Barack Obama | It's time for change

This is a defining moment. At a time when our nation is at war and our American dream is slipping away, we cannot settle for the status quo.

Pennsylvania is a state that embodies America's founding promise that we can always come together to seek a more perfect union. In this election, Pennsylvania can stand for change.

I have spent over two decades working for change from the bottom up. I fought for jobs as an organizer on the streets of Chicago when the local steel plant closed. I stood up as a civil-rights lawyer for people who were denied opportunity at work or justice at the voting booth. I reduced the influence of money in politics, expanded health care to hundreds of thousands of families and gave a tax cut to working people as a State Senator. I opposed this war in Iraq from the beginning, and when I got to Washington I stood up to the special interests to help pass the most far-reaching ethics reform since Watergate.

I chose to run for president because I believed that the size of our challenges had outgrown the capacity of our broken politics to solve them. We cannot afford four more years of the same divisive fights in Washington that are more about scoring points than solving problems. We're not going to make progress if we continue to have a system driven by special interests and dominated by poll-tested positions. It's time to turn the page.

It's time to limit the power of Washington lobbyists and to restore fairness to our economy by giving a tax cut to working Americans, struggling homeowners and seniors. It's time to make health care affordable for all Americans. It's time to turn the page on over two decades of trade and economic policies that have favored Wall Street over Main Street, because that approach ends up hurting both. We need to create millions of new Green Jobs as we combat climate change,and invest in 21st century infrastructure that can put Americans to work, safeguard our security and connect our communities.

To pass on the American Dream, we also need to deliver on the promise of a world-class education.

I'll invest in universal, quality early childhood education, give our teachers more pay and support and make sure they're not just teaching to a test. And it's time to make sure that every American can afford a college education. Like many Americans, Michelle and I just recently finished paying down our school loans, and the cost of tuition has only been rising in recent years. That's why I'll give an annual $4,000 tuition tax credit to every American who needs a hand paying for school, provided they're willing to invest in their country through community service or national service.

Pennsylvania knows we need less tough talk and more sound judgment on national security. We can't afford the same politics of fear that tells Democrats that the only way to look tough is to talk, act and vote like Bush-McCain Republicans. When I am president, I will end a war in Iraq that I opposed from the start and give our troops and military families the support they have earned. I will finish the fight in Afghanistan, turn the page on the policy of not talking to leaders we don't like and reject the false choice between our security and our civil liberties.

In this election, it is time to stand for change. This has been our message since the beginning of this campaign. It was our message when we were down; it was our message when we were up; and it's the message that we have carried across Pennsylvania. Because the American people are ready to move past the division and distraction in Washington; we are ready to rally behind a common purpose, a higher purpose. That's why we've brought in young people and new voters, inspired record turnout and built a coalition of Democrats, Independents and Republicans that stretches across regions, races and religions.

Now, the choice in this primary is clear. I didn't vote for this war in Iraq, and you can trust that I'll end it as President. I don't defend a system where lobbyists fund campaigns, because I haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists. I don't want to refight the battles of the 1990s, because I want to end the deadlock in Washington.

This election, at this moment, is about the past versus the future.

What better place than Pennsylvania, a birthplace of our union, to choose tomorrow? Here, in a state that is so rich in history, we can turn the page on the old racial divides that have plagued our politics.

Here, in a state that stands for what's possible in America, we can choose to take this country in a new direction.

And here, in a state where Democrats like Bob Casey have shown how to build a broad coalition, you can join a campaign for change that stretches across Red States and Blue States.

If you vote for me on April 22, you can choose a politics of possibility over the politics of the past.

You can send the cynics who say that we can't make this change a message that the next chapter in American history will start with three simple words that sum up the spirit of this state and our nation: Yes we can.

Barack Obama is a Senator from Illinois and a Democratic candidate for President. This is part three in a four-part series. On Monday, we had a piece by Senator John McCain. On Tuesday, we had a piece by Senator Hillary Clinton. And on Thursday, we released our endorsements for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees for the April 22nd Pennsylvania Primary.

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