Barack spent today traveling across Indiana, and ended his night by speaking at the Indiana Jefferson Jackson dinner in Indianapolis

Indiana's Jefferson Jackson Dinner

By Amanda Scott - May 4th, 2008 at 11:01 pm EDT

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Barack spent today traveling across Indiana, and ended his night by speaking at the Indiana Jefferson Jackson dinner in Indianapolis.

Here's an excerpt of what he told fellow Hoosier Democrats:

This year you have a choice. If you want to take another chance on the same kind of politics we’ve come to know in Washington, there are other candidates to choose from.

But I still believe we need to fundamentally change Washington if we want change in America. I still believe this election is bigger than me, or Senator Clinton, or Senator McCain. It’s bigger than Democrats versus Republicans.

It’s about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this country, at this moment, will continue to stand by while the wealthy few prosper at the expense of the hardworking many, or whether we’ll stand up and reclaim the American dream for every American.

Reclaiming this dream will take more than one election. It will take more than one person or one party. It will take the effort and sacrifice of a nation united. And that’s the truth.

We’ve always known this wouldn’t be easy. The change we’re looking for never is. And that’s why the only way a black guy named Barack Obama who was born in Hawaii, and started his career on the streets of Chicago, can win this race is if you decide that you’ve had enough of the way things are; if you decide that this election is bigger than flag pins and sniper fire and the comments of a former pastor – bigger than the differences between what we look like or where we come from or what party we belong to.

I will never forget that the only reason that I'm standing here today is because somebody, somewhere stood up for me when it was risky. Stood up when it was hard. Stood up when it wasn't popular. And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world.

Now it’s our turn – our turn to follow in the footsteps of all those generations who sacrificed and struggled and faced down the greatest odds to perfect our improbable union. And if we're willing to do what they did; if we're willing to shed our cynicism and our doubts and our fears; if we're willing to believe in what's possible again; then I believe that we won't just win here in Indiana, we won't just win this election in November, we will heal this nation, we will repair this world, and we will extend America's promise into the twenty-first century.