By so many measures our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was eight years ago. We know the progress we’ve made, despite the forces of opposition, despite the forces of discrimination, despite the politics of backlash. That doesn’t stop with my presidency. We’re just getting started. That’s why I’m still fired up. That’s why I’m still ready to go. So, if I hear anybody saying their vote does not matter, that it doesn’t matter who we elect, read up on your history, it matters. We’ve gotta get people to vote! In fact, if you want to give Michelle and me a good send-off, get people registered to vote!
If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake, all the progress we’ve made is at stake in this election. My name may not be on the ballot. But our progress is on the ballot! Tolerance is on the ballot! Democracy is on the ballot! Justice is on the ballot! Good schools are on the ballot! Ending mass incarceration, that’s on the ballot right now!
And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there is another candidate whose defining principle, the central theme of his candidacy, is opposition to all that we’ve done. There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters.
And after we have achieved historic turn-out in 2008 and in 2012, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to MY legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You wanna give me a good send-off? GO VOTE!
