thousands of people building new roads and railways and runways, because that's what america is about. we built an america where we built an infrastructure for the 21st century. doing the work that needs to be done. we see an america where we invest in home-grown innovation and injen newt. where we export goods, we don't just export goods. where we create jobs here at home. where we make it easier for somebody with a good idea to start a business or a paten on an invention. we don't want to keep on giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas. we want to give tax breaks to companies who are investing right here in illinois, across the midwest. all across america invethsing in small businesses and mrn manufacturers and clean energy companies. we don't want solar panels and

wind turbines and electric cars made in asia or in europe. we want them made here in america. by american workers. that's the choice in this election. [cheers and applause] we see an america where every citizen has the skills and the training the to compete with any worker in the world. we can't allow other countries to outpace us when it comes to math and science. and our college graduation rates, we used to be number one in college graduation rates, we used to be number one in math and science. now we're ninth, 21 math. that's not acceptable. and that's why we over the last two years made historic invest yts in education. that's why we set a goal by 2020 we are going to be number one again in the production of college graduates. and we don't just talk about

it. we put our money where our mouth was. and we stopped providing subsidies to the big banks and poured tens of billions of dollars into student loans. and pell grants. to make college more affordable for students all across this country. millions of young people are seeing college more affordable because of the actions we took. and now we've got the other side saying that to pay for a $700 billion tax cut that would go to the top 2%, the wealthiest 2%, they want to cut education by 20%. that makes no sense. it makes no sense. do you think china is cutting

back education spending? do you think germany is cutting back education spending? those countries aren't playing for second place. and we don't play for second place. we play for first place. that's what this election is all about. that's why we have to continue to provide a assistance to young people going to college. that's why we have to renew the tax credit we've instituted $ 10,000 per young person who is going to college for four years, so that they're not loaded down with a mountain of debt. and they can aspire to anything that their imagination leads them to. that's what this election is about. but this election is also about not leaving a mountain of debt for the next generation. the other side talks a good game about deficits, except you

will recall that the last time they were in charge that they took record surpluses from a democratic president and left record deficits that i inherited. and so when we made decisions about deficits, we're not going to do it on the shoulders, on the backs of students or seniors or veterans or the vulnerable. we're going to make sure that we do it in a sensible way. that shares sacrifices. we're going to go after those deficits, but we're going to do it in a way that's fair and reflects the need to grow this economy over the long term. and that's what this election is about. and this election is making sure that we don't turn the keys back to the special interests in washington. you know, when we passed health care reform let me tell you something. [cheers and applause] we did that we did that because

all across this country there were hard-working folks who paid their insurance premiums and then suddenly found insurance companies dropping them when they got sick. or folks who were working hard and wanted to get insurance but had a preexisting condition and couldn't get it. and so we said anybody in america, anybody in america who is working hard, who is doing the right thing, they shouldn't go bankrupt when they get sick. and so we passed the law that made sure that insurance companies could no longer drop you when you got sick. we pass add law that said everybody under the age of 26 could stay on their parents health insurance. we pass add law to make sure that 30 million folks can get

affordable accessible insurance. and we di it in a way that reduce our deficit by over $1 trillion. and now, the other side said they want to role that back. the same thing is true for financial reform. we just went through the worst crisis since the 1930s. and so we passed a bill that says you can't be cheated by your credit card company. they can't jack up your rates for no reason. so we're not going to have taxpayer bailouts again. and they said their number one priority, they want to role this back. so, look, we've got a lot of work to do. not only to move the country forward but to make sure that the progress we've made continues. and we need to work together. democrats and republicans. to get it done. but i've got to tell you, the other side right now, they're feeling kind of cocky.

and they don't see it that way. the republican leader of the house says that, quote, this is not a time for compromise. the republican leader of the senate said that his main goal over the next two years, his number one priority is to beat me in the next election. keep in mind. he didn't say his number one priority was to put more people back to work, help more small businesses succeed, or to reduce the deficit. his top priority was to win the next election. we haven't even finished this election yet. but that's the kind of cynicism we're fighting. that's the kind of politics that we decided to change in this country. the kind of politics that puts scoring points ahead of solving problems. and that's where you come in. and i want to speak not just to chicago.

