My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.- Speech on race, March 18, 2008.

We can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.- Speech at Illinois capital Springfield February 2007, announcing he is entering 2008 US presidential race.

There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.- Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004.

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there’s the United States of America.- Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004.