Charlotte: Invoking the legacy of her father, the former US president John F Kennedy, eminent American author and attorney, Caroline Kennedy, has said that the future of the country is at stake in the November Presidential Elections.
"Like my father`s election in 1960, this is one of those elections where the future of our country is at stake. And women and children have the most on the line," Kennedy said addressing the Democratic National Convention here.
The only living child of John F Kennedy and the First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, told her fellow Democrats that four years ago she was inspired by the way Obama had lived his life, fighting for jobs, giving hope to the hopeless, and working day in and day out for the America he believes in.
"I was inspired by Barack Obama`s vision for America, an America where we look out for one another, where we take responsibility for our sisters and brothers, and most of all, for our children. Back then, I was inspired by the promise of Barack Obama`s presidency. Today, I`m inspired by his record," she said. "Over the past four years, we have had a President who has committed himself and his administration to the values that made America great - social justice, economic fairness, equal opportunity, and the belief that if each of us gives back to this country we love, and all of us work together, there is no challenge we cannot overcome. Those are the ideals my father and my uncles fought for," Kennedy said.
Observing that Obama has been a champion for women`s rights, she said that when it comes to what`s best for women, there is only one candidate – Obama, in this race who is on their side.
"I know Barack Obama will fight for women and children, and all Americans, because he has proven it. He has the quality my father most admired in public life: courage," she said.
"Despite critics who said it wasn`t good politics, President Obama listened to my Uncle Teddy, and staked his presidency on making health care accessible to all Americans," Kennedy said. Despite an opponent who wanted to "let Detroit go bankrupt”, Obama, she said, saved the auto industry, and now it`s coming back strong.
"He not only demonstrated the courage to oppose the war in Iraq, as President, he showed the determination to bring our troops back home," she said.
"Barack Obama is the kind of leader my father wrote about in `Profiles in Courage`. He doesn`t just do what`s easy. He does what`s hard. He does what`s right.”
"My father couldn`t run for a second term. It was left to his brothers, our family and the generation they inspired to fight for the America he believed in. Now, it`s up to a new generation, our children`s generation, to carry America forward," Kennedy said.
PTI