President Obama: I Never Said Change Would Be Easy

While tens of thousands of health care reform protesters marched on Washington, President Obama spoke to supporters in Minneapolis, Minnesota Saturday in an attempt to fight the disinformation campaign vigorously waged by the health care industry and Republicans. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

“THE PRESIDENT: …Minnesota, we are closer to reform than we’ve ever been before, but this is the hard part. This is when the special interests and the insurance companies and the folks who think, you know, this is a good way to bring Obama down — (boos) — this is when they’re going to fight with everything they’ve got. This is when they’ll spread all kinds of wild rumors designed to scare and intimidate people. That’s why I need your help. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

THE PRESIDENT: You know, there have been — there have been some of the pundits in Washington who have been saying, well, maybe you’ve been trying to do too much.

AUDIENCE: No!

THE PRESIDENT: Maybe you’ve been pushing too far too fast.

AUDIENCE: No!

THE PRESIDENT: And I try to remind them, I said, listen, I never said change would be easy. (Applause.) Change is hard. It’s always been hard. When FDR — when FDR decided that Social Security was something that seniors needed — (applause) — when FDR decided — when FDR introduced Social Security, you know what happened? They called it socialism. But senior citizens decided that, you know what? If I’ve got some protection in my golden years, that’s something that’s worth fighting for. (Applause.) When Medicare — when Medicare was introduced as an idea, they said this is going to be a government takeover of Medicare. But imagine what seniors would be dealing with right now if they didn’t have Medicare. Every time we’ve made progress it’s because ordinary people banded together and they stood up and they said, we’ve got to make progress, and we’re going to push and we’re going to prod until Washington finally reacts, finally responds. (Applause.)

I’ve always believed — because I’ve always believed that change doesn’t come from the top down; it comes from the bottom up. It doesn’t start in Washington, D.C.; it begins in places like Minneapolis, it begins in places like St. Paul. (Applause.) It begins with you sharing your stories, fighting for something better. (Applause.) That’s how change happens. That’s what’s happening right now. (Applause.)”

Will President Obama’s rally help break the deadlock between Blue Dog Democrats and liberals regarding whether to include a public option plan in any health care reform legislation?

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