President Obama Speaks to the Democratic Party: "This is who we are"

This morning, a few minutes ahead of schedule, President Obama spoke to the fired up crowd of folks who'd made it through the snow to hear him address the Democratic Party's 2010 Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

In his speech, the President reiterated his fierce commitment to fighting for health insurance reform:

"The easiest thing to do right now would be to just say, oh, [passing health reform] is too hard, let's just re-group and lick our wounds, try to hang on. We've had a long and difficult debate on health care. And there are some, maybe even the majority in this town, who say perhaps it's time to walk away. But here's thing, Democrats -- if we walk away, we know what will happen. We know that premiums and out-of-pocket expenses will skyrocket this decade and the decade after that and decade after that, just as they did in the past decade. More small businesses will be priced out of coverage. More big businesses will be unable to compete internationally. More workers will take home less pay and fewer raises. We know that millions more Americans will lose their coverage. We know that our deficits will inexorably continue to grow because health care costs are the single biggest driver.

So just in case there's any confusion out there, let me be clear: I am not going to walk away from health insurance reform. I'm not going to walk away from the American people. I'm not going to walk away on this challenge."

The President closed by reminding the audience of the Democratic Party's rich history and it's past accomplishments, many of which came in the midst of equally tough times:

"I know we've gone through a tough year. But we've gone through tougher years. We're the party of Thomas Jefferson, who declared that all men are created equal, and we had to work long and hard to ensure that those words meant something. we're the party of Franklin Roosevelt who in the midst of depression said all we had to fear was fear itself, to save freedom and democracy from being extinguished here on earth. and that was hard because the natural impulse was to fear. but we as a party helped to lead the country out of that fear. We're the party of John F. Kennedy, who summoned us to serve, who called us to pay any price and bear any burden. And we're the party of Edward M. Kennedy, whose cause endures, who said that here in the United States of America the promise of health care should not be a privilege but a fundamental right.

That is who we are, Democrats. After all the promises we've made, this is our best chance to deliver change that the American people need. And if we do that, if we speak to the hopes of the American people instead of their fears, if we inspire them instead of divide them, if we respond to their challenges with the same sense of urgency they feel in their own lives, we're not just going to win elections, elections will take care of themselves. We will once again be the party that turns around the economy and moves this country forward and secures the American dream for another generation."

UPDATED:Here's the full video of the President's speech to the Democratic Party's 2010 Winter Meeting: