Det här berör mig. För här visar USA:s president Barack Obama sig mänsklig. Det är med det avskalade, lätt tillbakadragna anslaget i hans anförande som nyanserna i de stora orden kommer fram. Det är hans val av berättelser och hans underdrifter (litoteser) som driver talet framåt och som får oss att både skratta och gråta.
Inledningsvis får vi höra ”When I was you age”. Här knyter han an till sin målgrupp genom identifikation. Han bekräftar sedan deras val att lägga tid, kraft och engagemang på hans kampanj.
… when I was your age—and I first moved to Chicago at the age of 25, and I had this big inkling about making a difference; I didn’t really know how to do it. I didn’t have a structure, and there wasn’t a, a presidential campaign at the time that I could attach myself to—Ronald Reagan had just been reelected and was incredibly popular …
Ganska snabbt byter han fokus från sig själv till de som står och lyssnar.
… And so when I come here, and I look at all of you, what comes to mind is—it’s not that you guys actually remind me of myself; it’s the fact that you are so much better than I was. In so many ways: You’re smarter, and you’re better organized, and, you’re more effective.
And so I’m absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives. And, you know, what Bobby Kennedy called the ripples of hope, that come out when you throw a stone in a lake, that’s gonna be you! You know, I’m just looking around the room and I’m thinking wherever you guys end up, in whatever states, in whatever capacities, whether you’re in the private sector, the not-for-profit, or if some of you decide to go into public service, you’re just gonna do great things!
Avsändare är fortfarande USA:s president. Målgruppen är de som arbetat för honom på huvudkontoret. Sammanhanget är dagen efter valet. Snacka om att göra allt rätt. Just innan jag publicerar detta har filmen fått över 8,6 miljoner tittare. Men det stannar inte där. Han talar om alla som har engagerat sig i valet, om alla som jobbat hårt för vad de tror på. Jag blir rörd på så många sätt av detta tal. Och talskrivaren tänker inte analysera det retoriskt mer än så.
Inspireras Camilla som nedan publicerar hela talet med hopp om att det inspirerar även dig.
I’m really proud of you.
You know, I try to picture myself, when I was your age—and I first moved to Chicago at the age of 25, and I had this big inkling about making a difference; I didn’t really know how to do it. I didn’t have a structure, and there wasn’t a, a presidential campaign at the time that I could attach myself to—Ronald Reagan had just been reelected and was incredibly popular …
So, I came to Chicago, knowing that somehow I wanted to make sure that my life attached itself to helping kids get a great education, or helping people who were living in poverty to get decent jobs and be able to work and have dignity, to make sure that people didn’t have to go to the emergency room to get healthcare. And I ended up being a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago—a group of churches were willing to hire me—and I didn’t know at all what I was doing.
And, you know, the work that I did in those communities changed me much more than I changed the communities, because it taught me the hopes and aspirations and the grit and the resilience of ordinary people, and it taught me the fact that, under the surface differences, we all have common hopes and we all have common dreams.
And it taught me something about how I handled disappointment, and what it meant to work hard on a common endeavor. And I grew up—I became a man during that process.
And so when I come here, and I look at all of you, uh, what comes to mind is—it’s not that you guys actually remind me of myself; it’s the fact that you are so much better than I was. In so many ways: You’re smarter, and you’re better organized, and, you’re more effective.
And so I’m absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives. And, you know, what Bobby Kennedy called the ripples of hope, that come out when you throw a stone in a lake, that’s gonna be you! You know, I’m just looking around the room and I’m thinking wherever you guys end up, in whatever states, in whatever capacities, whether you’re in the private sector, the not-for-profit, or if some of you decide to go into public service, you’re just gonna do great things!
And that’s why, even before last night’s results, I felt that the work that I had done, in running for office, had come full circle. Because what you guys have done means that the work that I’m doing is important. And I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of all of you. And what you guys—what you guys have accomplished will go on in the annals of history, and people will read about it, and they’ll marvel about it, but the most important thing you need to know is that your journey’s just beginning. You’re just starting. And whatever good we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys end up accomplishing for years and years to come.
And that’s been my source of hope. That’s why, during the last four years when people asked me about, you know, how do you put up with this or that and the frustrations of Washington, you know, I just think about you. I think about what you guys are gonna do. And that’s the source of my hope. That’s the source of my strength and my inspiration. And I know that, I know that you guys won’t disappoint me, because I’ve already seen who you guys are, and you all are just remarkable people. And you’ve lifted me up, each and every step of the way.
All right, thank you, guys.