uch beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger， something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that s to be expected. Because if you don t have any fresh ideas， then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don t have a record to run on， then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what it s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn t work， all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again， then it s best to stop hoping， and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don t fit the typical pedigree， and I haven t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay？sayers don t understand is that this election has never been about me. It s been about you.

For eighteen long months， you have stood up， one by one， and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election， the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us that at defining moments like this one， the change we need doesn t come from Washington.