The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
I can assure you it is not. The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores - that includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy incomes and education that are higher than average.
The questions I had didn't magically disappear. We will all have to make concessions to achieve this. I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11.
But I also get the sense that there's a hunger that's deeper than that - a hunger that goes beyond any single cause or issue. And when these battles were overtaken by others and when the wars they opposed were waged and won, these faithful foot soldiers for justice kept marching. To the Joshua generation, these challenges seem momentous - and they are. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding.
Last time we took up immigration reform, it failed. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. It will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude and resolve.
My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Because I've lived it. We also know that military power alone is not going to solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
God bless you.