i want to speak to everybody in illinois. the only way to fight this cynicism, the only way to match the millions of dollars of special interest money, all that money that's being poured in as attack ads against lexi, against pat, the only way to do is it with your voices, the millions of voices who are ready to finish what we started in 2008. we need you to get out and vote. but we need you more than that. we need you to work to help get everybody out to vote. because if everybody who fought for change in 2008 shows up in 2010, we will win this election. and you know, a lot of you got involved in 2008 because ubbled

we were the -- you bleed we were the defining moment in history. a lot of you believed that this was the time about the decisions we made, about the challenges we faced wouldn't just affect us. they would affect our children and grand children and great grand children. that's why you knocked on those doors, that's why you made those phone calls. that's why you cast in some cases for the vrts first time because you knew what was at stake. and now, two years later, i know some of the excitement that we had, that fades away. some of the excitement of inauguration day beyonce was singing and bono was up there and everybody was feeling good, i know that good feeling starts slipping away. and you talk to your friends who are out of work, you see somebody lose their home and gets discouraged. and then you see all these tv

ads and all the talking heads on tv and everything just feels negative. and maybe some of you, maybe you stop believing. maybe you lose faith. but i want everybody here to understand, don't let anybody tell you that this fight hasn't been worth it. don't let them tell you that you haven't already made a difference. because of you there's a woman somewhere in illinois who doesn't have to choose between losing her home and treating her cancer. because of you, someone here in illinois, there's a parent who can look their child in the eye and say you are going to go to college. because of you, somewhere in illinois there's a small business owner who is able to keep their doors open and keep all the families that were support bid jobs or that

business keep that company going. because of you, somewhere in illinois there is anl outstanding veteran, one of the hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who are no longer at war in iraq because of you. so don't let folks tell you that change isn't possible. don't let them get you down. i know things are hard sometimes, but this country was founded on hard. this country was started, 13 colonies, who folks said didn't have a chance against the british empire. and then they drafted the document with ideas that had never been tried before. we hold these truths to be self-evident. that all men are created equal.

and now, by -- endowed by their creator with certain unalianable rights. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. [cheers and applause] but even after they drafted those documents, it was still hard. and we had to abolish slavery and we had to win women the right to vote and we had to win workers the right to organize. we had to battle through depression and the war against fashism and the divisions in our own country to perfect this union. and we haven't gotten there yet, but at every stage we've made progress because somebody stood up. and when one person stood up, then suddenly ten people stood up. and then maybe a thousand people stood up.

and then maybe 100,000 stood up. and then maybe 1 million stood up. that's what happens with change. it's infecksshs. and that's the spirit we need today. you know, in the introductions i think some people mentioned a dear friend of mine who passed this past weekend, bishop brazer out a church right down the street. michelle and i used to go to church there sometimes. and here is somebody who knew me when i was a young lawyer, had just moved to chicago. and i remember, when i was making the decision to run for president, i called him and i said you know, bishop, i'm really not sure this is possible. i don't know if i'm going to

make it. but i think it's worth trying. and he says, i don't know what god has in store for you, barack. but he did say you won't know either unless you try. and that idea is what has motivated so many people across the decades. that idea is the quintessentially american idea. that this journey is never easy , but we've got to try. and the journey we began together two years ago was not about putting me in the white house. it was about building a movement for change that endures. it is about realizing that, in

the united states of america, anything is possible pfplt if we're willing to work for it, if we're willing to fight for it, if we're willing to believe in it. so, chicago, i need you to keep on fighting. illinois, i need you to keep on believing. i need you to knock on some doors. i need you to talk to your neighbors. i need you to get out and vote in this election. because if you do, if you're willing to step up, if you're willing to try, we won't just win this election. pat won't just win this election. lexi won't just win this election. but we will restore our economy, we will rebuild the middle class, and we will reclaim the american dream for another generation and generations to come. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

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