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Obama rides the rails to DC, packing American's hope
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-18 08:50

The heady, celebratory air was tempered, however, by the tumult of the times, and Obama was quick to acknowledge them.


US President-elect Barack Obama (2nd L) and Vice President-elect Joe Biden acknowledge supporters with their wives, Michelle Obama (L) and Jill Biden at a rally at the War Memorial Plaza in Baltimore, January 17, 2009, during Obama's whistle-stop tour from Philadelphia to Washington. [Agencies]

"Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast," he said. "An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil."

"There will be false starts and setbacks, frustrations and disappointments," he said, "and we will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency."

While talking about the future, Obama reflected on the past, echoing the words of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln and President John F. Kennedy. He cited the founding fathers who risked everything with no assurance of success in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776:

"They were willing to put all they were and all they had on the line -- their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor -- for a set of ideals that continue to light the world: That we are equal. That our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness come not from our laws, but from our maker. And that a government of, by, and for the people can endure."

The president-elect's triumphant day started with a sober discussion of the country's future with 41 people he met during his long quest for the White House. Preparing to board the train, Obama said that "what's required is a new declaration of independence -- from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry."