Emotional Obama thanks supporters

MANILA, Philippines – Re-elected US President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to his campaign HQ following the announcement of his victory in the November 7 mid-term elections. 

Visibly moved and teary-eyed, the US president paused at various points during his brief speech while telling supporters, “I am really proud of all of you.”

During the speech, Obama recalled his political beginnings in Chicago and praised his campaign supporters–many of whom were twenty-year-olds–for being “smarter, more organized and more effective than I was.” 

“Over the last 4 years, when people ask me, ‘how do you put up with this and that,’ I just think about you and I think about what you guys are gonna do. And that is the source of my strength and my inspiration,” Obama said.  

Below is the video of the speech:

The YouTube video was posted on BarackObama.com and was distributed by campaign staff via email and the tweet below:

The President made a surprise visit to campaign HQ yesterday to thank staff & volunteers. Here’s what he said. OFA.BO/Bu2y3i

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 9, 2012

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in his email to supporters that the president was not just talking to campaign workers in the office, but to all the thousands of volunteers who built his huge grassroots movement.

“He was talking to all of you,” Messina wrote in the email.

Obama, famed for his cool, “no drama” persona, has sometimes been accused of showing too little emotion in public and appearing aloof. He nonetheless got teary in stump speeches at the end of both his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.

But he has rarely displayed the kind of raw emotion that was seen in the YouTube video. – Rappler.com with a report from Agence France-Press