Slide 1960 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1964 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1968 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1972 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1976 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1980 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1984 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1988 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1992 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 1996 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2000 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2004 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2008 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2012 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2016 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2020 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches 2024 Presidential Campaign Announcement and Convention Acceptance Speeches

Barack Obama 2008 Barack Obama 2008 August 28, 2008











REMARKS OF SENATOR BARACK OBAMA

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
“The American Promise”
Democratic Convention
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Denver, Colorado
As Prepared for Delivery

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest – a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia – I love you so much, and I’m so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That’s why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government’s making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he’s worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we’ll also hear about those occasions when he’s broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives – on health care and education and the economy – Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made “great progress” under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a “mental recession,” and that we’ve become, and I quote, “a nation of whiners.”

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don’t believe that Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn’t know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people’s benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.

For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy – give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is – you’re on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps – even if you don’t have boots. You’re on your own.

Well it’s time for them to own their failure. It’s time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President – when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job – an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great – a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton’s Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she’s watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.

That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.

That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington’s been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he’s said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don’t have that chance. I’ll invest in early childhood education. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I’ll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I’ve laid out how I’ll pay for every dime – by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don’t help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America’s promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our “intellectual and moral strength.” Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility – that’s the essence of America’s promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America’s promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we’re wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That’s not the judgment we need. That won’t keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don’t protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can’t truly stand up for Georgia when you’ve strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice – but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans – have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose – our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it – because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I’ve seen it. Because I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I’ve seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I’ve seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they’d pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

“We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.



EXCERPTS OF JOE BIDEN-DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION—AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Excerpts of Joe Biden—as prepared for delivery
Democratic National Convention
Denver, Colorado
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story.

Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware, with a dad who fell on hard economic times, but who always told me: “Champ, when you get knocked down, get up... get up.”

My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.

My parents taught us to live our faith and treasure our family. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they try.

That was America's promise.

For those of us who grew up in middle class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington, that was the American dream – and we knew it.
-


You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him, and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind. But even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart.

I watched how he touched people, how he inspired them, and I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: we don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear. We have the power to change it.
-

The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier – they require a wise leader. A leader who can deliver change. The change everybody knows we need.

Barack Obama will deliver that change.
-

As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole, with very few friends to help us climb out.

Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he says there can be no timelines to drawdown our troops from Iraq – that we must stay indefinitely?

Or should we listen to Barack Obama, who says shift responsibility to the Iraqis – and set a time to bring our combat troops home?

Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home.

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.
-

Now, it’s our responsibility to meet that challenge. Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get back up.

Source: Obama for America John McCain 2008 John McCain 2008 September 4, 2008










REMARKS BY JOHN MCCAIN TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, today at 10:00 p.m. ET (9:00 p.m. CT):

Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans -- the privilege of accepting our party's nomination for President of the United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.

In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn't any different. That's a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They're leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won't forget.

I'm grateful to the President for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the First Lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I'm grateful to the 41st President and his bride of 63 years, and for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country.

As always, I'm indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. The pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded calendar of our nation's business. But I have treasured them all the more, and can't imagine a life without the happiness you give me. Cindy said a lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she's more my inspiration than I am hers. Her concern for those less blessed than we are -- victims of land mines, children born in poverty and with birth defects -- shows the measure of her humanity. I know she will make a great First Lady.

When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country. I wouldn't be here tonight but for the strength of her character.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you, who helped me win this nomination, and stood by me when the odds were long. I won't let you down. To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.

Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.

But let there be no doubt, my friends, we're going to win this election. And after we've won, we're going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.

These are tough times for many of you. You're worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that's just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.

And I've found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. She has executive experience and a real record of accomplishment. She's tackled tough problems like energy independence and corruption. She's balanced a budget, cut taxes, and taken on the special interests. She's reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats and Independents to serve in her administration. She's the mother of five children. She's helped run a small business, worked with her hands and knows what it's like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and the cost of gasoline and groceries.

She knows where she comes from and she knows who she works for. She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down. I'm very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country. But I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.

I'm not in the habit of breaking promises to my country and neither is Governor Palin. And when we tell you we're going to change Washington, and stop leaving our country's problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it. We've got a record of doing just that, and the strength, experience, judgment and backbone to keep our word to you.

You know, I've been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment and sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you.

I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I've fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I've fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I've fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.

I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn't a popular thing to do. And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.

Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petreaus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans.

I don't mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I've had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.

I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake works on a loading dock; coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her Master's Degree. They have two sons, the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.

I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, who died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to, remains safe from its enemies.

I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.

We're going to change that. We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.

We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We're all God's children and we're all Americans.

We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.

We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.

We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn't make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas. Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families. Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit. Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.

I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn't even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That's going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We're going to help workers who've lost a job that won't come back, find a new one that won't go away.

We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.

When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.

Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I'm President, they will.

My fellow Americans, when I'm President, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet. It's an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It's time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.

This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce.

Today, the prospect of a better world remains within our reach. But we must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly and face them, as Americans before us did, with confidence, wisdom and resolve.

We have dealt a serious blow to al Qaeda in recent years. But they are not defeated, and they'll strike us again if they can. Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism and on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons. Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire. And the brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and prayers. As President I will work to establish good relations with Russia so we need not fear a return of the Cold War. But we can't turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the American people.

We face many threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace.

When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.

I'm running for President to keep the country I love safe, and prevent other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has. I will draw on all my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military and the power of our ideals -- to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.

In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us. We don't need to search for it.

We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children. All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington.

The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.

Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as President. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn't think of them first, let's use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let's try sharing it. This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I will ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.

We're going to finally start getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won't care who gets the credit.

I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I've never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn't thank God for the privilege.

Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love.

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me.

Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn't set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn't get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.

I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn't in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.

A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.

I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what's right for our country.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children's future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God Bless you.



Remarks by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Vice Presidential Nominee To Address the 2008 Republican National Convention

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - This evening Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee, will address the 2008 Republican National Convention. The governor's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States...

I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.

I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election... against confident opponents ... at a crucial hour for our country.

And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions ... and met far graver challenges ... and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain.

It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves.

With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.

But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off.

They overlooked the caliber of the man himself - the determination, resolve, and sheer guts of Senator John McCain. The voters knew better.

And maybe that's because they realize there is a time for politics and a time for leadership ... a time to campaign and a time to put our country first.

Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by.

He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.

And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I'm just one of many moms who'll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way.

Our son Track is 19.

And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country.

My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf.

My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. Track is the eldest of our five children.

In our family, it's two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us.

Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love.

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. Todd is a story all by himself.

He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ... a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and world champion snow machine racer.

Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package.

We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he's still my guy. My Mom and Dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town.

And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity.

My parents are here tonight, and I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. Long ago, a young farmer and habber-dasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.

A writer observed: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity." I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.

I grew up with those people.

They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.

They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.

I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better.

When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.

As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.< br>
And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.

The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.

No one expects us to agree on everything.

But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart.

I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau ... when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network.

Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve.

But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up.

And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.

I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.

I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.

I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.

If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.

And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources.

As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.

I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history.

And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.

That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.

The stakes for our nation could not be higher.

When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.

We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. I've noticed a pattern with our opponent.

Maybe you have, too.

We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.

And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit.

Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions.

Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big ... he wants to grow it.

Congress spends too much ... he promises more.

Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.

The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.

How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you're trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or Ohio ... or create jobs with clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia ... or keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota.

How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy? Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election.

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.

Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things.

And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. They're the ones who are good for more than talk ... the ones we have always been able to count on to serve and defend America. Senator McCain's record of actual achievement and reform helps explain why so many special interests, lobbyists, and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency - from the primary election of 2000 to this very day.

Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd.

He's a man who's there to serve his country, and not just his party.

A leader who's not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.

He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain." Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of "personal discovery." This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.

And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely.

There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain. In our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their country.

It's a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office.

But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made.

It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.

To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.

As the story is told, "When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe's door and flash a grin and thumbs up" - as if to say, "We're going to pull through this." My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.

For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all, and may God bless America.

Source: John McCain 2008 Cynthia McKinney 2008 Cynthia McKinney 2008 July 12, 2008










Cynthia McKinney
Acceptance Remarks
Green Party Convention
Chicago, Illinois
July 12, 2008

Let me introduce to you my family and your Power to the People Committee!

My mother and father, Billy and Leola McKinney.

My son, Coy, who just graduated from college in Canada!

I want you to know that there is no way I could do this without their love and support.

Your Power to the People Committee members who are with us today:

You've all shared e-mails with her and heard her lovely voice on the telephone: Lucy Grider-Bradley, the campaign manager of my 2004 comeback campaign and FEC Compliance team leader for the Power to the People Committee!

I've known him all of my political life. You've known him for years if you're a Green party member. Hugh Esco, website man with the Power to the People Committee!

In two long road trips from Georgia to Maine, one trip through California, Oregon, and Washington, and by way of numerous e-mails, you all have come to know my friend, personal assistant, proud Haitian-American activist, et aussi, l'homme avec qui je pratique mon francais, David Josue, standing firm against the occupation of Haiti.

John Judge is my friend. He shared U.S. government COINTELPRO documents with me that few except researchers have ever seen. John Judge is an expert on the murders of Malcolm X, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, COINTELPRO, other government covert operations directed at certain U.S. citizens, and what really happened on 9/11. Maybe John can tell me how our military and intelligence infrastructures failed four times in one day after the taxpayers invested trillions of dollars in them.

Janet Young, proud accountant for the Power to the People Committee! Learned the true meaning of politics when she saw what happened to me after I put impeachment on the table.

I am also joined on the platform by members of the Reconstruction Movement who have come into the Green Party to support our Power to the People campaign! The Reconstruction Movement came into being as a result of dissatisfaction around government failures and unmet needs of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita survivors and the many communities across our country in need of reconstruction.

The RunCynthiaRun visionaries from California who are responsible for bringing me to the Party's Presidential process!

All of the Green Party candidates who are running for election in 2008!

And Rosa Clemente, your Vice Presidential nominee!

Thank you all for being here and standing with me today.

In 1851, in Akron, Ohio a former slave woman, abolitionist, and woman's rights activist by the name of Sojourner Truth gave a speech now known as "Ain't I a Woman." Sojourner Truth began her remarks, "Well children, where there is so much racket, there must be something out of kilter." She then went on to say that even though she was a woman, no one had ever helped her out of carriages or lifted her over ditches or given her a seat of honor in any place. Instead, she acknowledged, that as a former slave and as a black woman, she had had to bear the lash as well as any man; and that she had borne "thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And Ain't I a woman?" Finally, Sojourner Truth says, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"

As it was in 1851, so too it is in 2008. There is so much racket that we, too, know something is out of kilter. In 1851, the racket was about a woman's right to vote. In 1848, just a few years before Sojourner uttered those now famous words, "Ain't I a Woman?" suffragists met in Seneca Falls, New York and issued a declaration.

That declaration began:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government . . . But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled."

Two hundred sixty women and forty men gathered in Seneca Falls, NY and declared their independence from the politics of their present and embarked upon a struggle to create a politics for the future. That bold move by a handful of people in one relatively small room laid the groundwork and is the precedent for what we do today. The Seneca Falls Declaration represented a clean break from the past: Freedom, at last, from mental slavery. The Seneca Falls Declaration and the Akron, Ohio meeting inaugurated 72 years of struggle that ended with the passage of the 19th Amendment in August of 1920, granting women the right to vote. And 88 years later, with the Green Party as its conductor, the History Train is rolling down the tracks.

The Green Party is making history today. According to one source, 45 women have run for President in primary elections in the United States in the 20th Century; 22 have made it on the ballot in at least one state in November. Thank you, Green Party, for pulling this history train from the station.

But we make history today only because we must. In 2008, after two stolen Presidential elections and eight years of George W. Bush, and at least two years of Democratic Party complicity, the racket is about war crimes, torture, crimes against the peace; the racket is about crimes against the Constitution, crimes against the American people, and crimes against the global community. The racket is even about values that we thought were long settled as reasonable to pursue, like liberty and justice, and economic opportunity, for all. Yes, Sojourner, there's a lot out of kilter now, but these two women, Rosa and me, joined by all the men and women in this room, are going to do our best to turn this country right side up again.

And just like the women and men at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 who declared their independence from the Old Order, I celebrated my birthday last year by doing something I had done a dozen times in my head, but had never done publicly: I declared my independence from every bomb dropped, every threat leveled, every civil liberties rollback, every child killed, every veteran maimed, every man tortured, and the national leadership that let this happen. At that pro-peace rally in front of the Pentagon, I noted that nowhere on the Democratic Party's Congressional Agenda for their first 100 days in the majority was any mention at all of a livable wage, the right of return for Katrina survivors, repealing the Patriot Acts, the Secret Evidence Act, the Military Commissions Act, or bringing our troops home now. Nowhere on the Congressional Democrats' agenda was an investigation into the Pentagon's "loss" of $2.3 trillion that Rumsfeld admitted to just before September 11th. And nowhere was there any plan to get that money back for jobs, health care, education, and for veterans. Not even repeal of the Bush tax cuts that have helped to usher in, according to some, levels of income inequality not experienced in this country since the Great Depression. And instead of Articles of Impeachment to hold the criminals accountable, impeachment was taken "off the table."

And so, taking these words directly from our own Declaration of Independence, and from the Seneca Falls document "it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it."

There is no doubt that the people of this country and in the global community are suffering from Washington, D.C.'s policies today.

Even as the ice in the Arctic Ocean reportedly was melting, the United States was obstructing an international discussion of climate change goals-setting for 2020 at the recently-concluded G-8 Summit. Even while George Bush has made himself an international climate change villain by not signing onto the Kyoto Protocol, his own scientists at the U.S. Climate Change Science Program have predicted more heat waves, intense rains, increased drought, and stronger hurricanes to affect the U.S. due to the worsening effects of climate change.

Public policy can be our friend or it can be our foe in understanding and working through the immense changes our planet is undergoing. We the voters, the activists, the policy wonks, the candidates, and the elected officials all have a role to play in making public policy. As I have said so many times during this campaign for the Green Party nomination, politics is not a beauty contest; it is not a fashion show; it is not a horse race. Politics is the authoritative allocation of values in a society. Politics is about values being reflected in public policy. It is about having power over public policy. And we engage in the political process because we want our values reflected in public policy.

Had the Green Party's values been reflected in public policy since the beginnings of the Green Party in this country, the United States would have long ago implemented a livable wage; there would be no civil liberties erosion; diversity would be respected, appreciated and welcomed; education would be interesting and relevant to students' lives and no student would graduate from college $100,000 in debt in a Green Party USA because education, not incarceration and militarization, would be subsidized by the state.

In a Green Party USA, health care would be provided for everyone here through a single payer, Medicare-for-all type health care system. We would have no homeless men and women sleeping on our streets and everyone who could work would have work. Rebuilding our infrastructure, manufacturing green technology, retooling our economy so that those who protect us, train us, heal us and prepare us for tomorrow are compensated in what is their true value to our culture and our society, based on their contribution to our civilization.

Vietnam War-era veterans would be our last war veterans because we would never have been engaged in war and occupation against Afghanistan and Iraq. We would forego imperial designs on our neighbors to the north and south, never building any wall of division, not ever encroaching on their geographic or cultural sovereignty.

In fact, if Green Party values were now reflected in U.S. public policy, our country not only would not be engaged in war and occupation, there would be peace in the Middle East based on self-determination, respect for human rights, and justice. We would strive to perfect our democracy at home through election integrity and no one would be denied their rightful place in our Union due to discrimination. Our neighbors in the global community would look up to us for our cultural and technological accomplishments.

We would have apologized for genocide against the indigenous peoples of this land and the abomination of chattel slavery. Our country would have dignity on the world stage and in every international forum, and no one in this country would be made to live in fear.

Oh, if it could be true: that the values of the Green Party were reflected in the Federal Government's public policy. Let me wake up and snap out of my reverie. Yes, today's reality is harsh. Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition, lying, spying, war, stolen elections, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, New Orleans, poverty, racial profiling, Sean Bell, the San Francisco 8, Benton Harbor's Reverend Pinkney, the Holy Land Foundation, 9/11/01.

Embargo, blockade, friendly fire, depleted uranium, white phosphorus, cluster bombs, bunker busters, shock and awe.

Predatory lending, mortgage crisis, foreclosures, a country $53 trillion in debt. And while Bear Stearns gets a bailout, you and I sink or swim.

Harsh? Today's reality is harsh. But what's even harder for many to accept and admit is that our quality of life today is the making of the Democratic and Republican Parties.

What our country has become through their public policy is reflective of their values.

We will never get a United States that is reflective of different values if we continue to do the same thing. Those who delivered us into this mess cannot be trusted to get us out of it.

That's why I signed up to do something I've never done before so I can have something I've never had before: My country, made in the likeness of the values of the Green Party.

When my father first started out in the world of politics in Georgia, he began as a Republican, because Georgia Democrats would not allow blacks to vote in their primaries. Some of my father's closest friends today are still Republicans because of that history. My father served 30 years in the Georgia Legislature as a Democrat. Because of him, I served 4 years in the Georgia Legislature, where we were the country's only father daughter legislative team. And then I went to Congress and served 12 years working with the Democratic Party and its current leadership representing the State of Georgia.

My son grew up playing on the Floor underneath my desk in the Chamber of the Georgia House of Representatives. His buddies were the legislators down there, under the Gold Dome, who were my and my father's colleagues.

My mother is the genteel Southern lady who keeps our family glued together. A nurse by profession, a nurturer by instinct, she could patch over all the times I had a political disagreements with my Dad and it ended up being discussed, not only at the family dinner table, but also on the evening news.

My father and I stumped for candidates, and helped keep Georgia in the Democratic Party fold, until on my election night in 2002, I was forced to admit that the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me. Both my father and I were put out of office after being targeted by a convergence of special interests operating in both the Democratic and Republican parties. In November of 2002, after the Primary Election losses of my father and me, Georgia went Republican: the first time since Reconstruction. With all kinds of certainty, I can say that my father and I, we McKinneys, we know too well how both the Republican and Democratic Parties operate.

And that's why I know we need an opposition party in this country. With over 200 elected officials already, the Green Party can become this country's premier opposition Party. One thing is clear, Democratic and Republican values are not Green Party values. And honestly, I believe, Green Party values are the values held by the majority in this country. And through our vigorous Power to the People campaign, we will proclaim our presence to every nook and cranny of this country. We are needed now, more than ever and here's an example of why.

It is hard to not hear the warning signs of a new war: a war against Iran. Dick Cheney told us to expect war for the next generation. The Republicans launched this war economy and their presumptive nominee said that we could stay in Iraq for the next 100 years and even sang a song for the bombing of Iran. The Democratic majority in Congress just voted to fund the war into 2009 and has 200 sponsors on a bill that declares war on Iran by calling for a naval blockade. A naval blockade is a declaration of war. The Democratic presumptive nominee wants to increase the size of the overused military and the budget for an already-bloated and wasteful Pentagon. I am the only candidate who has consistently voted against the Pentagon budget, voted against the war in Iraq, and I voted against the bills that funded it. The Green Party was against the war when it started, is against the war now, and is against any military action against Iran that might take place tomorrow. The Green Party is a peace party. A Green vote is a peace vote.

Not a word has been mentioned in this political season about the disparities that exist within our country with the recognition that public policy can erase them. And even though for the first time a woman and an African-American were being taken seriously in national primaries, a real discussion of race and gender has been studiously avoided on all sides. At a time when the United States is under review, itself, by the United Nations for its poor record on domestic respect for human rights, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a real discussion of race and gender is needed now more than ever. On some indices, according to United for a Fair Economy, the racial disparities that exist today are worse than at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Right here in Chicago, Hull House reported that it would take 200 years, without a public policy intervention from elected leadership, for the quality of life experienced by black Chicagoans to equal that of white Chicagoans.

Women are still the overwhelming profile of the minimum wage worker in this country. 65% of all minimum wage workers are women, according to 2005 statistics. Despite the law, women still go to work every day, performing the same tasks as men, yet bring home less pay than their male counterparts. Asian-American and Pacific Island women make 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, but African-American women earn only 72 cents and my Latina sisters earn only 60 cents for every dollar earned by men. Overall, according to 2007 statistics, women with similar education, skills, and experience are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Equal pay for equal work is not yet a reality for working women in this country. And the glass ceiling is all too real.

I'm very proud of my second cousin, Shont=E9, whose mother, a divorce, raised her pretty much as a single mother. Shonte's mother, Shara, understood the value of her child getting a good education and helped her as much as she could with university tuition. The rest Shonte was able to secure by working on campus and in student loans. Shont=E9 graduated from college, and then took a one-year Master's program in Social Work, and now wants to get her Ph.D. But she's already over $90,000 in debt. It doesn't have to be this way and we don't have to accept it. In other countries around the world, higher education is valued and is made affordable to all who want it. Only a sick government would place a banker in-between a student and her teacher.

An insurance lobbyist in-between a patient and his doctor.

Lying and spying before 9/11 Truth and the Constitution.

Only a sick government would place a wealthy family and their huge corporation and its genetically-modified frankenfood peddled by force in-between us and the organic food that's healthy for us to eat and that farmers would prefer to grow.

Only a sick government would do this.

And I am no longer willing to trust the ones who are responsible for getting us into this mess to provide the solution to get us out of it.

The Green Party long ago took a stand for racial justice: against profiling, against police brutality, against discrimination of any sort, and for reparations stemming from the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Green Party long ago took a stand for gender equity.

The Green Party long ago took a stand against all discrimination.

The Green Party is a justice party. A Green vote is a justice vote.

And the day after the election, if voters have been disfranchised and don't believe the announced election results, it will be the Green Party that will be there, as it was in 2004, to demand election integrity.

It is for all these reasons and more that I redeclare my goals in the language of my sisters who convened at Seneca Falls, NY 160 years ago. They wrote:

"It is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." That declaration not only avoids the politics of the past, it contains a kernel for the future. How can those new guards for the future be won?

Here's how:

When I was first running for Congress and it was the year of the woman, women all over the country were saying, "We want our seat at the table." And when I got to Washington, I saw that policy was really made in a room, at a table. There were real seats at the table. Well, imagine what has happened to public policy making now.

There is a real room, with a window and a door and there's two seats at the table. The window is for us to look through while our representatives make policy for us so we can see what they're doing. At the table, one seat is for the Democrats and one seat is for the Republicans. Now, we don't know who did it, but one of them put a lock on the door and slipped a key to the corporate lobbyists who can come and go at will and whisper what they want to the Democrats, and then whisper what they want to the Republicans, and the result is that we the people, who pay for those seats and determine who sits in them, want one thing, but because the corporate lobbyists can come and go at will, our values get overridden and our representatives give us something else. That's how we end up with everyone saying they're against the war and occupation, but war and occupation still gets funding.

That's how we end up with everyone saying they're against illegal spying on innocent people, yet end up with a telecom immunity bill being signed into law.

That's how we end up with everyone saying they're in favor of universal access to health care and no one supporting what the physicians, nurses, and health care providers support, and that's a single payer health care system in this country.

That's why my cousin and so many other students in this country face staggering personal debt just to get an education, yet our elected representatives keep voting to spend 720 million dollars a day on war and occupation, war crimes, and crimes against the peace.

Now, if we can entice people who have stopped voting because they see the system as rigged, to become active again, and to vote Green . . .

If we can convince those first-time voters from the previous two Presidential elections, though they might be discouraged because they saw their vote obstructed and then not counted while neither of the big parties fought to protect them, if we can convince them to vote Green . . . If we can convince those who see two parties, but only one political agenda, to vote Green, then it is possible for the Green Party to get 5% of the national vote.

5% of the vote makes the Green Party, not a minor party in the eyes of the federal government, but a major party.

5% confers on the Green Party major party status. And with that 5%, we can pull up another chair at the table of public policy making. It only takes 5% of those who vote, including the near majority who don't vote, to come out for a Green Party President and then we will have an official third party in this country, and public policy that truly reflects our values. Now, I'm known for taking bold positions, based on my own research, that have put me ahead of the curve. I was there on private militaries hired by the Pentagon and our State Department long before Blackwater began patrolling the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I was there on corporate accountability and military contracting scandals before Iraq and Afghanistan.

I was there on enlisted members' and veterans' rights and health issues, like forced vaccinations and conscientious objection.

I was there on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita recovery and detoxification, restoration, and return issues.

I was there on 9/11 foreknowledge.

And I put impeachment "on the table."

I'm not afraid to address the issues that no one else will dare to talk about.

I'm not afraid to speak truth to empower.

Let me close with this.

Don't expect me to keep a count of the major party flip flops from now to November. I'm sure there will be many. But, in the end, that's not the important issue to understand. What is more fundamental to understand is this: the other political parties find themselves in this flip-flop predicament because they have to appear to share our values while they serve someone else's.

The Green Party doesn't have to engage in shapeshifting because the Green Party is funded by and belongs to you.

All over the world, Green Party members are working as elected leaders in government to make public policy reflect our Green values. Wangari Mathai, former Parliamentarian from Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Green Party member. Ingrid Betancourt, recently released hostage in Colombia, former Senator and Presidential candidate. Green Party member. Green Party members make public policy at the national level on every Continent, but not yet in our country.

Twenty years ago, Green party activists saw through this two-party box that voters have been put into in this country and started the Green Party here. And what we have to remember is this: whatever it is that we want in the realm of public policy, we can get if we have the right elected officials in office. Nothing for us is impossible. Politics is about shared values being reflected in public policy. And these Green party candidates standing with me are the right kind of people who will implement the right kind of public policy that reflects our shared values.

Voters in this country are scared into not voting their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations. But in Bolivia and Ecuador and Argentina and Chile and Nicaragua and Spain, and India and Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti, voters were not afraid to vote their hopes and dreams and guess, what. Their dreams came true. Ours can, too.

Every one of you in this room today and each of the individuals I've met and communicated with online across our country has made a difference in my life. And moreover, the 5% who will vote for us, will help us make a positive difference in the lives of people around the world. Who we are makes a difference. What we do makes a difference.

We are in this to build a movement. We are willing to struggle for as long as it takes to have our values prevail in public policy. A vote for the Green Party is a vote for the movement that will turn this country right side up again.

I want to invite everyone who shares our values to join our Power to the People campaign. C-Span viewers can learn more about us at www.runcynthiarun.org. I want to work with the nominees of the other small political parties so we can form a united front. I'm asking for your vote because in reality the only "wasted" vote is a vote against conscience, a vote against our dreams. Vote your dreams, Vote your conscience. Vote our future. Vote Green.

Thank you, Green Party, for granting Rosa and me this supreme honor. Now let's go out there and get busier. We've got a lot of work to do.

Power to the People! Bob Barr 2008 Bob Barr 2008 May 25, 2008










Cynthia McKinney
Acceptance Remarks
Green Party Convention
Chicago, Illinois
July 12, 2008

Let me introduce to you my family and your Power to the People Committee!

My mother and father, Billy and Leola McKinney.

My son, Coy, who just graduated from college in Canada!

I want you to know that there is no way I could do this without their love and support.

Your Power to the People Committee members who are with us today:

You've all shared e-mails with her and heard her lovely voice on the telephone: Lucy Grider-Bradley, the campaign manager of my 2004 comeback campaign and FEC Compliance team leader for the Power to the People Committee!

I've known him all of my political life. You've known him for years if you're a Green party member. Hugh Esco, website man with the Power to the People Committee!

In two long road trips from Georgia to Maine, one trip through California, Oregon, and Washington, and by way of numerous e-mails, you all have come to know my friend, personal assistant, proud Haitian-American activist, et aussi, l'homme avec qui je pratique mon francais, David Josue, standing firm against the occupation of Haiti.

John Judge is my friend. He shared U.S. government COINTELPRO documents with me that few except researchers have ever seen. John Judge is an expert on the murders of Malcolm X, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, COINTELPRO, other government covert operations directed at certain U.S. citizens, and what really happened on 9/11. Maybe John can tell me how our military and intelligence infrastructures failed four times in one day after the taxpayers invested trillions of dollars in them.

Janet Young, proud accountant for the Power to the People Committee! Learned the true meaning of politics when she saw what happened to me after I put impeachment on the table.

I am also joined on the platform by members of the Reconstruction Movement who have come into the Green Party to support our Power to the People campaign! The Reconstruction Movement came into being as a result of dissatisfaction around government failures and unmet needs of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita survivors and the many communities across our country in need of reconstruction.

The RunCynthiaRun visionaries from California who are responsible for bringing me to the Party's Presidential process!

All of the Green Party candidates who are running for election in 2008!

And Rosa Clemente, your Vice Presidential nominee!

Thank you all for being here and standing with me today.

In 1851, in Akron, Ohio a former slave woman, abolitionist, and woman's rights activist by the name of Sojourner Truth gave a speech now known as "Ain't I a Woman." Sojourner Truth began her remarks, "Well children, where there is so much racket, there must be something out of kilter." She then went on to say that even though she was a woman, no one had ever helped her out of carriages or lifted her over ditches or given her a seat of honor in any place. Instead, she acknowledged, that as a former slave and as a black woman, she had had to bear the lash as well as any man; and that she had borne "thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And Ain't I a woman?" Finally, Sojourner Truth says, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"

As it was in 1851, so too it is in 2008. There is so much racket that we, too, know something is out of kilter. In 1851, the racket was about a woman's right to vote. In 1848, just a few years before Sojourner uttered those now famous words, "Ain't I a Woman?" suffragists met in Seneca Falls, New York and issued a declaration.

That declaration began:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government . . . But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled."

Two hundred sixty women and forty men gathered in Seneca Falls, NY and declared their independence from the politics of their present and embarked upon a struggle to create a politics for the future. That bold move by a handful of people in one relatively small room laid the groundwork and is the precedent for what we do today. The Seneca Falls Declaration represented a clean break from the past: Freedom, at last, from mental slavery. The Seneca Falls Declaration and the Akron, Ohio meeting inaugurated 72 years of struggle that ended with the passage of the 19th Amendment in August of 1920, granting women the right to vote. And 88 years later, with the Green Party as its conductor, the History Train is rolling down the tracks.

The Green Party is making history today. According to one source, 45 women have run for President in primary elections in the United States in the 20th Century; 22 have made it on the ballot in at least one state in November. Thank you, Green Party, for pulling this history train from the station.

But we make history today only because we must. In 2008, after two stolen Presidential elections and eight years of George W. Bush, and at least two years of Democratic Party complicity, the racket is about war crimes, torture, crimes against the peace; the racket is about crimes against the Constitution, crimes against the American people, and crimes against the global community. The racket is even about values that we thought were long settled as reasonable to pursue, like liberty and justice, and economic opportunity, for all. Yes, Sojourner, there's a lot out of kilter now, but these two women, Rosa and me, joined by all the men and women in this room, are going to do our best to turn this country right side up again.

And just like the women and men at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 who declared their independence from the Old Order, I celebrated my birthday last year by doing something I had done a dozen times in my head, but had never done publicly: I declared my independence from every bomb dropped, every threat leveled, every civil liberties rollback, every child killed, every veteran maimed, every man tortured, and the national leadership that let this happen. At that pro-peace rally in front of the Pentagon, I noted that nowhere on the Democratic Party's Congressional Agenda for their first 100 days in the majority was any mention at all of a livable wage, the right of return for Katrina survivors, repealing the Patriot Acts, the Secret Evidence Act, the Military Commissions Act, or bringing our troops home now. Nowhere on the Congressional Democrats' agenda was an investigation into the Pentagon's "loss" of $2.3 trillion that Rumsfeld admitted to just before September 11th. And nowhere was there any plan to get that money back for jobs, health care, education, and for veterans. Not even repeal of the Bush tax cuts that have helped to usher in, according to some, levels of income inequality not experienced in this country since the Great Depression. And instead of Articles of Impeachment to hold the criminals accountable, impeachment was taken "off the table."

And so, taking these words directly from our own Declaration of Independence, and from the Seneca Falls document "it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it."

There is no doubt that the people of this country and in the global community are suffering from Washington, D.C.'s policies today.

Even as the ice in the Arctic Ocean reportedly was melting, the United States was obstructing an international discussion of climate change goals-setting for 2020 at the recently-concluded G-8 Summit. Even while George Bush has made himself an international climate change villain by not signing onto the Kyoto Protocol, his own scientists at the U.S. Climate Change Science Program have predicted more heat waves, intense rains, increased drought, and stronger hurricanes to affect the U.S. due to the worsening effects of climate change.

Public policy can be our friend or it can be our foe in understanding and working through the immense changes our planet is undergoing. We the voters, the activists, the policy wonks, the candidates, and the elected officials all have a role to play in making public policy. As I have said so many times during this campaign for the Green Party nomination, politics is not a beauty contest; it is not a fashion show; it is not a horse race. Politics is the authoritative allocation of values in a society. Politics is about values being reflected in public policy. It is about having power over public policy. And we engage in the political process because we want our values reflected in public policy.

Had the Green Party's values been reflected in public policy since the beginnings of the Green Party in this country, the United States would have long ago implemented a livable wage; there would be no civil liberties erosion; diversity would be respected, appreciated and welcomed; education would be interesting and relevant to students' lives and no student would graduate from college $100,000 in debt in a Green Party USA because education, not incarceration and militarization, would be subsidized by the state.

In a Green Party USA, health care would be provided for everyone here through a single payer, Medicare-for-all type health care system. We would have no homeless men and women sleeping on our streets and everyone who could work would have work. Rebuilding our infrastructure, manufacturing green technology, retooling our economy so that those who protect us, train us, heal us and prepare us for tomorrow are compensated in what is their true value to our culture and our society, based on their contribution to our civilization.

Vietnam War-era veterans would be our last war veterans because we would never have been engaged in war and occupation against Afghanistan and Iraq. We would forego imperial designs on our neighbors to the north and south, never building any wall of division, not ever encroaching on their geographic or cultural sovereignty.

In fact, if Green Party values were now reflected in U.S. public policy, our country not only would not be engaged in war and occupation, there would be peace in the Middle East based on self-determination, respect for human rights, and justice. We would strive to perfect our democracy at home through election integrity and no one would be denied their rightful place in our Union due to discrimination. Our neighbors in the global community would look up to us for our cultural and technological accomplishments.

We would have apologized for genocide against the indigenous peoples of this land and the abomination of chattel slavery. Our country would have dignity on the world stage and in every international forum, and no one in this country would be made to live in fear.

Oh, if it could be true: that the values of the Green Party were reflected in the Federal Government's public policy. Let me wake up and snap out of my reverie. Yes, today's reality is harsh. Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition, lying, spying, war, stolen elections, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, New Orleans, poverty, racial profiling, Sean Bell, the San Francisco 8, Benton Harbor's Reverend Pinkney, the Holy Land Foundation, 9/11/01.

Embargo, blockade, friendly fire, depleted uranium, white phosphorus, cluster bombs, bunker busters, shock and awe.

Predatory lending, mortgage crisis, foreclosures, a country $53 trillion in debt. And while Bear Stearns gets a bailout, you and I sink or swim.

Harsh? Today's reality is harsh. But what's even harder for many to accept and admit is that our quality of life today is the making of the Democratic and Republican Parties.

What our country has become through their public policy is reflective of their values.

We will never get a United States that is reflective of different values if we continue to do the same thing. Those who delivered us into this mess cannot be trusted to get us out of it.

That's why I signed up to do something I've never done before so I can have something I've never had before: My country, made in the likeness of the values of the Green Party.

When my father first started out in the world of politics in Georgia, he began as a Republican, because Georgia Democrats would not allow blacks to vote in their primaries. Some of my father's closest friends today are still Republicans because of that history. My father served 30 years in the Georgia Legislature as a Democrat. Because of him, I served 4 years in the Georgia Legislature, where we were the country's only father daughter legislative team. And then I went to Congress and served 12 years working with the Democratic Party and its current leadership representing the State of Georgia.

My son grew up playing on the Floor underneath my desk in the Chamber of the Georgia House of Representatives. His buddies were the legislators down there, under the Gold Dome, who were my and my father's colleagues.

My mother is the genteel Southern lady who keeps our family glued together. A nurse by profession, a nurturer by instinct, she could patch over all the times I had a political disagreements with my Dad and it ended up being discussed, not only at the family dinner table, but also on the evening news.

My father and I stumped for candidates, and helped keep Georgia in the Democratic Party fold, until on my election night in 2002, I was forced to admit that the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me. Both my father and I were put out of office after being targeted by a convergence of special interests operating in both the Democratic and Republican parties. In November of 2002, after the Primary Election losses of my father and me, Georgia went Republican: the first time since Reconstruction. With all kinds of certainty, I can say that my father and I, we McKinneys, we know too well how both the Republican and Democratic Parties operate.

And that's why I know we need an opposition party in this country. With over 200 elected officials already, the Green Party can become this country's premier opposition Party. One thing is clear, Democratic and Republican values are not Green Party values. And honestly, I believe, Green Party values are the values held by the majority in this country. And through our vigorous Power to the People campaign, we will proclaim our presence to every nook and cranny of this country. We are needed now, more than ever and here's an example of why.

It is hard to not hear the warning signs of a new war: a war against Iran. Dick Cheney told us to expect war for the next generation. The Republicans launched this war economy and their presumptive nominee said that we could stay in Iraq for the next 100 years and even sang a song for the bombing of Iran. The Democratic majority in Congress just voted to fund the war into 2009 and has 200 sponsors on a bill that declares war on Iran by calling for a naval blockade. A naval blockade is a declaration of war. The Democratic presumptive nominee wants to increase the size of the overused military and the budget for an already-bloated and wasteful Pentagon. I am the only candidate who has consistently voted against the Pentagon budget, voted against the war in Iraq, and I voted against the bills that funded it. The Green Party was against the war when it started, is against the war now, and is against any military action against Iran that might take place tomorrow. The Green Party is a peace party. A Green vote is a peace vote.

Not a word has been mentioned in this political season about the disparities that exist within our country with the recognition that public policy can erase them. And even though for the first time a woman and an African-American were being taken seriously in national primaries, a real discussion of race and gender has been studiously avoided on all sides. At a time when the United States is under review, itself, by the United Nations for its poor record on domestic respect for human rights, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a real discussion of race and gender is needed now more than ever. On some indices, according to United for a Fair Economy, the racial disparities that exist today are worse than at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Right here in Chicago, Hull House reported that it would take 200 years, without a public policy intervention from elected leadership, for the quality of life experienced by black Chicagoans to equal that of white Chicagoans.

Women are still the overwhelming profile of the minimum wage worker in this country. 65% of all minimum wage workers are women, according to 2005 statistics. Despite the law, women still go to work every day, performing the same tasks as men, yet bring home less pay than their male counterparts. Asian-American and Pacific Island women make 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, but African-American women earn only 72 cents and my Latina sisters earn only 60 cents for every dollar earned by men. Overall, according to 2007 statistics, women with similar education, skills, and experience are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Equal pay for equal work is not yet a reality for working women in this country. And the glass ceiling is all too real.

I'm very proud of my second cousin, Shont=E9, whose mother, a divorce, raised her pretty much as a single mother. Shonte's mother, Shara, understood the value of her child getting a good education and helped her as much as she could with university tuition. The rest Shonte was able to secure by working on campus and in student loans. Shont=E9 graduated from college, and then took a one-year Master's program in Social Work, and now wants to get her Ph.D. But she's already over $90,000 in debt. It doesn't have to be this way and we don't have to accept it. In other countries around the world, higher education is valued and is made affordable to all who want it. Only a sick government would place a banker in-between a student and her teacher.

An insurance lobbyist in-between a patient and his doctor.

Lying and spying before 9/11 Truth and the Constitution.

Only a sick government would place a wealthy family and their huge corporation and its genetically-modified frankenfood peddled by force in-between us and the organic food that's healthy for us to eat and that farmers would prefer to grow.

Only a sick government would do this.

And I am no longer willing to trust the ones who are responsible for getting us into this mess to provide the solution to get us out of it.

The Green Party long ago took a stand for racial justice: against profiling, against police brutality, against discrimination of any sort, and for reparations stemming from the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Green Party long ago took a stand for gender equity.

The Green Party long ago took a stand against all discrimination.

The Green Party is a justice party. A Green vote is a justice vote.

And the day after the election, if voters have been disfranchised and don't believe the announced election results, it will be the Green Party that will be there, as it was in 2004, to demand election integrity.

It is for all these reasons and more that I redeclare my goals in the language of my sisters who convened at Seneca Falls, NY 160 years ago. They wrote:

"It is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." That declaration not only avoids the politics of the past, it contains a kernel for the future. How can those new guards for the future be won?

Here's how:

When I was first running for Congress and it was the year of the woman, women all over the country were saying, "We want our seat at the table." And when I got to Washington, I saw that policy was really made in a room, at a table. There were real seats at the table. Well, imagine what has happened to public policy making now.

There is a real room, with a window and a door and there's two seats at the table. The window is for us to look through while our representatives make policy for us so we can see what they're doing. At the table, one seat is for the Democrats and one seat is for the Republicans. Now, we don't know who did it, but one of them put a lock on the door and slipped a key to the corporate lobbyists who can come and go at will and whisper what they want to the Democrats, and then whisper what they want to the Republicans, and the result is that we the people, who pay for those seats and determine who sits in them, want one thing, but because the corporate lobbyists can come and go at will, our values get overridden and our representatives give us something else. That's how we end up with everyone saying they're against the war and occupation, but war and occupation still gets funding.

That's how we end up with everyone saying they're against illegal spying on innocent people, yet end up with a telecom immunity bill being signed into law.

That's how we end up with everyone saying they're in favor of universal access to health care and no one supporting what the physicians, nurses, and health care providers support, and that's a single payer health care system in this country.

That's why my cousin and so many other students in this country face staggering personal debt just to get an education, yet our elected representatives keep voting to spend 720 million dollars a day on war and occupation, war crimes, and crimes against the peace.

Now, if we can entice people who have stopped voting because they see the system as rigged, to become active again, and to vote Green . . .

If we can convince those first-time voters from the previous two Presidential elections, though they might be discouraged because they saw their vote obstructed and then not counted while neither of the big parties fought to protect them, if we can convince them to vote Green . . . If we can convince those who see two parties, but only one political agenda, to vote Green, then it is possible for the Green Party to get 5% of the national vote.

5% of the vote makes the Green Party, not a minor party in the eyes of the federal government, but a major party.

5% confers on the Green Party major party status. And with that 5%, we can pull up another chair at the table of public policy making. It only takes 5% of those who vote, including the near majority who don't vote, to come out for a Green Party President and then we will have an official third party in this country, and public policy that truly reflects our values. Now, I'm known for taking bold positions, based on my own research, that have put me ahead of the curve. I was there on private militaries hired by the Pentagon and our State Department long before Blackwater began patrolling the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I was there on corporate accountability and military contracting scandals before Iraq and Afghanistan.

I was there on enlisted members' and veterans' rights and health issues, like forced vaccinations and conscientious objection.

I was there on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita recovery and detoxification, restoration, and return issues.

I was there on 9/11 foreknowledge.

And I put impeachment "on the table."

I'm not afraid to address the issues that no one else will dare to talk about.

I'm not afraid to speak truth to empower.

Let me close with this.

Don't expect me to keep a count of the major party flip flops from now to November. I'm sure there will be many. But, in the end, that's not the important issue to understand. What is more fundamental to understand is this: the other political parties find themselves in this flip-flop predicament because they have to appear to share our values while they serve someone else's.

The Green Party doesn't have to engage in shapeshifting because the Green Party is funded by and belongs to you.

All over the world, Green Party members are working as elected leaders in government to make public policy reflect our Green values. Wangari Mathai, former Parliamentarian from Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Green Party member. Ingrid Betancourt, recently released hostage in Colombia, former Senator and Presidential candidate. Green Party member. Green Party members make public policy at the national level on every Continent, but not yet in our country.

Twenty years ago, Green party activists saw through this two-party box that voters have been put into in this country and started the Green Party here. And what we have to remember is this: whatever it is that we want in the realm of public policy, we can get if we have the right elected officials in office. Nothing for us is impossible. Politics is about shared values being reflected in public policy. And these Green party candidates standing with me are the right kind of people who will implement the right kind of public policy that reflects our shared values.

Voters in this country are scared into not voting their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations. But in Bolivia and Ecuador and Argentina and Chile and Nicaragua and Spain, and India and Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti, voters were not afraid to vote their hopes and dreams and guess, what. Their dreams came true. Ours can, too.

Every one of you in this room today and each of the individuals I've met and communicated with online across our country has made a difference in my life. And moreover, the 5% who will vote for us, will help us make a positive difference in the lives of people around the world. Who we are makes a difference. What we do makes a difference.

We are in this to build a movement. We are willing to struggle for as long as it takes to have our values prevail in public policy. A vote for the Green Party is a vote for the movement that will turn this country right side up again.

I want to invite everyone who shares our values to join our Power to the People campaign. C-Span viewers can learn more about us at www.runcynthiarun.org. I want to work with the nominees of the other small political parties so we can form a united front. I'm asking for your vote because in reality the only "wasted" vote is a vote against conscience, a vote against our dreams. Vote your dreams, Vote your conscience. Vote our future. Vote Green.

Thank you, Green Party, for granting Rosa and me this supreme honor. Now let's go out there and get busier. We've got a lot of work to do.

Power to the People! Bob Barr 2008 Bob Barr 2008 May 12, 2008










NEWS CONFERENCE WITH FORMER REPRESENTATIVE BOB BARR (R-GA) TO ANNOUNCE HIS CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENT REPRESENTING THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY DATE: MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008

MR. BARR: Thank you. If you all could scoot in a little bit.

Russ, thank you very much. We are indeed honored to have heading up our team Russ Verney. For those of you who have not had, as I have had and as Jerry has had, the pleasure of meeting and now working with Russ Verney, he has tremendous experience running not only national campaigns but third-party campaigns as well.

When we searched the length and breadth of the country to find somebody who really could put together a winning effort, who had the winning attitude and who had the knowledge and the background and the history of how to do this, there was one name that was always at the top of everybody’s list, and that is Russ Verney.

Russ, thank you very much for heading up our effort here. Thank you.

My name is Bob Barr, and I am a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. (Applause.) I will be seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party, for which I am a proud life member. And my wife Jeri is here and one of our sons, Derek, who works with me in my Atlanta office, and a number of other friends and colleagues, many of whom were introduced to you by Russ Verney just a few moments ago.

You might say, “Bob Barr, why are you running for president? Isn’t there a field already out there? Don’t we already have candidates out there? Aren’t the issues already being discussed? Will not there be a fair debate of the issues that are important, not just to the American people today but to their children and their grandchildren?”

And the answer is no, we do not. We do not have a field of candidates, currently or anywhere on the horizon, that understands and will raise the issues that are important to the great heritage of America, the history of this great land, the principles on which this great land was founded, the principles of fiscal conservancy, and who will work dramatically to help reshape this country in the image of our Founding Fathers and in the image of all those who have given so much to preserve liberty and freedom in this land.

And that is why, after very careful consideration, after having traveled many, many miles and many more on the Internet — taking lessons from my son Derek here, who is the millennial generation and who knows what the Internet is; he has taught me a great deal — but after having spent, over the last several weeks since we formed our exploratory committee in America’s heartland, I have heard from Americans from all walks of life, both here and abroad.

I just returned, for example, last evening from a debate in the UK, in the United Kingdom, and met several Americans over there who were students. And I heard the same thing from them as I hear from Americans here in this great land of ours, and that is, they want a choice. They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us.

And the reason for that is very simple. They believe in America as I believe in America. We believe in an America that is not and should not be and should never be driven by fear, as current policies on behalf of both parties are in this country. America is a nation formed on courage. It is a nation formed on the power to take risks and to reap the tremendous rewards that come from taking risks.

It is not a country that likes to operate in the cocoon of government power and government stability and government security. Indeed, as one looks across the policy landscape nowadays, one sees not only a lack of discussion of the true problems that face us, and not only superficial solutions that are served up to a somnambulant public, but we see solutions that bear little relationship at all indeed to the principles on which our country was founded, those great constitutional principles that used to have some currency here in Washington, principles such as habeas corpus, the great writ which has fallen into such disrepute under the current administration; principles such as separation of powers, which used to stand for that balancing of powers and keeping powers in check, but yet which similarly has fallen into great disrepute in Washington these days on behalf of both parties; principles such as the rule of law rather than the rule of men, which likewise has been discarded as inconvenient and a quaint notion on the part of the current leadership in Washington.

And this has all had the effect of giving us a government that has run amok fiscally, as the American people see their standard of living dropping. They are bothered by the fact, as I am bothered by the fact, that the standard of their government keeps going up.

I mean, indeed, the figures speak for themselves. During the first three months, during the first quarter of this year, as American businesses, large and small, were losing nearly 300,000 jobs, guess who was hiring. Guess where employment was going up: Government, to the tune of nearly 80,000 jobs. During that same period of time that Americans were losing their jobs in the private sector, government was hiring with enthusiasm.

The American people are bothered by this. As they see their dollar diminishing in value, both at home and abroad, they see no change in Washington’s appetite for their money. The debt is rising to historic levels. The deficit is rising. The budget stands at well over $3 trillion, bloated by such programs as subsidies for agricultural producers, the majority of which go to people and families with incomes in excess of $200,000.

These things bother the American people. They deserve better. They know they deserve better. I believe they deserve better. And the Libertarian Party deserves they believe (sic) better. They believe that they deserve a president who will actually stand up to the forces here in Washington, somebody who is not a part of that fraternity that has given us the crop of current candidates, who will stand up, as precious few presidents previously have, to the powers in Washington that want more, more, more, and say no; who, during his first year in office, his first days in office, will order a freeze on discretionary spending, will then seek to dramatically cut the size, the scope, the power of the federal government, not just in terms of the American taxpayers’ dollars that it spends, but in terms of the power of the American individual that it robs.

So this is a brief overview of those reasons that have gone into the decision-making process that bring me here today to our nation’s capital to announce my candidacy for the presidency of the United States of America.

I am a competitor. The American people are competitors. For far too long, they have been treated as serfs, not competitors, not peers, not equals. We aim to change this. And with the help of the American people, led by the team that Russ Verney has already begun putting together with Doug Bandow and others that have been introduced to you, and many more, we intend to succeed so that in November America will have and see a president who will then be sworn into office on January 20th of 2009 who believes that power resides and vests and shall be returned to the people of this land, not simply the power over their economic future here in this country, where Americans have seen the standards of living of their children being educated — diminished — even as we have an administration that champions the increase in educational standards in faraway lands.

The American people want to be once again in control of their lives, not beholden to those abroad who loan us money so that we can then engage in adventures overseas.

This will be a difficult process, not just the electoral process but the process of governing, of changing the direction of the ship of state that, under Democrat and Republicans alike, in almost similar measure, cycle after cycle after cycle, has simply added to rather than solved the problems that we currently see before us.

We appreciate very much you all coming here today, and we’ll be delighted to answer any questions that you all have. And as Russ mentioned, if there are questions — excuse me — if there are questions that relate to the specifics of the campaign, please see Russ about those.

He is in the process of putting together the team that will lead us through not just the Libertarian Party process, which will culminate in just a couple of weeks in the nomination process, which we’re confident of winning, but then thereafter over the ensuing months to victory in November.

Thank you. Ralph Nader 2008 Ralph Nader 2008 February 24, 2008










Nader Launches Presidential Bid

Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 02:23:00 PM

Washington, D.C. – Ralph Nader today threw his hat into the 2008 Presidential ring.

Nader announced his candidacy on NBC’s Meet the Press with Tim Russert.

At the same time, the Nader campaign launched a web site – votenader.org.

The campaign web site highlights twelve fundamental differences between the Nader campaign and the corporate Republicans and corporate Democrats.

In a letter posted on the campaign web site this morning, titled Civics Test, a group of Nader supporters ask:

“Of the following Presidential candidates – Ralph Nader, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain – which one supports a single payer, Canadian style, free choice, Medicare for all health care system?

Answer: Ralph Nader

Which one supports solar energy and would take nuclear power off the table?

Answer: Ralph Nader

Which one would cut the huge bloated wasteful military budget?

Answer: Ralph Nader

Which one would reverse U.S. Middle East policy in Israel/Palestine, Iraq and Iran?

Answer: Ralph Nader

Which one would launch an aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare?

Answer: Again, only Ralph Nader.”

A separate letter, titled “Mr Frugal,” agrees that Hillary Clinton’s campaign spending $3.8 million in January on one consultant alone was “stunning.”

“Give our candidate – we call him Mr. Frugal – $3.8 million and he’ll get us on the ballot all across this country,” the letter reads.

The web site encourages people to join a Road Trip for Ralph – where volunteers will travel the country, getting Nader on the ballot in all fifty states.

On Meet the Press, Nader said that “dissent is the mother of assent.”

Nader said people are feeling “locked out, shut out, marginalized and disrespected.”

“You go from Iraq, to Palestine to Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bumbling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts (for the wealthy).”

“In that context, I have decided to run for president,” Nader told Russert.

Nader called Obama “the first liberal evangelist in a long time.”

But Nader said that Obama is censoring his better instincts.

“Senator Obama’s record has not been a challenging one,” Nader said. “He’s not been a Senator Wellstone or Senator Abourezk or Senator Metzenbaum by any means. He has leaned, if anything, more toward the pro-corporate side of policymaking. The issue is – do they have the moral courage? Do they have the fortitude to stand up against the corporate powers and get things done? Yes, get things done for the American people?”

Matt Gonzalez is Nader’s Vice Presidential Running Mate

Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 12:06:00 PM

For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 28, 2008

Contact Press Office: 202.360.3273

Matt Gonzalez is Ralph Nader’s Vice Presidential running mate.

In 2000, Gonzalez was elected to the 11 member San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which supervises a city with a budget of $6 billion. He became President of the Board three years later.

Gonzalez worked as a deputy public defender in San Francisco from 1991 2000, developing extensive trial experience.

Gonzalez is a 1987 graduate of Columbia University and a 1990 graduate of Stanford Law School.

At a press conference in Washington, D.C., Nader said that he first met Mr. Gonzalez during an anti-Iraq war speaking tour in California.

“I found him to be unwavering in his principles and committed to his politics with clear eloquence and humane logic,” Nader said. “I wanted someone who served in government and who knows what kind of challenges our cities face and who has a record of accomplishment in areas such as election reform, criminal justice, and the creation of the highest minimum wage in the country.”

“He profoundly understands that what we are trying to do is make this a better, stonger democracy,” Nader said. “We're both honored to be running together and look forward to addressing issues, conditions, and solutions ignored by the other major party candidates.”

Nader said that he chose Gonzalez because he “wanted someone who shares my sense of justice and opposition to the corporate state control over our society.”

“I wanted someone who is ready and able to stand up and fight the good fight,” Nader said. “I chose Matt Gonzalez because he's demonstrated – through his legal, civic, and political career – his steadfast commitment to the values and directions that have characterized my work and hopes for our country and its role in the world.”

Source: Ralph Nader for President Fred Thompson 2008 Fred Thompson 2008 September 6, 2007










FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 6, 2007

Full Transcript of Fred Thompson's Webcast Announcement

McLean, VA - Last night, after appearing on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Fred Thompson launched a webcast in which he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Presidency on his website, www.Fred08.com. Below is the full transcript of the webcast:


Fred Thompson Announcement Speech


"My friends, I come to you today to tell you that I intend to run for President. I feel deeply that I am doing it for the right reasons. I love my country and I am concerned about its future. Just within the next few years, some very serious challenges are moving towards us that will present a difficult and dangerous time in the life of our nation. There are grave issues affecting the safety and security of the American people and our economic well being. I'm going to do my level best in this campaign to address these problems. I'm going to give this campaign all that I have to give, and I hope that you will join me.

"My story is an American story - like one of many our country has produced - where a small town kid of modest means and modest goals grows up to realize that he has been a very lucky person. Lucky to have been born in America, lucky to have had the parents I had and lucky to have had a few people in my life who sometimes saw more in me than I saw in myself.

"I have seen my country from a lot of different vantage points. I was a teenage husband and had three wonderful children early. I have worked for minimum wages, for salaries more than I ever thought I would make, and for everything in between. I have had dinners on the factory floor, while working the graveyard shift, and I have dined with world leaders in foreign capitals.

"As a lawyer, I have been a federal prosecutor and a counsel for the Watergate Committee. In private practice a courageous woman and the jury trial that we had against a corrupt state administration resulted in a movie. I was asked to play myself, which started a most unlikely part time film career.

"Then a Senate seat opened up in Tennessee. For me it represented an opportunity for public service, not for a new career as a politician. So I set aside my law practice and the movies, placed term limits on myself, and won two elections by 20 point margins in a state that President Clinton carried twice.

"In 1994 when I first ran, I advocated the same common sense conservative positions that I hold today. They are based upon what I believe to be sound conservative First Principles - reflecting the nature of man and the wisdom of the ages. They are based upon the conviction that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are not outdated documents that have outlived their usefulness. It is a recognition that our basic rights come from God and not from government. That government should have its power divided, not only at the federal level but between the federal government and the states. Federalism is the belief that not every problem should have a federal solution. Essentially it's about freedom. A government that is big enough to do everything for us is powerful enough to do anything to us.

"These principles lead me to believe in lower taxes, which foster growth and leave more power in the hands of the people. They also respect free markets, private property, and fair competition. They honor the sanctity of life - the great truth every life matters, and no person is beneath the protection of the law. These principles made our country great and we should rededicate ourselves to them, not abandon them.

"Now to my Republican friends, I point out that in 1992 we were down after a Clinton victory. In 1994 our conservative principles led us to a comeback and majority control of the Congress. Now you don't want to have to come back from another Clinton victory. Our country needs us to win next year, and I am ready to lead that effort.

"When I went to the Senate, I wanted to help accomplish certain things that I thought were necessary and achievable. I wanted to balance the budget, cut taxes, reform welfare, require Congress to live under the laws that they had imposed on others and I wanted to begin modernizing of our military. We were able to get those things done. I also took a leadership role in the passage of the homeland security bill, and blocked export control legislation that would have allowed the sale of our sensitive technology to unreliable countries. As Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, I led an investigation and held hearings on the failure and shortcomings of our government. This resulted in a two volume work that I published in 2001, entitled "Government at the Brink" and still available on the Internet. It outlined these deficiencies and made recommendations to cut waste and save billions. Now these problems have only grown worse since that time. I served on the Intelligence Committee and saw close up the importance of improving our intelligence capabilities in our fight against terrorism and got a good sense of other troubles over the horizon.

"In 2002 I announced that I would not run for re-election and I re-entered private life. While my television work on "Law & Order" got more attention, I stayed involved in national security issues including service as Chairman of the International Security Advisory Board at the State Department.

"One of the most rewarding experiences I had was when President Bush asked me to assist now Chief Justice John Roberts through the Senate confirmation process. It is very important that the next President appoint federal judges who interpret the Constitution, not try to make it fit their own personal or political views. I have seen both kinds of judges, and I know the difference.

"A guy can do a lot of things and travel the world but find that the most important things in life occur under his own roof. I married a wonderful lady during my last year in the Senate and the following year we found out that we were going to be parents. I knew from the moment I heard the news that we had been blessed. How true it was. Our little girl, Hayden, who will tell you she is three and three-quarters years old, now has a little brother. His name is Sammy and he is 10 months old. Earlier this year when I thought about whether I should enter this r ace, I kept coming back to 2 questions. First, what kind of country are our children and grandchildren going to grow up in and second, how many people have the opportunity to do something about it?

"That leads me here and why I'm talking to you today. On the next President's watch, our country will be making decisions that will affect our lives and our families far into the future. We cannot allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation. Today as in past generations, the fate of millions across the world depends on the unity and resolve of the American people.

"The specter of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of our worst enemies continues to grow, and still we have yet to really come to terms with the nature and extent of the threat we are facing from radical Islamic terrorism. These extremists look at this war as a long struggle that has been going on for centuries; they are willing to take as long as necessary to bring the United States and our allies to our knees, while killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, if possible. Iraq and Afghanistan are current fronts in this war and the world watches as our will is tested. Our courage as a people must match that of the brave men and wo men in uniform fighting for us. We must do everything in our power to achieve success and make sure that they and their families' sacrifices are not made in vain. They know that if we abandon our efforts or appear weak and divided, we will pay a heavy price for it in the future. Some of our leaders in Congress need to understand this as well.

"In this broader war with this different kind of enemy, our success cannot always be measured by battlefield victories. Success will depend upon the determination of the American people and that's why we'll win. There is a courage that comes in unity. Now is the time to show that America united can overcome any danger, and America united can complete any mission.

"Before the end of my senate service, in the year after 9/11, I saw the Congress of the United States at its best - alert to danger and focused on duty. We need to recover that clarity and conviction in matters of national security. The threat of catastrophic violence in America is real and the terrorists aren't going away of their own accord. We must deploy every resource including diplomacy, intelligence, and economic power to defend this nation and our national interests. If I am Commander in Chief, this country will never be left to the mercy of terror regimes or terror states.

"We have challenges on the home front as well. Before long we will have spent the Social Security surplus and will see the "baby boomers" begin to retire. On our present course, deficit financing will saddle future generations with enormous taxes, jeopardize our economy and endanger our retirement programs. The Government Accountability Office, the Comptroller of the United States, and conservative and liberal economists alike, tell us that this path is economically unsustainable. Bipartisan leadership must address th is issue as part of a national conversation, remembering that those yet to be born also have a seat at the table. After all, it's their money that we are spending, and it is economic security that's in the balance.

"Other important issues face our country. Our dependence upon foreign oil, especially from trouble spots in the Middle East and elsewhere, endangers our national security as well as our economy. For 50 years nearly every recession has been associated with a spike in oil prices. "What we need is another spike in American creativity and innovation. Over the past several years we have had revolutions in our communications, science, and medical fields. We need to revive that same American know-how for our energy security, along with a willingness to avail ourselves of the energy sources we already have r ight here at home.

"In education, schools continue to fail our children and endanger America's future competitiveness. Increasing amounts of federal funding and government mandates have not resulted in real improvement. The federal government can assist state and localities through grants with fewer strings and less bureaucracy but should not take schools out of the hands of parents and local officials. We should encourage the rights of parents to choose the school and what's best for their child's education.

"Rising health care costs are another major problem. We have the best health care in the world but we are paying more than we should for it. We have a massive bureaucracy in both the private and public health care sectors that controls costs by dictating what services we are allowed to get and when. Someone has to decide what costs are worth the money. It can be the government, the insurance company or it can be you. I think it is best if you, yourself decide what is best for you and your family, with insurance that doesn't have to depend on your employ ment - coverage that you can take with you if you change jobs; insurance that you may purchase from anywhere in the nation for the best value. This would be market driven and would make health insurance affordable for more Americans.

"When we look to Washington, we see a bureaucratized government that is increasingly unable or unwilling to carry out basic governmental functions, including the fundamental responsibility of securing our borders against illegal immigration and enforcing our laws. A nation that can't protect its border will no longer be a sovereign nation. We see a Congress more politicized and divided than ever and disconnected from the American people. Is this the government that some would have play an even greater role in running our lives? We must do better.

"I know that reform is possible in Washington because I have seen it done. I do not accept it as a fact of life beyond our power to change that the federal government must go on expanding more, taxing more, and spending more forever.

"We, the American people, must assert ourselves. In times of stress and peril in this country's history, including world wars, a great depression, assassinations and attacks, other generations have put their differences aside, remembered their common beliefs and overcame great obstacles. And we have come out stronger and wiser for it. Now it's our turn. No one person, including the President, has the ability or wisdom to singlehandedly solve these problems. Nor does one party. But together the American people do. These problems will be dealt with when our leaders come together, as adults, and honestly seek solutions that extend past the next election cycle. That will happen when, and only when, the American people demand it. You can do that at the ballot box and no election is more important than the one for president. It demands a leader who understands this country, our people and what America's priorities ought to be.

"Recently, I talked to a young Marine at Walter Reed Hospital. He had lost both legs in Iraq but was looking to the future. I asked him what he planned to do? He said he wanted to work with a nonprofit organization that was doing a lot to help people. Then he looked at me and said 'I just thought it was time I gave something back.'

"That young man, who has given so much for America and yet still asks to give more, is typical of the men and women of the United States armed forces. Our country has shed more blood for the freedom of other people than all the other countries in the world combined. We are steeped in the tradition of honor and sacrifice for the greater good. We are proud of this heritage. I believe that Americans are once again ready to achieve this greater good: which is nothing less than the security, prosperity, and unity of our country.

"That's the belief that this campaign is based upon. I'd appreciate your support of this cause and any contribution you're able to give. I'll try to make you proud that you did it.

"Thank you and may God bless all of us."



Excerpts of Fred Thompson's Announcement Webcast

McLean, VA - Tonight at midnight, Fred Thompson will be launching a webcast in which he announces his candidacy for the U.S. Presidency at his website, www.Fred08.com. Below are excerpts, embargoed until 12:01 am on September 6th:

"My friends, I come to you today to tell you that I intend to run for President. I feel deeply that I am doing it for the right reasons. I love my country and I am concerned about its future. Just within the next few years, some very serious challenges are moving towards us that will present a difficult and dangerous time in the life of our nation. There are grave issues affecting the safety and security of the American people and our economic well being. I'm going to do my level best in this campaign to address these problems. I'm going to give this campaign all that I have to give, and I hope that you will join me.

"My story is an American story - like one of many our country has produced- where a small town kid of modest means and modest goals grows up to realize that he has been a very lucky person. Lucky to have been born in America, lucky to have had the parents I had and lucky to have had a few people in my life who sometimes saw more in me than I saw in myself. I have seen my country from a lot of different vantage points. I was a teenage husband and had three wonderful children early. I have worked for minimum wages, for salaries more than I ever thought I would make, and for everything in between. I have had dinners on the factory floor, while working the graveyard shift, and I have dined with world leaders in foreign capitals."

***

"In 1994 when I first ran, I advocated the same common sense conservative positions that I hold today. They are based upon what I believe to be sound conservative First Principles - reflecting the nature of man and the wisdom of the ages. They are based upon the conviction that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are not outdated documents that have outlived their usefulness. It is a recognition that our basic rights come from God and not from government. That government should have its power divided, not only at the federal level but between the federal government and the states. Federalism is the belief that not every problem should have a federal solution. Essentially it's about freedom. A government that is big enough to do everything for us is powerful enough to do anything to us."

***

"Now to my Republican friends, I point out that in 1992 we were down after a Clinton victory. In 1994 our conservative principles led us to a comeback and majority control of the Congress. Now you don't want to have to come back from another Clinton victory. Our country needs us to win next year, and I am ready to lead that effort."

***

"The specter of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of our worst enemies continues to grow, and still we have yet to really come to terms with the nature and extent of the threat we are facing from radical Islamic terrorism. These extremists look at this war as a long struggle that has been going on for centuries; they are willing to take as long as necessary to bring the United States and our allies to our knees, while killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, if possible.


"Iraq and Afghanistan are current fronts in this war and the world watches as our will is tested. Our courage as a people must match that of the brave men and women in uniform fighting for us. We must do everything in our power to achieve success and make sure that they and their families' sacrifices are not made in vain. They know that if we abandon our efforts or appear weak and divided, we will pay a heavy price for it in the future. Some of our leaders in Congress need to understand this as well."

***

"When we look to Washington, we see a bureaucratized government that is increasingly unable or unwilling to carry out basic governmental functions, including the fundamental responsibility of securing our borders against illegal immigration and enforcing our laws. A nation that can't protect its border will no longer be a sovereign nation. We see a Congress more politicized and divided than ever and disconnected from the American people. Is this the government that some would have play an even greater role in running our lives? We must do better.


"I know that reform is possible in Washington because I have seen it done. I do not accept it as a fact of life beyond our power to change that the federal government must go on expanding more, taxing more, and spending more forever.

"We, the American people, must assert ourselves. In times of stress and peril in this country's history, including world wars, a great depression, assassinations and attacks, other generations have put their differences aside, remembered their common beliefs and overcame great obstacles. And we have come out stronger and wiser for it. Now it's our turn. No one person, including the President, has the ability or wisdom to singlehandedly solve these problems. Nor does one party. But together the American people do.

"These problems will be dealt with when our leaders come together, as adults, and honestly seek solutions that extend past the next election cycle. That will happen when, and only when, the American people demand it. You can do that at the ballot box and no election is more important than the one for president. It demands a leader who understands this country, our people and what America's priorities ought to be."

###



September 7, 2007



Fred Thompson's Des Moines Speech

Thank you.

Wow!

I appreciate you being here.

Thank you, Mack, for that wonderful introduction. As far as I’m concerned it is Mack’s world. What do you think?

That video brings back a lot of old memories. All you young fellas out there with that good-looking head of hair it may not always be there. Enjoy it while you can.

This is a wonderful turnout. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. We’ve got Jeri’s parents, Ron and Vicki Keller here from Naperville, IL over here. I want to thank my in-laws for coming, make sure I do this right. And Aunt Diane and Cousin Jesse from Omaha. So we took this opportunity to have a Midwestern family reunion right here.

I want to tell you how special this day is for us. Special for me. Special for my family. This is the first event of the first day of our campaign for the President of the United States. How special does that get?

And it is so appropriate that we’re right here. Because in case some person somewhere in the United States of America doesn’t know this it all begins in Iowa, and that’s where we wanted to be today.

My friends, I’m not here today because I have had a lifelong ambition to hold the office of the Presidency. Nor do I think I have all the answers for the problems that face this country. I don’t think any person does. But I am a man who loves his country, who is concerned about her future, and knows that in the next years it’s going to require strong leadership. Decisions are going to be made on this next President’s watch that’s going to determine the course of our country for many years to come. And I am determined that we make the decisions that will leave us a stronger nation, a more prosperous nation, and a more united nation. And that’s why I’m running for the Presidency of the United States.

[APPLAUSE]

This whole process for us started around our kitchen table just a few months ago. Now we’ve got a lot of process talk about “oh, you can’t run for President of the United States unless, you know, run for years, unless you raise—I think some of the pundits said—raise $100 million this calendar year.” No possibility of that. But the more we looked at it the more I thought that something special was going on in this country. The more I looked around my house the more it occurred to me what kind of world these kids are going to grow up in. These kids are my grandkids. What kind of country are they going to have when they get a little older? Then I thought, “How often does a man have a chance to do something about that?” So we tested the waters just like we said. We went out to make sure what I was feeling was actually there, and I think it is my friends. I think that the American people have opened up a door of opportunity. There have been doors as you can see from my background all along my way because I was so fortunate to have a wonderful family, wonderful parents, and wonderful people who often times saw more in me than I saw in myself all along my way. And those doors occasionally would open up. And occasionally I’d walk through one because it was a challenge: sometimes a personal one; sometimes for my state; sometimes one for my country.

I feel this is another door to serve the country that I love. So the pre-season is over. Let’s get on with it.

[APPLAUSE]

Now folks, there are many serious issues that are facing this country, and it’s time for some serious conversation about it. I think the American people are ready for that. I think they’re ready for frank conversation. I think they’re ready for forthright conversation, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We don’t know how to do it any other way. It’s not worth doing any other way unless you can do it that way. And we’re going to make sure that at the end of the day if the good Lord is willing we’ll be victorious. But there’s one thing I think we can guarantee and that is at the end of this campaign by doing that we will have done something good for our nation, and our country will be better off for this campaign. And I hope you will help me do that. That is my goal in life.

[APPLAUSE]

As you have seen in this little video—I thought about just running that video again instead of making a speech to tell you the truth; I kind of like that. But my story is an American story, one that’s happened to many times across this great nation of ours, where a kid of modest means from a little town without a whole lot of resources or even a whole lot of ambition when he was a kid had the opportunity to do some great things for his family and hopefully for the people of Tennessee and the people of this country.

I’ve seen it from a lot of different standpoints. I’ve seen it from the factory floor when I was working the graveyard shift and we’d have lunch there on the change of the shifts and I’d be ankle-deep in water at the Murray Ohio Bicycle plant where I was running a machine that was so loud I couldn’t hear myself yell if I wanted to. And I’ve had the opportunity to dine with foreign leaders in foreign capitals around the world and just about everything in between.

And one of the things I focused on kind of early was what I considered to be the most important thing having to do with my country and my country’s future. And as the years passed by unfortunately it gets more and more important. That is our nation’s safety. That is the men, women, and children of this country and where it’s going to be a few years from now.

We’re living in the era of the suitcase bomb. We’re living in an era of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, where a small amount of material getting into the wrong hands can do destruction that we never thought possible before. And they’re more likely than ever to fall into the hands of our worse enemy.

Radical Islam has declared war upon us. Some years ago people didn’t pay much attention to it. We didn’t even recognize the fact that it happened, but we know it now.

They look upon it as something that’s been going on for hundreds of years and as far as they’re concerned they’re willing to take it another hundred years as they methodically move forward massacring innocent people. Bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, who they considered the tougher opponent, and now they’re upon us and all those who would befriend us around the world.

Iraq is a part of that conflict but Iraq is not that conflict. That conflict will be with us unfortunately long after Iraq is in our rear view mirror, and the whole world watches and waits as the determination of the American people is tested.

My friends, if we show weakness and division we will pay a heavy price for it in the future. We must show the determination that we are going to be united as an American people and do whatever is necessary to prevail not only in Iraq but in the worldwide conflict that lies beyond Iraq.

[APPLAUSE]

We have the bravest young people in the world fighting for us, and we have to match their commitment and determination here at home. You talk to them in these hospitals, the ones who have been grievously wounded, their biggest concern is getting back to the folks that they left back and concerned that their wounds are so great that they might not be allowed to do that. It’s magnificent, and every waking moment of a commander-in-chief should be to make sure that people like that’s efforts are and their family’s sacrifices are not made in vain. And I don’t intend that to be.

[APPLAUSE]

Meanwhile, back at home the politicians have been quite busy, quite busy spending the next generation’s money. Pretty soon we will have spent the Social Security surplus and the Baby Boomers will start retiring just in a few years from now on the next President’s watch. And of course it sky-rockets from there, and it will result in astronomically-high deficits, a tax burden on the next generation and generations to come, and a ruination of our economy. Every economist who’s looked at this including our own government officials who are the watchdog agencies such as the Government Accountability Office says that this path is unsustainable. Everybody in Washington knows it.

You know one of the arguments against term limits—you know I put term limits on myself when I went to the United States Senate and I still think it’s a pretty good idea to tell you the truth—but one of the arguments against that is look at all the expertise you’d lose if you had term limits. Is it expertise that we’re lacking or is it lack of will to do the right thing? I think it is the latter.

[APPLAUSE]

Yet the politicians kick the can down the road until presumably their own retirement—somebody else’s problem. I wonder if our little kids and our grandchildren and those yet to be born had a seat at the table what they’d say about it, wonder what they’d say to us. I wonder what they’d think about us. My friends, we need to deliver a message to Washington that we’re better than that. And you can start delivering that message by electing a President who will blow the whistle on this lack of responsibility, and I’m the guy who will do that.

[APPLAUSE: “GO FRED GO!”]

Now there are a lot of issues that we’ll have a chance to talk about all across Iowa in large groups and small, I hope. No way in one speech to touch on all of them. I think one thing is important to point out though in my estimation. That is there are going to be issues regardless of what we come up with in terms of an issue list that the next President cannot foresee; that we can’t foresee. Some we know about will still be with us, but there will be new ones. I think it’s very important the people understand a man’s principles, what he measures things by, what will be the standards that he applies as issues come before him. As far as I’m concerned I still have the same commonsense conservative beliefs I did when I ran in 1994.


We were able to win that election going from one end of that state to the other; talking about the sanctity of life, talking about lower taxes, talking about less regulation, talking about the market economy, talking about free competition, talking about respect for private property rights in this country, talking about free and fair trade and all those things that make America great, and if I said then if we just stick with that, the American people agree with these things, we’ll just stick with that, not only will we be successful, but we’ll continue to be prosperous in this country, we’ve been a beacon for all those countries out there who’ve applied those same principles they’ve all been successful.

The American people said yes, ’94 was successful, and surprised a lot of people remember? Clinton kind of cleaned our clock there for a little, we came back strong and got a mandate, cut taxes, balanced the budget, passed welfare reform, and made Congress live under the same laws as everyone else. [It] was the first thing I did with Chuck Grassley was get that bill passed, under his tutelage, not a bad guy to learn from.

[Applause]

So I’m that same guy, I haven’t changed from those principles anywhere along the way. I’m the same guy with the same principles that I had when I went back to Lawrenceburg and started the first republican club when I got out of law school in 1968.

I’m the same guy I was when I came out over the years here campaigning for Republican candidates because I thought it was a good thing for my party and a good thing for my country; and I still think that way. But these positions are based upon certain principles. I call them first principles, I call them the principles that our country was founded upon, many years ago. They’re based upon the notion that some things in this changing world just don’t change. It’s based upon an appreciation of human nature. It’s based upon the wisdom of the ages. It’s based upon the believe that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are not outmoded documents that can be cast aside,

[Applause]

We still get our basic rights from God and not from government.

[Applause]

We still have a government where power is divided, not just at the federal level but between federal and state level, federalism is about freedom, it’s about individual freedom, it’s about political freedom, it’s about economic freedom. It’s about an understanding that a government powerful enough to give you everything, can take away from you, anything.

[Applause]

It’s based upon the notion that we want a government that is limited to the powers delegated to it in the Constitution, but a government that is strong enough to protect our people and a government that is competent enough to do the things a government is supposed to be doing, yet more and more we see that is not true. When I was chairman of the Government Affairs Committee in 2001, I put out a report called "Government at the Brink," a two volume report, and I pointed out just how hopelessly messed up the bureaucracy in our federal government was; and how many billions of dollars we were wasting. The fact was that we couldn’t get computers to talk to each other, we couldn’t get government agencies or the government itself to really pass an audit, couldn’t live up to the standards we put on private business at all. An outmoded civil service system, we weren’t getting enough people in that we needed with the high tech requirements that the future was going to bring us. We made it virtually impossible to get rid of people who weren’t doing their job, on, and on, and on, and on. That was my opinion then and folks I haven’t changed my mind a bit. It’s even worse than it was before.

It’s going to require strong leadership to do something about it because now we see it’s affecting national security, now we see it as an excuse for not even enforcing our borders against illegal immigration and we can’t tolerate that in this country because we know that a country who cannot secure its own borders ultimately will not remain a sovereign nation.

[Applause]

That battle in Congress over that last immigration bill is the latest in several pieces of evidence that demonstrate without a shadow of a doubt that there is a major disconnect between Washington DC and the American people. Because we look to congress we see division, acrimony, disruption, looking to everything to the next election and not the next generation, short sided political opportunism, here and there.

Is this the government that our Democratic friends say should play a larger role in all of our lives? I don’t think so. It’s kind of ironic, that the Democrats are moving more and more toward the western European system of higher taxes, more regulation, and larger government, when countries like France and Germany are moving more our way, you know they ought to read the newspapers once in awhile, some good things are happening over there now based upon our traditional principles.

Principles that understand that the rule of law underlies everything else in this country; people can go in and get a fair shot, and a fair hearing in a fair court, based upon the law of the Constitution. Unfortunately the rule of law is violated more by judges themselves more than anyone else.

[Applause]

That’s why I was so happy to stand by Chief Justice John Roberts’ side, he’s a great Chief Justice, but he needs some help. We need another one or two.

[Applause]

If I’m elected president of the United States I will appoint judges who will follow the constitution, not shape the constitution to fit their own political or personal notions about how society ought to operate.

[Applause]

I’ve seen both kinds of judges up close, and I know the difference, I don’t need anybody to point that out to me.

My friends this is what I believe, and have believed, and will continue to as best for our country. I think it’s what you believe. I think that’s what the American people believe. Just as when I first started out in politics. I don’t think their opinions about the basics have changed. It might look like our side’s opinion every once and awhile has changed. But the American Peoples’ haven’t. Whatever the issues are that we face, whether we’re talking about health care, or education, or energy, all those important things, the application of those first principles, the application of those common sense conservative beliefs will result in a stronger and stronger nation.

That’s what this is all about, that’s why I’m here today, and that’s why you’re here today. We are citizens of the greatest nation on earth, and that makes us the luckiest people on earth. That carries with it certain obligations, obligations to do everything that we can that it remains the greatest nation on earth and that we leave this place little better than we came into it. That’s what it’s all about.

You know you look back over our history, and it doesn’t take you long to realize that our people have shed more blood for other peoples’ liberty than any other combination of nations in the history of the world.

[Applause]

Frankly I’m a little tired of other peoples’ need to apologize for it. I don’t think we have anything to apologize for. We are steeped in the tradition of honor and sacrifice for the greater good.

We are proud of that heritage, I think this time in America’s history Americans are once again ready to do the things necessary to achieve that greater good. That greater good is nothing less than the security, prosperity and unity of the greatest nation in the world. I think most American’s still share those ideals and principles, and if we apply them and stay true, it doesn’t matter what the pundits say today, we will win next year when it counts.

[Applause]

My friends, our country needs us to win, our country needs us to win; I am ready to lead that fight, let us do it together.

[Applause]

Thank you very much for being here today,

Thank you

Source: Friends Of Fred Thompson Bill Richardson 2008 Bill Richardson 2008 May 21, 2007










Governor Bill Richardson Officially Declares Candidacy for Democratic Presidential Nomination
Governor launches new phase of campaign in Los Angeles, receives the endorsement of California political and community leaders

For Immediate Release
May 21, 2007


LOS ANGELES, CA--New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today announced he is ending the exploratory phase of his campaign and is officially seeking the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. With his wife Barbara by his side, the Governor made the announcement this morning during a news conference at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

"The United States faces huge challenges, but also huge opportunities. I am running for President because these times call for a leader with a proven track record, and a demonstrated ability to bring people together to tackle our problems at home and abroad," said Governor Richardson. "I am that person, not because I say so, but because of what I have done, and what I can do for the American people."

Governor Richardson has devoted more than 25 years to public service, including 7 terms as a US Congressman, as US Ambassador to the United Nations, as Secretary of Energy, and is now in his second term as Governor of New Mexico.

"This Presidential election is unlike any other we've ever seen. From day 1, we have to repair the damage done here at home and to our reputation abroad. And that all starts with restoring diplomacy as the primary instrument of our foreign policy ... and basic fairness as the primary means for problem solving in Washington," said the Governor. "There are a lot of candidates in this race with good ideas. But coming up with a good idea is only half the job. The other half is bringing people together to get it done. I'm proud of my record of getting things done. And I'll put that record up against anyone's."

The Governor announced the formation of his Presidential Exploratory Committee on January 22, 2007. As he began his campaign, Governor Richardson was fully engaged in the 60-day session of the New Mexico Legislature, where he passed approximately 90% of his initiatives.

Governor Richardson today also received the endorsement of more than two dozen California political and community leaders, including many from the Latino community. A complete list of endorsements is below.

Here is the complete text of the Governor's remarks from today's news conference, as prepared for delivery:

"I'd like to thank all of you for joining us here today. It means so much to me to officially announce my candidacy in California, the state I was born in and the state whose primary I plan on winning on my way to becoming the next President of the United States.

The United States faces huge challenges, but also huge opportunities. I am running for President because these times call for a leader with a proven track record, and a demonstrated ability to bring people together to tackle our problems at home and abroad.

I am that person, not because I say so, but because of what I have done, and what I can do for the American people. The challenge of the campaign I am launching today is to get that message heard.

Running for this office is the ultimate job interview. It's not just about the positions you've held but the job you've done and your ability to lead on day one at a very critical time in our nation's history.

This Presidential election is unlike any other we've ever seen. From day one, we have to repair the damage done here at home and to our reputation abroad. And that all starts with restoring diplomacy as the primary instrument of our foreign policy ... and basic fairness as the primary means for problem solving in Washington.

There are a lot of candidates in this race with good ideas. But coming up with a good idea is only half the job. The other half is bringing people together to get it done. I'm proud of my record of getting things done. And I'll put that record up against anyone's.

Some of the critical questions to ask every candidate in this race are: how will you solve the crisis in Iraq and bring our troops home? How will you deal with global warming? How will you address the health care crisis in this country? And what will you do about illegal immigration? How will you grow the middle class again?

I cannot address all these in one short statement, and I urge everyone to check my website, www.Richardsonforpresident.com, for a more complete explanation, but let us discuss several:

First, Iraq.

Some will tell you that we only have two options: either stay in Iraq and try to referee a civil war or leave and collapse into chaos. I've spent a lot of time in this part of the world and let me tell this: that is a false choice.

Removing all of our troops and healing Iraq are one and the same. Only when it is clear that the US will leave Iraq can the hard diplomatic work have a chance for success. A negotiated political settlement, involving the warring parties and interested neighbors is how to prevent a regional war.

And we have a strategic interest in organizing a regional conference, with all of Iraq's neighbors including Syria and Iran, to help stabilize Iraq.

But I would leave no troops behind in Iraq. No air bases. No security patrols. No embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces ... because we all know what that means. It means our troops would still be out on the streets with targets on their backs.

We need a president who is not dismissive of diplomacy, but someone who embraces it as the primary instrument of foreign policy because he has practiced it, and knows how to get results.

Being stubborn is not a foreign policy and being President means working with both parties. As Lee Iacocca has said: "Courage in the 21st Century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage means a commitment to sitting down at the negotiating table and talk." I agree.

It was tough, face-to-face talks that helped secure the release of journalist Paul Salopek, and two colleagues from a jail in Darfur. I am so proud that his wife, Linda Lynch, is here today. You know, when I visited Darfur in January and negotiated a cease fire, I saw thousands of widows and fatherless children trying to escape the genocide ... waiting in line in oppressive heat for a month. They wanted to know why it was taking the United States so long to do something. I didn't have a good answer. As President, I will make sure the US leads the world in saying no more- the violence must end.

We also need a President who is not dismissive of energy independence and global warming. This is no longer a choice---it is a moral imperative for our planet and a matter of survival of our country.

I'm proud that I made New Mexico the clean energy state. We're already requiring utility companies to produce energy from renewable sources. We've already invested directly in energy efficiency, we're promoting renewable energy with tax credits for using wind, solar, and biofuels, and we've eliminated taxes on hybrid cars.

I have the most aggressive plan of anyone running for President. Within twelve years, my plan would reduce greenhouse emissions by 20 percent, lower demand for oil by fifty percent, and push fuel economy standards to 50 miles per gallon.

By the year 2040, my plan would require that 50 percent of our electricity be generated from renewable sources and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent.

The League of Conservation Voters rated mine the most aggressive plan with the highest goals of any candidate.

I'm also ambitious on health care.

Every political candidate says that all Americans should have access to affordable health care. But how do we achieve that? .

In New Mexico, we have made a start by expanding our state health insurance to cover every child under five, we have tackled childhood obesity, we've insured more working New Mexicans and we're looking to expand it even more.

But states shouldn't have to struggle to solve this problem on their own.

My plan as President is simple: Every employer must provide health insurance for their employees or pay an equivalent fee to the federal government, and every individual must have health insurance.

Employers and individuals will have their choice of options-- if they like the coverage they have, they can keep it. My plan creates no new federal bureaucracies.

Next, the middle class. They have been under attack for the last 6 years. As President, I am going to reverse that and pursue polices like those we have in New Mexico. We gave tax credits to companies that create jobs paying above the prevailing wage, we helped start up high tech companies and we invested in technical training

And, while Washington DC could not do anything, we passed a $7.50/hour minimum wage

And finally, immigration. As the Governor of a border state, I deal with this issue every day.

The proposal moving forward in the Senate is a step in the right direction toward establishing a path to legalization. But at the same time it's a step in the wrong direction because it separates parents from children and loved ones from their families.

The touchback provision is ill conceived, and any guest worker program mustrequire available jobs to be first posted for American citizens and legal residents.
We can address the illegal immigration problem by taking three realistic steps.
First, we have to recognize that no fence ever built has stopped history. And a border fence wouldn't either. If you build a ten foot fence, someone will use an 11 foot ladder.
Instead, use that money to secure the border with more Border Patrol officers. We need to at least double the number of Border Patrol agents. That would secure the border.
Second, we need a path to legalization requiring those living in the United States illegally to pay a realistic fine, pass a background check, and pay any back taxes.
And third, we have to work closely with the Mexican government. Mexico needs to do more to stem the flow. But if we create a reasonable guest worker program and provide a path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here, there is every reason to expect Mexico to do its part with economic reforms and to help us with border security.
You can go to my website, www.Richardsonforpresident.com, to find my complete plans on each of these issues. These will be some of the defining issues of the campaign.
This is a pivotal time in our nation's history. The challenges we face are not acts of God or accidents of fate. They were man-made and deliberate.
Whether it was willful ignorance or an ignorant will, we are left with the ravages of an administration that will take years to rectify.

We cannot expect the world to readily trust us as before. But we can try. We can negotiate with honor, defend with integrity, and reach out with conciliation. We have many fences to mend ... and I'm ready to get started."

LIST OF SUPPORTERS WHO JOINED GOVERNOR BILL RICHARDSON ON THE STAGE

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina
Senator Sandra Kennedy
Ambassador Edward Romero
Lt. Governor Diane Denish
California State Senator Gilbert Cedillo
West Hollywood City Councilman Jeffry Prang
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chaves
Former California Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer
President of the New Mexico AFL-CIO Christine Trujillo
DNC Western States Vice Chairwoman Mary Gail Gwaltney
NM Deputy Secretary of Aging and Long Term Care Patsy Trujillo
Majority Whip NM State House of Representatives Sheryl Williams-Stapleton
Wes Studi
Dr. Martha Burk
New Mexico State Treasurer James Lewis
Los Angeles County Insurance Commission Chairman Scott Svonkin
Ruben Treviso
Burbank Mayor Marsha Ramos
Alisa Shoeman
Sana and Ahmad Assad
Ron Andrade
Tina Hahn
Tennessee State Senator Tommy Kilby

Endorsements

GloriaMolina, LA County Supervisor
LouCorrea, State Senator 34th district
Gilbert Cedillo, State Senator Dist. 22
Jeffrey Prang, Mayor Pro Tempore, West Hollywood
Marsha Ramos, Mayor of Burbank,
Sal Tiuajero, City Councilman, Santa Clara
John Hanna, Trustee, Rancho Santiago Community College
Michele Martinez, Councilwoman, Santa Ana
Martha M. Escutia, former State Senator, Chair of Latino Caucus
Denise Moreno-Ducheny, State Senator, San Diego
Cathleen Galgiani, Assembly Member, Merced County
Lori Saldana, Assembly Member, San Diego
Luis Aguinaga, Councilman, Aguinaga El Monte
William "Bill" Molinari, City Councilman, Montebello
Robert Fuentes, Basset School Board
Ron Beilke, Mayor of Pico Rivera
Felipe E. Agredano (MTS), President Garvey Board of Education
Robert Bagwell, City Councilman, Montebello
Irene Redondo-Churchward, Executive Director Spiritt Family Services
Frank Gurule, Mayor Cudahy
Vickey Gurule, wife of Mayor Gurule
Christopher Robles, CDP Executive Board Member Region 6 Vice Chair
David M. Barron, City Clerk, Monterey Park
Al Ducheny,
Vincent F. Sarmiento,
Claudia C. Alvarez
Claudia A. Torres,
Louis Herrero,
George Minter,
Dolly Chavez Lucero,
Sal Castro,
Marta R. Escaruelas

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to Officially Announce Presidential Bid on Monday, May 21st in Los Angeles, California

Event location changed to Millennium Biltmore Hotel

Governor Bill Richardson will be in Los Angeles, California on Monday, May 21st where he will officially announce that he is seeking the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination at the Los Angeles Press Club.

"I am running for President of the United States because I can bring together a country that is divided and partisan," said Governor Bill Richardson. "My background, experience and record as Governor of New Mexico, UN Ambassador, Secretary of Energy and Congressman, enable me to bridge gaps, achieve political solutions, heal partisan divisions and solve problems.

"I believe in America - the greatest nation in the world - but we must restore our leadership. We have lost our moral compass at home and abroad. I am optimistic about the future. America should not be afraid. We have to be bold, patriotic and confident that we can resolve problems and bring peace by working together. We need hope, faith, and optimism. Qualities that have always represented and defined the American spirit. We need experienced and accomplished leadership now more than ever. I believe I can best provide this leadership for our nation and help move American forward."

Monday, May 21- Pacific Time
WHEN: 10:00 am
WHAT: Press Conference - Presidential Bid Official Announcement
WHERE: Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, The Gold Room

Courtesy: Bill Richardson For President

For Immediate Release
January 21, 2007

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Announces Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee

Richardson has unparalleled experience and proven record of success as a Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy Secretary, and Governor

SANTA FE, NM--New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today announced the formation of a Presidential campaign exploratory committee, with the clear intention of seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.

"I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that's been done to our country over the last six years," said Richardson. "Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished."

"The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay. Before I became Governor of New Mexico, I served as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy. I know the Middle East well and it's clear that our presence in Iraq isn't helping any longer," said Richardson.

"Our next President must be able to bring a country together that is divided and partisan," said Richardson. "It is clear that Washington is broken and it's going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other's views to get it fixed. Most public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government. On issues like the environment, jobs, and health care, state governments are leading the way. And that's because we can't be partisan or we won't get our jobs done. That's a lesson I've learned as Governor and that's what I'll do as President."

When New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson speaks about embracing diversity, the American dream, and public service, he speaks from unparalleled experience. Born November 15, 1947 in Pasadena, California to an American father and Mexican mother, Governor Richardson grew up in Mexico City before moving to New England, where he attended high school and college. He has dedicated his life to public service, as a United States Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Energy, and now as Governor of New Mexico.

This past November, Richardson won re-election to his second term as Governor of New Mexico with a resounding 69% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in state history. He was supported by Democrats, Republicans and Independents, winning in both urban and rural counties. New Mexicans overwhelmingly endorsed Governor Richardson's aggressive efforts to improve education, cut taxes, build a high-wage economy, expand health care access, invest in renewable energy and make New Mexico safer.

Bill Richardson's fiscally responsible governing style has allowed New Mexico to tackle important priorities, while maintaining a balanced budget and the highest reserves in state history. He cut $230 million in bureaucratic waste, invested in new opportunities for New Mexico's children and returned more than $1 billion dollars in taxes to working families. His innovative policies have turned New Mexico's economy around, with 84,000 new jobs, rising personal income and a growing high tech sector that includes manufacturing, aviation, and renewable energy.

As Secretary of Energy to President Bill Clinton, Bill Richardson implemented tough efficiency standards to save energy. And as Governor, he has made New Mexico the Clean Energy State by requiring utility companies to produce energy through renewable resources and reduce carbon emissions.

Before becoming Governor, Bill Richardson served in Congress for 15 years and helped President Clinton pass the economic plan that created millions of jobs and led America to its first balanced budget in 30 years.

Appointed by President Clinton as the Ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson worked with world leaders to build alliances and help prevent the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea. Bill Richardson has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, and Cuba. Governor Richardson recently negotiated a 60-day cease fire in war-torn Darfur following direct talks with rebel leaders and the President of Sudan.

As Chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association, Governor Richardson raised more than $28 million for gubernatorial candidates and helped elect the first Democratic majority of governors since 1994. Governor Richardson also served as Chair of the Western Governors Association, Border Governor's Conference and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Bill Richardson has been married to his high school sweetheart, Barbara, for 33 years. Richardson received a BA from Tufts in 1970 and a MA from Tuft's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.

The Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee will be headquartered in New Mexico. To view Governor Bill Richardson's video statement in both English and Spanish please go to: www.richardsonforpresident.com

Bill Richardson Presidential Exploratory Committee Announcement Video Transcript:

Hello. This Is Governor Bill Richardson. Today, I'm announcing the formation of a presidential campaign exploratory committee … with the clear intention of declaring my candidacy for president in the very near future.

I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that's been done to our country over the last six years. Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government have perished.

The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay. Before I became Governor of New Mexico, I served as Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy. I know the Middle East well … and it's clear that our presence in Iraq isn't helping any longer.

Our next president must also be able to help create jobs here at home.

In New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the nation, we've created 84,000 new jobs, many of them in high tech industries like renewable energy, aerospace, and manufacturing. We've done that with innovative approaches like a tax credit for companies that create good paying jobs, tax incentives for start up high tech businesses, targeting job creation in rural areas.

We've made substantial investments in public education and health care, and we've done it while balancing the budget and cutting taxes. Fiscal discipline is a big part of sustained economic growth … the kind of growth that creates good jobs and actually reduces poverty.

Our next President must be able to start reversing Global warming and make real progress on energy independence and that means making a real commitment to renewable sources of energy and conservation. As Energy Secretary, I increased efficiency standards and saved billions in energy costs. As Governor of New Mexico, we are requiring 10 percent of all energy come from renewable sources--and we are moving to 20 percent. We have provided incentives for solar, wind, biofuels and other renewables . Everybody talks about these issues. I have actually done it.

Our next President must be able to restore our standing in the world. With my diplomatic and foreign policy experience, I am the best candidate to make America a respected international leader again. I just returned from Darfur in the Sudan where we made progress in that troubled region of the world.

America must again become the international leader in fighting poverty and promoting democracy and human rights across the world. Our national security depends on it.

And finally, our next President must be able to bring together a country that is divided and partisan. It's clear that Washington is broken and it's going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other's views to get it fixed. Most public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government. On issues like the environment, jobs, and health care, governors are leading the way. And that's because we can't be partisan or we won't get our jobs done. That's a lesson I've learned as Governor and that's what I'll do as President.

There are many more issues to talk about in the coming weeks and months … I can't do them all justice with a short statement. But let me say this - I'm not new to the challenges that face our country and our world, but I know we need a new dedication to Democratic principles and values … and we need a president with the experience to start the healing both here and abroad.

Here in New Mexico, we are in the middle of our Legislative session, working to raise the minimum wage, expand health care, crack down on sexual offenders and cut taxes for working families. I am committed to seeing these efforts through.

However, the national debate about the future of our country has begun and I believe I have a different perspective to offer.

I know I am not a favorite in this race.

As an underdog and Governor of a small, western state I will not have the money that other candidates will have.

However, I believe these serious times demand serious people who have real world experience in solving the challenges we face. I humbly believe I am the best equipped candidate to meet these challenges.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States.

Source: Bill Richardson For President Jim Gilmore 2008 Jim Gilmore 2008 April 26, 2007









JIM GILMORE MAKES IT OFFICIAL IN WEBCAST FROM IOWA;
WARNS ABOUT THE NEED FOR A MORE SECURE AMERICA

April 26, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DES MOINES – Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore sounded a warning about America’s preparedness for a terrorist attack today and announced that he is officially entering the race for the Republican presidential nomination “because we must do more to keep our country and our families safe.”

Gilmore, who served as a noncommissioned officer in U.S. Army counter-intelligence, was Governor of Virginia when terrorists flew a plane into the Pentagon. At the time he was serving as the chairman of the Gilmore Commission, which for three years have been making recommendations on ways to prevent and respond to terrorism. After the attacks, Congress and the federal government adopted 146 of the commission’s 164 recommendations.

"When terrorists hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Virginia, many of us lost friends and loved ones. And our nation forever lost a sense of ‘It can’t happen here.’ Well, it did happen here and, make no mistake, it will happen again. And next time our nation must be better prepared.”

In a live online chat following the announcement at www.GilmoreforPresident.com, Gilmore answered questions and responded to comments from voters across the country ranging from Iraq to property rights. The former Governor said he hopes to become the first blogging President.

Gilmore’s formal entry into the most wide open presidential race in more than 50 years came as he made his third visit to Iowa in the last three weeks. The Iowa presidential caucuses will be held on January 14, 2008. So far, conservatives in Iowa and elsewhere are expressing their dissatisfaction with the so-called front runners for the Republican nomination

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Gilmore, 57, is the son of working class parents. As Governor of Virginia, he became a champion of the taxpayers by reducing taxes on working men and woman by $1.5 billion. He has been awarded the Friend of the Taxpayer Award three times by Americans for Tax Reform, is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and is a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Air Force Academy.


GILMORE TO OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE CANDIDACY IN LIVE WEBCAST FROM IOWA GOP HEADQUARTERS



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DES MOINES – Making his third visit to Iowa in three weeks, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore will officially announce as a candidate for President of the United States Thursday in a live webcast from the Republican Party of Iowa headquarters.

Gilmore’s entry in the race comes as conservatives in Iowa and elsewhere continue to express their dissatisfaction with the so-called front runners for the Republican nomination. A tax cutting former Virginia Governor, Gilmore is a leading authority on homeland security and is making the need for a more secure America a central part of his campaign message.

Gilmore’s official announcement of candidacy will be at 12 noon Thursday at GOP headquarters, 621 East 9th Street in Des Moines. The announcement will be broadcast live on the web. Following the announcement, Gilmore will answer questions from voters on a live blog chat.

A native of Richmond Virginia, Gilmore, 57, is the son of working class parents. As Governor of Virginia, he became a champion of the taxpayers by reducing taxes on working men and woman by $1.5 billion. He has been awarded the Friend of the Taxpayer Award three times by Americans for Tax Reform. He is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and is a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Gilmore, who served as a noncommissioned officer in U.S. Army counter-intelligence and was a tough crime busting prosecutor in Virginia, was Governor of Virginia when terrorists flew a plane into the Pentagon on 9/11. He was appointed by Congress as the chairman of a Congressionally created national commission charged with making recommendations on ways to prevent and respond to terrorism, which became known as the Gilmore Commission.

Source: Jim Gilmore for President - Exploratory Committee, Inc. John McCain 2008 John McCain 2008 April 25, 2007










REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY:
SENATOR MCCAIN’S ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

ARLINGTON, VA – U.S. Senator John McCain will officially announce his candidacy for the President of the United States today in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with remarks at a 12:00 p.m. EDT rally in Prescott Park. Below are Senator McCain's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

“Today, I announce my candidacy for President of the United States. I do so grateful for the privileges this country has already given me; mindful that I must seek this responsibility for reasons greater than my self-interest; and determined to use every lesson I’ve learned through hard experience and the history I’ve witnessed, every inspiration I’ve drawn from the patriots I’ve known and the faith that guides me to meet the challenges of our time, and strengthen this great and good nation upon whom all mankind depends.

“We’ve begun another campaign season earlier than many Americans prefer. So soon after our last contentious election, our differences are again sure to be sharpened and exaggerated. That’s the nature of free elections. But even in the heat of a campaign, we shouldn’t lose sight that much more defines us than our partisanship; much more unites us than divides us. We have common purposes and common challenges, and we live in momentous times. This election should be about big things, not small ones. Ours are not red state or blue state problems. They are national and global. Half measures and small minded politics are inadequate to the present occasion. We can’t muddle through the next four years, bickering among ourselves, and leave to others the work that is ours to do. Greatness is America’s destiny, but no nation complacent in its greatness can long sustain it.

“We are fighting a war in two countries, and we’re in a global struggle with violent extremists who despise us, our values and modernity itself. If we are to succeed, we must rethink and rebuild the structure and mission of our military; the capabilities of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies; the purposes of our alliances; the reach and scope of our diplomacy; the capacity of all branches of government to defend us. We need to marshal all elements of American power: our military, economy, investment, trade and technology. We need to strengthen our alliances and build support in other nations. We must preserve our moral credibility, and remember that our security and the global progress of our ideals are inextricably linked.

“We all know the war in Iraq has not gone well. We have made mistakes and we have paid grievously for them. We have changed the strategy that failed us, and we have begun to make a little progress. But in the many mistakes we have made in this war, a few lessons have become clear. America should never undertake a war unless we are prepared to do everything necessary to succeed, unless we have a realistic and comprehensive plan for success, and unless all relevant agencies of government are committed to that success. We did not meet this responsibility initially. And we must never repeat that mistake again.

“We must also prepare, far better than we have, to respond quickly and effectively to another terrorist attack or natural calamity. When Americans confront a catastrophe, natural or man-made, they have a right to expect basic competence from their government. They won’t accept that firemen and policemen are unable to communicate with each other in an emergency because they don’t have the same radio frequency. They won’t accept government’s failure to deliver bottled water to dehydrated babies or rescue the infirm from a hospital with no electricity. They won’t accept substandard care and indifference for wounded veterans.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“Government spends more money today than ever before. Wasteful spending on things that are not the business of government indebts us to other nations; deprives you of the fruits of your labor; fuels inflation; raises interest rates; and encourages irresponsibility.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“No government program is the object of more political posturing than Social Security and Medicare. Here’s the plain truth: there are too few workers supporting too many retirees, and if we don’t make some tough choices today, Social Security and Medicare will go bankrupt or we’ll have to raise taxes so drastically we’ll crush the prosperity of average Americans. Too many politicians want to ignore the problem, and run for re-election by threatening anyone who wants to fix it.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“Our tax code is used to game the system for some at the expense of the many instead of encouraging the thrift, investment, innovation and industry of all Americans. It’s complexity and waste costs Americans $140 billion in preparation and compliance costs each year.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“Our dependence on foreign sources of energy not only harms our environment and economy, it endangers our security. So much of the oil we import comes from countries in volatile regions of the world where our values aren’t shared and our interests aren’t a priority.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“We’re not a country that prefers nostalgia to optimism. We’re not a country that would rather go back than forward. We’re the world’s leader, and leaders don’t pine for the past and dread the future. We make the future better than the past. Opening new markets to American goods and services is indispensable to our future prosperity. Lowering trade barriers creates more and better jobs; keeps inflation under control; keeps interest rates low; and makes more goods affordable to more Americans. We won’t compete successfully by using old technology to produce old goods. We’ll succeed by knowing what to produce and inventing new technologies to produce it.

“But open markets don’t automatically translate into a better quality of life for every American. While most gain, some are forced to struggle with very difficult choices. Right now we have a half dozen programs to help displaced workers and another half dozen for people who aren’t working at all. We have an unemployment insurance program that’s right out of the 1950s, designed to assist workers through a few tough months during an economic downturn.

“That’s not good enough for America. And when I’m President, it won’t be good enough for me.

“These are some of the challenges that confront us. There are others just as urgent, and during this campaign I’ll travel across the country offering my ideas about how we should address them and listening to the concerns and advice of Americans. The American people aren’t interested in an election that offers platitudes instead of principles and insults instead of ideas; an election that results – no matter who wins – in four years of unkept promises and a divided government that is little more than a battleground for the next election. They’re tired of the old politics. Americans are acutely aware of our problems, and their patience is at an end for politicians who value incumbency over principle, and for partisanship that is less a contest of ideas than an uncivil brawl over the spoils of power. I want my presidency to be an opportunity – an opportunity to fix what we all know needs to be fixed:

“to strengthen our military, intelligence, diplomacy, and law enforcement and use the power of American ideals and commerce to win the war against violent extremists, and help the majority of Muslims who believe in progress and peace to win the struggle for the soul of Islam;

“to balance the federal budget not with smoke and mirrors but by encouraging economic growth and preventing government from spending your money on things it shouldn’t; to hold it accountable for the money it does spend on services that only government can provide in ways that don’t fail and embarrass you;

“to save Social Security and Medicare on our watch without the tricks, band-aid solutions, lies and posturing that have failed us for too long while the problem became harder and harder to solve;

“to make our tax code simpler, fairer, flatter, more pro-growth and pro-jobs;

“to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign sources of oil with an energy policy that encourages American industry and technology to make our country safer, cleaner and more prosperous by leading the world in the use, development and discovery of alternative sources of energy;

“to open new markets to American goods and services, create more and better jobs for the American worker and overhaul unemployment insurance and our redundant and outmoded programs for assisting workers who have lost a job that’s not coming back to find a job that won’t go away;

“to help Americans without health insurance acquire it without bankrupting the country, and ruining the quality of American health care that is the envy of the world;

“to make our public schools more accountable to parents and better able to meet the critical responsibility they have to prepare our children for the challenges they’ll face in the world they’ll lead.

“When I’m President I’ll offer common sense, conservative and comprehensive solutions to these challenges. Congress will have other ideas, and I’ll listen to them. I’ll work with anyone who is serious and sincere about solving these problems. I expect us to argue over principle, but when a compromise consistent with our principles is within reach, I expect us to seize it. Americans expect us to disagree, but not just to win the next election. They want us to serve the same goal: to ensure that a country blessed with our matchless prosperity, ingenuity, and strength can meet any challenge we confront.

“I won’t judge myself by how many elections I’ve won, but by how well I keep my promises to you. To keep those promises, I can’t just win this election by a few votes in a few counties in a few states. I need a mandate from you big enough to convince Congress that Americans want this election to be different. You want to change the politics of selfishness, stalemate and delay; move this country forward and stake our claim on this century as we did in the last. Then I ask you for the opportunity to devote every day of my presidency to making this government work for you, and for a mandate big enough to get the job done.

“I’ll challenge myself and each member of Congress to wake up each morning and ask ourselves: will we remember today as the finest day of our public life; the day we worked just for you, not for us? And I’ll challenge the American people to reject phony soundbite solutions that have failed us in the past, and hold us accountable for the work you have given us.

“We face formidable challenges, but I’m not afraid of them. I’m prepared for them. I’m not the youngest candidate. But I am the most experienced. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how Congress works, and how to make it work for the country and not just the re-election of its members. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don’t. I know how to fight and how to make peace. I know who I am and what I want to do.

“I don’t seek the office out of a sense of entitlement. I owe America more than she has ever owed me. Thirty-four years ago, I came home from an extended absence abroad. While I was away, I fell in love with my country. I learned that what’s good for America, is good enough for me. I have been an imperfect servant of my country ever since, in uniform and in office, in war and peace. I have never lived a single day, in good times or in bad, that I haven’t thanked God for the privilege.

“You can’t sell me on hopelessness. You can’t convince me our problems are insurmountable. Our challenges are an opportunity to write another chapter of American greatness. We must seize it, and those of us privileged to lead America must remember the principles that made us great, have the faith to stand by them, the integrity to honor our public trust, and the courage to keep our promise to put the nation’s interests before our own. Don’t tell me what we can’t do. Don’t tell me we can’t make our country stronger, and the world safer. We can. We must. And when I’m President we will.

“I’m not running for President to be somebody, but to do something; to do the hard but necessary things not the easy and needless things. I’m running for President to protect our country from harm and defeat its enemies. I’m running for President to make the government do its job, not your job; to do it with less and to do it better. I’m not running to leave our biggest problems to an unluckier generation of leaders, but to fix them now, and fix them well. I’m running for President to make sure America maintains its place as the political and economic leader of the world; the country that doesn’t fear change, but makes change work for us; the country that doesn’t long for the good old days, but aspires to even better days. I’m running for President of the United States; not yesterday’s country; not a defeated country; not a bankrupt country; not a timid and frightened country; not a country fragmented into bickering interest groups with no sense of the national interest; not a country with a bloated, irresponsible and incompetent government. I’m running for President of the United States, a blessed country, a proud country, a hopeful country, the most powerful and prosperous country and the greatest force for good on earth. And when I’m President, I intend to keep it so.”

Source: John McCain 2008 Rudy Giuliani 2008 Rudy Giuliani 2008 April 12, 2007 Tommy Thompson 2008 Tommy Thompson 2008 April 4, 2007










Text of Tommy G. Thompson’s Campaign Kickoff Speech – Prepared for Delivery

Clive, Iowa

April 4, 2007

Thank you to my good friend Governor Brandstad. I miss the good-old days when we were governors of Iowa and Wisconsin, helping our states become shining stars in the Midwest.

Bill Dix, my state chairman; Charlotte Mohr, my honorary state chair; Ron Corbett, a senior advisor to the campaign; and Republican Party Chairman Ray Hoffman – thank you all for joining me here today and welcoming me to the bountiful state of Iowa.

Before I begin, I’d like to introduce you my family to you – my wife Sue Ann, my daughters Kelli and Tommi, and my son Jason. You’ve been with me for each of my campaigns, and I’m deeply grateful that you all are here once again as we embark on this new journey. You all have given me so much – and I’m not just talking about our five grandchildren.

It’s great to be an American, and isn’t it great to be a Republican!

Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no better place in the world to live than the United States of America. We know that very well living here in America’s breadbasket – the great Midwest, which feeds our nation and the world.

And it is here, in the Midwest, where the American Dream takes special hold – an ideal planted by our forefathers, nurtured by our parents and set free in us as adults.

It was another Midwestern, who grew up in a neighboring state just east of here, who came along in troubled times and reminded us about the power of the American Dream to lift our nation to a new era of prosperity and peace. Ronald Reagan said, "The cynics may call it corny, but this way of life we all cherish is best summed up in three simple words: The American Dream."

Of the American Dream, President Reagan said: "The dreams of people may be different, but everyone wants their dreams to come true. … Everybody wants to do something in one’s life that will give him or her pride and a sense of accomplishment. And America, above all places, gives us the freedom to do that, the freedom to reach out and make our dreams come true."

President Reagan had great expectations for America because he had such great expectations for the American people. He believed we were capable of anything. So do I – and so must America once again.

So it is with the greatest expectations for the future of our nation, that I officially announce today my candidacy for President of the United States of America.

It’s a long way for this boy from Elroy to the grand white home on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. But it’s a journey that only a child in America can dream of making one day. And it’s a dream that could only come true in this land of opportunity.

Yes, America is facing tough times…uncertain times. But it is time for American to come together, roll up our sleeves and get to work addressing the problems of our time. And roll up your sleeves is what I’m asking you to do with me today.

Solving problems with innovation and determination is what we do best.

Throughout my career as governor of Wisconsin and later as US Secretary of health and human services, we have taken on society’s toughest challenges and moved beyond them to a better, stronger place.

· We ended welfare and replaced it with the hope and opportunity of a job.

· We moved our children to the head of the class, making sure low-income, inner city parents could choose the best school so their children could receive the best education possible.

· Together, we cut taxes, investing in entrepreneurs and workers to build better jobs and more secure futures. I’m not afraid to veto when spending and taxes get out of line. I cut taxes by $16.4 billion in taxes and vetoed $287 million in spending, making sure that government lived within the same means our families must. … That’s why I will ask Congress to give me the line-item veto, to cut earmarks and wasteful pork barrel spending.

· In Wisconsin, we proved to a nation that economic prosperity and environmental stewardship were not an either-or proposition – we built a healthy economy and a healthy environment.

· We saw the promise of ethanol and renewable energy far before it was fashionable.

· And we made affordable health care accessible to working families and their children through innovation and efficiency.

· And in Washington, after 10 years of failed attempts, we finally added prescription drug coverage to Medicare – and we made it affordable by introducing private-sector competition to the government-run system.

It’s been a remarkable success.

From Madison to Washington, this is the record of a reliable conservative; one who puts principles into practice.

It is a record driven by our shared Midwestern work ethic -- we don’t just talk about solving problems, we get the job done in these parts. This is why I have been in Iowa the past four months, talking to you about specific ways we can address the issues of most concern to you, to your fellow Americans, and to the future of this great nation.

And I’m going to keep talking specifics. Keep offering ideas. I want to ignite and fuel a national debate on the best ways to get America back on track.

Everywhere I go, the first question people ask is: "What are you going to do about Iraq?"

We must give the Iraqi people a stake in their nation and stability in their future. Look, the problems in Iraq go back centuries. We’re not going to miraculously change such deep-seeded animosities and hatred. We must stop trying to force people who hate each other to live together, and instead focus on giving these diverse cultures their own piece of Iraq and the incentive to live peacefully within a larger nation.

I have a three step plan to create stability in Iraq so our troops can leave sooner rather than later.

1. The Iraqi government should vote on whether they want us there. If they do, we have greater world standing to be there. If not, that certainly sends a strong message upon which we can base our next move.

2. As do here in America, we should work with Iraqi leaders to form governments in 18 self-governing provinces that would operate under a national government. What this will do is give Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds their own pieces of Iraq – their own land and their own say in how it is run.

3. We should encourage the Iraqi government to give every Iraqi a stake in the nation’s rich oil reserves. Oil revenues should be divided in thirds among the national government, the provincial governments and individual Iraq citizens. This will create great incentive for all Iraqis to protect their oil reserves, while ensuring that their federal and provincial governments govern fairly. And it will create wealth amongst all the people, inspiring entrepreneurship and economic growth.

Taken together, these three steps will give Iraqis – both the government and its citizens – an ownership stake in their newly free nation.

Iraq is just one front in the War on Terror, and our enemies plotting in caves will never rest until we win the war. That is why we must recommit ourselves to rebuilding the American military.

Our armed forces must have the capacity to dominate any war or any conflict we must enter – all while having the capability to fight a multi-front war. Our military is simply stretched too thin to protect American interests overseas and at home in these dangerous times.

At the same time, our foreign policy cannot be based solely on military might. We must reach out to the rest of the world, and a good place to start is with medical diplomacy. My initiative would take America’s great doctors and health professionals, along with our medicines and technology, to some of the most distraught places in the world, helping to comfort and nurse the poor to better health. By doing so, we can begin to heal some of the wounds with our global neighbors.

Speaking of wounds, our health care system – while the best in the world – simply is not what it should be. The cost of health care continues to soar – threatening the bottom line and competitiveness of American industry, and leaving too many American families uninsured or underinsured.

