UPDATE: Glenn also addressed this topic on GBTV Tuesday night - WATCH:
Original:
Mr. President,
You gave it a college try. You tried. You did. You've done everything you could in your power, and then beyond your power, beyond your executive power, you have done more than any President should be allowed to do. In fact they are not allowed to do the things that you've done but you've done them anyway. And still we see the results.
See you're going after the money or after the bodies of voters. Sometimes literally the ones in the ground. But that's not what America is.
I don't think that you really understand America, sir. You understood two words last time that really kind of describe America but there has to be something behind that and it's hope and change.
Hope is an American trait. We always have hope for a brighter tomorrow. We do. That is an American trait. And that helped you last time. Change is also an American trait. Nobody really likes change but we are the ones who have changed the world. We are looking for new ways to do things. The system is broken, and we knew that, and you said 'I'm going to change the system.'
But you changed it in a way that is fundamentally un-American. You changed it in a way that is all about corruption, all about money, and all about special interests. That wasn't the change that we sought. That wasn't the change that the people on the left sought. I'm not just talking about the Tea Party or the right or the Republicans - I'm talking about the left. I'm talking about the people who are just good Democrats.
We tried change. We tried your hope and change. And in fact it was all of us wanted hope, and all of us wanted change. And darn near all of us - even if we voted against you and were against you - on election day, the day after we kind of licked our wounds a bit, and we all most of us did say it is cool to have an African-American President.
We had a moment where maybe the left would finally recognize that America isn't racist because you couldn't have been elected if we were a racist nation. You couldn't have been elected by minorities. You needed the white people to vote for you and they did in droves. Many us, even if we didn't vote for you, were happy that we sent a message to the rest of the world that American is not 1950 America.
It was cool to see a black man in office. Just as some day it will be cool a woman or a man who isn't embarrassed by his wheelchair. Maybe even some day it will be cool to see a member of an easy to pick on faith be President of the United States.
But what happened here Mr. President, is America's hopes for change were not realized this time. No matter which side of the aisle we were on.
I don't know if you've seen this nut the left - the people that you helped you so much all the way along and bashed the Tea Party and everybody else - they're worse now on you than the Tea Party was ever was a few years ago. That's why you're having trouble raising money for your reelection. Because the people who supported you no longer support you. And that's not the Republicans' fault. That is the fault of people like you and people on your team deciding to put Big Labor and big corporations ahead of individuals who believed in you, who went door-to-door campaigning for you.
See politicians on both sides - it's not just you Mr. President, it happens all the time - politicians always forget that it really is about the individual. In America, that's what it is. The individual. And the parties and the politicians on both sides always forget that.
The American dream is about one person making up their mind and then making a difference. It's not about a huge government. It's not about huge corporations. It's not about shadowy organization. It's not about that. It's not about donors making a difference. It's about individuals.
So Mr. President, I'm guessing that Americans are going to keep their $3 especially because after inflating my tires and everybody else inflating their tires we still have a hard time paying 104% more per gallon for gasoline.
We'll use that $3 to buy the fuel it will take to get to the polls. And we'll stop off at an elderly neighbors or someone who can't drive and take them to the polls as well. And there we'll stand side by side in a school or gym along with the rich and poor the white and black the young and the old. Democrat and Republican. Americans all, and we will wait quietly in that line. Not as an collective but as individuals.
Once again we'll cast our vote for change, and we'll do so with hope.
That's the great thing about America. There's always hope. Tomorrow always holds a new promise.
America really is an exceptional place. And here's evidence of it: No matter what has happened in the last 10 years, believe it or not, I still have hope we're going to find a group of decent people to go to Washington to represent us. Maybe it will be this election. And maybe this guy who's going to replace you will keep more of his promises to unite us, and bring us together and move us forward than you did.
But here's where the real hope comes from: If he doesn't we'll gather in our gyms and schools again and we'll send him home as well.