Pinch Me, I'm Dreamin'

HILLARY CLINTON: On second thought, I do have a comment. Jeremiah Wright is entitled to his opinion, like every American. And while there's no one more qualified than I to deplore the systematic trivialization of our political process, let me just add that Jeremiah Wright is one of millions of American voices that are never heard on the evening news unless someone's trying to make political hay out of them, and likewise one of millions of generally unheard Americans we desperately need a President to listen to.

BARACK OBAMA: I've complained publicly about "manufactured issues" dominating our politics. What I've since realized is that manufactured campaigns bring manufactured issues on themselves.

I've run a campaign calling for change, but the change it was designed to bring about was my move from the Senate Office Building to the White House. I've implied that all forward-looking people supported me, and that the old-style thinkers who supported Senator Clinton were part of the reason America is in the shape it's in.

Well, that's simply not the case. It was an electoral calculation. And I say so now not because it has produced a divided electorate--for which I'm truly sorry--and not a clear-cut and early victory for my campaign, but because I was wrong to do so.

Working-class Democrats are the soul of the party and of the country. They're the ones who created the party that stood up for the rights of people of color at the expense of electoral college advantage. They, and the "older voters" I may have denegrated--and to whom I now apologize--face "change" more forthrightly and with more bravery than any other group of Americans--change in economic or social status, in local identity, the outsourcing of jobs and the bias against older workers, deteriorating health, loss of mobility, independence, and a sense of belonging. Change is not the ability to set the clock on the DVD player. It's not the wisdom to choose the best cellphone or WiFi provider. It's the ability to face down whatever life throws at one, provided one is treated as fairly as his fellows. That's the sort of "change" the Democratic party stands for, and the sort of change I'm going to work for from this moment, whether as the next President of the United States, or a Senator from Illinois.

JOHN McCAIN: To be perfectly honest with you, I never liked the coloreds to begin with.