On
January 20, 2017, America will begin our next chapter. A new president
will stand on the steps of the Capitol, raise one hand, and take the
oath of office. From that moment on, he or she will decide whether we
defend and build on the progress we’ve made under President Obama—or
tear it all away.
That
feels pretty personal to me — not just as an American who supports
President Obama, but also as someone who was proud to work alongside him
at the White House.
I
remember vividly the day after the 2008 election when President-elect
Obama asked me to come see him in Chicago. It turned out that he would
ask me to be secretary of state. But first, we talked about everything
he was doing to get ready for his first term — and everything he was
learning about the reality of the economic crisis our country was
facing. The president-elect was getting briefings every day, sometimes
several times a day. And the news was not good. He turned to me and
said, “It is so much worse than they told us.”
He was right.
By
the time President Obama was sworn into office, we were on the brink of
another Great Depression. Before the worst was over, we were losing
800,000 jobs a month, 5million Americans lost their homes, and 13
trillion dollars of family wealth was wiped away. Meanwhile, our auto
industry — the pride of American manufacturing and ingenuity for
decades — was on the verge of collapse. It turned out to be the
second-worst financial crisis in our country’s history.
President
Obama changed all that. Look where we are today. We’ve had 70 straight
months of private-sector job growth. Our businesses have created 14.1
million jobs. The unemployment rate is the lowest in seven years. And
the auto industry just had its best year ever.
SNIP
As
president, I will carry forward the Democratic record of achievement.
I’ll defend President Obama’s accomplishments and build upon them. I’ll
work to get incomes rising for middle-class families, make college
affordable, alleviate the crushing burden of student debt, protect LGBT
Americans from discrimination, preserve women’s access to health care
and reproductive choice, and keep America safe from threats at home and
abroad. And I’ll never allow the Affordable Care Act to be repealed.
We’ve
made tremendous progress over the past eight years. That shouldn’t be
dismissed or taken lightly. Let’s keep that progress going. Let’s make
sure no one turns the clock back. We’ve come too far. We’ve accomplished
too much. We can do even more for our families, our communities, and
the country we love. And together, we can build an economy and a country
that works for everyone. That would be truly revolutionary.
