The Audacity of Hope
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| Publication date | March 2026 |
| Journal | Notes and Queries |
| Volume | Issue number | 73 | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 165–167 |
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| Abstract |
The Audacity of Hope (2006) is the title of one of Barack Obama’s memoirs. It is a phrase that is particularly associated with his meteoric rise on the back of three election campaigns in four years: winning a Senate seat, then the Democratic nomination for the presidency, and then the White House. The man and the phrase first registered in the public consciousness in 2004, with the little-known State Senator’s keynote address to the Democratic National Convention:
In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?… I’m not talking about blind optimism here…. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs. The hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores. The hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta. The hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds. The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! |
| Document type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Published at |
https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjag004
(Final published version)
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| Downloads |
gjag004
(Final published version)
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