Barack Obama actually said...

I join Haleh Esfandiari's family and friends in welcoming her departure from Iran after months of harassment and over 100 days of detention.

Hope and change are not just the rhetoric of a campaign for me.

It is outrageous that what began as a journey to visit and care for her 93 year old mother became such a terrible ordeal.

I look forward to continuing the dialogue with voters and building the kind of grassroots movement in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South ...