Obama invokes Gandhi, Mandela in support for second term

Mar 04, 2012 |

New York

Tags:

Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama invoked the legacies of his heroes Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as he sought support from voters for a second term, saying he too needs time to fulfill his promise of bringing a ‘real change’ to America just as the two legendary leaders did.

"The change we fought for in 2008 hasn't always happened as fast as we would have liked... real change, big change, is always hard," Obama said at a fundraiser held here.

"Around the world - Gandhi, Nelson Mandela - what they did was hard. It takes time. It takes more than a single term. It takes more than a single President. It takes more than a single individual," he said.

From the civil rights movement to winning the vote for women, bringing about ‘real and big change’ in the world has been hard and has taken time, the President said.

Going by the tough times America has seen in the recent years, change may appear impossible to achieve, he said. However, change is possible through "ordinary citizens who keep believing, who are committed to fighting and pushing and inching this country closer and closer to our highest ideals," Obama added.

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