We must build a system affordable and accessible for everyone. And we can do this without government-run health care that robs our great nation of its ingenuity in developing new cures and treatments for deadly illnesses.

And we can do it, if only we take some common-sense steps to bring our health care system into the 21st century:

1. Build a system centered on preventive medicine, rather than curative. In this country, we wait until people get sick and then spend billions of dollars to try to make them well again. Why not invest up front in keeping our families healthy in the first place? Improving our families’ health and saving money at the same time is common-sense conservativism at its very core.

2. Use information technology to cut costs, reduce medical errors and create a more efficient health care system. Our doctors use the latest technology to cure your illnesses, but manila folders to keep track what’s wrong with you. We need to bring the administration of medicine into the 21st century, along with the practice of medicine. If we can put all our financial information on a wallet-size card, and have our money at our fingertips anywhere in the world, then we can certainly do the same for our health information. And in doing so, cut the bureaucracy of the health care system in half. Common sense.

3. Third, we must use the private sector and public sector to require health insurance for all. This isn’t a heavy-handed mandate. It is a basic common sense approach to keeping people healthy and reining in health care costs. It makes no sense for a system to force the uninsured to wait until they get really sick or injured and then get treatment in emergency rooms – the most expensive care there is. Especially when we can cover everyone for a fraction of the cost.

4. We must, once and for all, make sure health care and longterm care is affordable. For government, our Medicare and Medicaid systems will soon break federal and state budgets at the same time families across America are grappling with how to pay for longterm care for themselves and for their parents. This isn’t a problem that will go away if we simply ignore it.

On education, we must hold our schools to world-class standards from Kindergarten through college. And we must make sure all our children get a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they live in or how much money their parents make. We can make No Child Left Behind stronger, and do so without wavering on its core principles.

On the Environment and Energy, America must become independent in its energy needs and break reliance on foreign oil. We must begin with greater investments in renewable energy, like ethanol, so we can bring these technologies to market faster and more efficiently. And we must come together and deal with our changing climate.

Our economy has bounced back from the difficult days after 9/11, and the tax cuts are a major reason why the economy is strong. That’s why I’m committed to making sure American workers keep more of their hard-earned money. Not only that, money that Washington does take must be spent wisely and responsibly – something that doesn’t always happen in the nation’s capital, even among my fellow Republicans.

You see, Republicans went to Washington and we lost our way. We tried to spend like Democrats, and voters saw through the act. If they want to vote for people who will spend their money, they’ll vote for the professionals – not the amateurs – and that’s what they did in the last election.

Which reminds me: We’re just 11 days away from tax day, when we force taxpayers to hand over even more of their money – and we make them jump through countless hoops to have the privilege of doing so. That is unacceptable. Isn’t it strange that the federal government makes us compute our taxes twice – and pay whichever amount is highest? I propose we add a flat tax to the equation – and let our hardworking families pay whatever amount is least. Our hardworking families should have a choice of what’s best for them, when it comes to paying taxes.

Finally, I would like to wrap up by saying a few words about my children – and how much they inspire me.

A few years ago, my younger daughter Tommi was diagnosed with breast cancer – just like her mother a few years earlier. Even with her cancer in remission, Tommi couldn’t conceive because of the drugs she was taking.

But she was able to save one egg, which she and her husband saved for two years.

Two years later, my older daughter Kelli carried the baby … One egg. One long-shot chance. And today, there is one more child in the world. A miracle. But, as we all know, life truly is a miracle…one that must be treasured, nurtured and protected.

Now, more than ever, our nation’s bedrock culture of life is essential. In a day where young boys and girls are being raised to brutally kill themselves by strapping bombs to themselves and then exploding them to murder hundreds of innocent lives. … Boy, do we need to value life and celebrate our culture of life.

Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no doubt we have an inordinate amount of serious issues facing our nation – the type of issues that will shape generations. I’ve just touched on the biggest; clearly there are more.

America is being challenged. And in the face of great challenges, America must have great expectations.

Together, we must rise to the great expectations we have for ourselves, our children and our future.

How do we do this? Together.

We’re not going to overcome our problems by blaming American first, or by tearing each other apart. We’re going to overcome them as we always have.

By working together, as one nation, under God, with the vision, the passion and the determination to build a better way of life.

It’s time to get to work. And today, I ask you to join me as we build the America of the 21st Century. And with God’s grace and hard work, we will ensure the American Dream that Ronald Reagan renewed for this generation will live on in our children and their children.

Thank you and God Bless America!

Source: Tommy Thompson For President Tom Tancredo 2008 Tom Tancredo 2008 April 2, 2007










Congressman Tancredo

Statement Announcing His Candidacy for President
April 2, 2007

The history of America is the story of men and women who have devoted and sacrificed themselves to the survival and success of that idea. Americans have fought and died for this cause in every century of our existence, and on every continent on the planet, for one purpose: to protect the gift of human liberty entrusted to us the Founders.

That gift is our birthright; its defense is our duty.

Today that idea, the idea of America itself, is under attack. But not only by who you think.

While we fight around the world to defend our nation, we are entrenched now in a struggle here at home to define it. The crisis of illegal immigration threatens not only our economy and our security, but our very identity - the idea of America is under attack.

Nearly 20 million illegal aliens are living in the United States today - roughly equivalent to the populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia combined. Unlike legal immigrants, who have for more than 200 years come to be a part of our nation, illegal immigrants today come to be apart from our nation.

The great tradition of American assimilation has broken down. The melting pot has cracked, and our Founding ideals are leaking through.

Illegal immigrants wait in no lines, pay no dues, and thus assume no responsibility for or devotion to America's founding ideals and traditional values. They enter illegally, demand social services, refuse our language, and take our jobs, asking not what they can do for their country, only what our country can do for them.

This attitude has been tolerated and even encouraged by our political and economic elite, for reasons ranging from the misguided to the cynical to the treasonous.

Some might ask what it says about a country who cannot defend its borders. I ask what it says about a country who chooses not to in deference to criminals loyal to another nation, and corporations loyal to none.

For too long Americans have been force-fed candidates who ignore or mock their valid concerns about the security of our borders, the enforcement of our immigration laws, and the survival of our national heritage. That ends today.

I am running for President to give Americans a voice, to win this fight, to preserve the sacred ideals of the nation our soldiers are fighting to protect, and to succeed in this struggle for our identity and survival.

One last chance for the last, best, hope of earth.

It's Official - Tom Announces for President - 10AM EST, Monday 2 April, 2007

Excerpts From Congressman Tancredo's President Campaign Announcement Statement

While we fight around the world to defend our nation, we are entrenched now in a struggle here at home to define it. The crisis of illegal immigration threatens not only our economy and our security, but our very identity...The great tradition of American assimilation has broken down. The melting pot has cracked, and our Founding ideals are leaking through....For too long Americans have been force-fed candidates who ignore or mock their valid concerns about the security of our borders, the enforcement of our immigration laws, and the survival of our national heritage. That ends today.

Congressman Tancredo Officially Announces Presidential Bid with Radio Blitz

(Washington, D.C.) Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) officially announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination today, during an appearance on Jan Mickelson’s talk radio show in Des Moines, Iowa.

“The outpouring of support we have received over the past three months has been tremendous and, frankly, it has far exceeded what I anticipated,” Congressman Tancredo said during an interview prior to his announcement.

“Republicans want a candidate who is a conservative with no ifs, ands, or buts. Clearly, the current top tier of Republican candidates is not filling the bill.”

Tancredo, a five-term Congressman and the founder of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, is making border security and no amnesty for illegal aliens the centerpiece of his campaign.

“Wherever I go, Americans of all backgrounds and political beliefs thank me for standing up for them against the Establishment politicians who are selling out our nation. These good people feel abandoned by those in Washington and justifiably so. They have the right to be represented in this race and I am determined to be there for them.”

After his appearance on the Mickelson show, Tancredo went on a 20 interview radio blitz. Monday marked the end of a 4-day Iowa trip. He will then continue onto New Hampshire for a 2-day swing

Important message from Congressman Tom Tancredo

April 2, 2007

Dear Friends,

I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be announcing my intentions to run for president of the United States on a national radio announcement blitz beginning this morning on the Jan Mickelson talk radio show in Des Moines, Iowa. [You may be able to hear the announcement at 9am, Central time, by clicking here]

The outpouring of support I have received over the past three months has been tremendous and, frankly, it has far exceeded what I ever anticipated. I am truly humbled and want to thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in me.

Wherever I go, Americans like you--of all backgrounds and political beliefs--thank me for standing up for them against the Establishment politicians who have become pawns of corporate America. They believe Washington is selling out our nation, and they are right.

As a Congressman, and for the previous 20 years, I have done everything in my power to stop the sellout. I can not abandon our cause now, and we can not lose this battle. The consequences are too grave. And so it is with the strength that comes from knowing you are at my side that I will announce my intentions to run for the presidency of this great country in just a few hours.

Thank you for the honor of representing you in this effort.

Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo

Source: Tancredo for a Secure America Ron Paul 2008 Ron Paul 2008 March 12, 2007










Press Release from Ron Paul 2008

Washington, March 12 -- Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) announced and discussed his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States this morning on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program. Afterwards, paperwork was filed with the Federal Election Commission.

“The American people now have a real conservative in the race for president they can support,” stated Kent Snyder, chairman of the Ron Paul 2008 committee. He added, “Congressman Paul has a long and consistent record of a true conservative; a record we are eager to put against any candidate for the Republican nomination.”

Congressman Ron Paul
Text of Video Address – Feb. 19, 2007
www.RonPaulExplore.com

Thanks for joining me.

After serious consideration with my family, and in response to many requests, I have agreed to form a presidential exploratory committee, as a preliminary step to becoming a candidate in the Republican primary for the 2008 election.

My concerns for the future of our country are deeply held. The Republican Party has floundered in its effort to shrink the size of government and restore our constitutional republic.

Instead, in recent years our deficits have exploded, entitlements are out of control, and our personal liberties are threatened. We have embarked on a dangerous and expensive foreign policy, acting as the world's policeman and nation builder.

Very simply, we no longer can afford the extravagance of this ever growing and intrusive government, both at home and abroad.

Last year alone our long-term obligations increased by $4.6 trillion dollars. The problems seem overwhelming, but in reality they are not complex. We only need the will to go forward with the solution.

We have lost our way and strayed from the free society our Founders secured for us in the Constitution, but there's no reason the principles that made us the greatest nation ever can't be restored.

We merely need to respect and follow the rule of law – the U.S. Constitution – and elect leaders determined to stand firm in its defense.

Liberty once again must become more important to us than the desire for security and material comfort.

Personal safety and economic prosperity can only come as the consequence of liberty. They cannot be provided by an authoritarian government.

To expect government to take care of us from cradle to grave undermines the principles of liberty.

Returning to the dark ages of dictatorship is no substitute for resuming the most modern and grandest experiment known to man – promoting human liberty by strictly limiting the arbitrary power of government.

Political and economic conditions today are at a crucial crossroads.

A financial crisis is looming, and our foreign policy of empire building cannot last. Both conditions threaten our prosperity, safety, and above all, our liberties. The foundation for a police state has been put in place, and it's urgent we mobilize resistance before it's too late.

But today's problems need not lead to despair. Instead we must become energized, and use this time of turmoil to offer the American people the solution found in freedom in all that we do. We must reject the bureaucratic management of our lives and the economy.

We stand on the threshold of a true revolution of ideas. As the welfare/warfare state loses its steam, we now see how the seeds of the freedom movement over the past 40 years are starting to bear fruit.

A nation under great stress is ripe for a change.

A major change in direction is not a theoretical dream, but actually quite possible.

Central planning is intellectually bankrupt – and it has bankrupted our country and undermined our moral principles.

Respect for individual liberty and dignity is the only answer to government force, force that serves the politically and economically powerful.

Our planners and rulers are not geniuses, but rather demagogues and would-be dictators--always performing their tasks with a cover of humanitarian rhetoric.

The collapse of the Soviet system came swiftly and dramatically, without a bloody conflict – surprising many. It came as no surprise, however, to the devotees of freedom who have understood for decades that socialism was doomed to fail. Communism, like all socialism, failed intellectually and failed practically.

And so too will the welfare/warfare state fail, and then our cause will be heard. The love of liberty will not die.

Opportunity is now at our doorstep.

We need now only to mobilize the army of true believers to present the case for the principles that built America, and can make her great once again.

The American experiment over the past 200+ years has provided us with the greatest amount of personal freedom and subsequent wealth known in all of history.

Yet today, because of our careless attitude toward freedom and the responsibilities it requires, we face a crisis that everyone recognizes but few understand.

A free society is based on the key principle that the government, the president, the Congress, the courts, and the bureaucrats are incapable of knowing what is best for each and every one of us.

They don't know how to run the economy, regulate our lives, or manage a world empire.

A government as a referee is proper, but a government that uses arbitrary force to direct every aspect of society threatens freedom.

Such governments have failed thousands of times over the centuries.

The time has come for a modern approach to achieving those values that all civilized societies seek.

Only in a free society do individuals have the best chance to seek virtue, strive for excellence, improve their economic well-being, and achieve personal happiness. It is only through this personal effort that peace and freedom can be secured.

The worthy goals of civilization can only be achieved by freedom loving individuals.

When government uses force, liberty is sacrificed and the goals are lost.

It is freedom that is the source of all creative energy.

If I am to be your president, these are the goals I would seek.

I reject the notion that we need a president to run our lives, plan the economy, or police the world.

Our goal always should be the preservation of liberty. It is much more important to protect individual liberty and privacy than to make government even more secretive and powerful.

These goals are worth fighting for.

There is hope for America.

Please support me in these efforts.

Thanks for listening.

Source: Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee Mitt Romney 2008 Mitt Romney 2008 February 13, 2007











GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY'S PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Dearborn, MI – In his announcement, Governor Mitt Romney will make the case that he has the experience and the ability to transform the U.S. Government so that it is innovative and effective. Governor Romney will address the need to build a New American Dream by calling on the strength of a free American people.

Below Are Governor Romney's Remarks As Prepared For Delivery:

"I am happy to be in Michigan this morning. I'm happy to have my brother Scott and Sister Lynn here. And I'm proud to have all my children and grandchildren here too.

"Michigan is where Ann and I were born. It is where we met and fell in love. I still love Ann. And I still love Michigan!

"During my parents' campaigns, I visited all 83 Michigan counties, doing my best to convince Michiganders that Romneys and Republicans could lead the state back to prosperity.

"You know my father as a business leader, a governor, and as an advocate of volunteerism. But he came from humble roots. He labored with lath and plaster. He never graduated from college. But like many other Americans, he made his dreams come true.

"And he made a difference. My father worked here to improve Detroit Schools. He worked to write a new state constitution. And he worked as your governor for six years to get Michigan on the move. His character and integrity left an impression that has lasted through the decades.

"It was Mom who did the lion's share of raising Lynn, Jane, Scott and me. Dad said, that as a successful Mom, she had accomplished more than he. Later she worked in charities, in foster care, in music and the arts, and in volunteerism. She even ran for U.S. Senate

"I always imagined that I would come back to Michigan someday. That's why I took the bar exam here. I hadn't imagined it would happen this way, but I sure have come back to Michigan today.

"I chose this site for a number of reasons. It's filled with cars and memories. Dad and I loved cars. Most kids read the sports box scores. Dad and I read Automotive News. We came here together, him teaching me about cars that were built before my time.

"The Rambler automobile he championed was the first American car designed and marketed for economy and mileage. He dubbed it a compact car, a car that would slay the gas-guzzling dinosaurs. It transformed the industry.

"This place is not just about automobiles; it is about innovation, innovation that transformed an industry, and in doing so, gave Americans a way of life our grandparents could never have imagined.

"The DC 3 above us was the first true commercial airliner. It transformed aviation from a luxury to a standard mode of transportation.

"Next to us is a Ford hybrid. It is the first giant step away from our reliance on the gasoline engine. It is already changing the world of transportation.

"Just outside is Thomas Edison's laboratory. There, electricity that Benjamin Franklin discovered was transformed from a novelty into a necessity.

"Innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America's success. If there ever was a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now.

"We have lost faith in government, not in just one party, not in just one house, but in government.

"We are weary of the bickering and bombast, fatigued by the posturing and self-promotion. For even as America faces a new generation of challenges, the halls of government are clogged with petty politics and stuffed with peddlers of influence.

"It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington. It is what our country needs. It is what our people deserve.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong politician. There have been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements…and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading.

"I do not believe Washington can be transformed by someone who has never tried doing such a thing before, in any setting, by someone who has never even managed a corner store, let alone the largest enterprise in the world.

"Throughout my life, I have pursued innovation and transformation. It has taught me the vital lessons that come only from experience, from failures and successes, from the private, public and voluntary sectors, from small and large enterprise, from leading a state, from being in the arena, not just talking about it. Talk is easy, talk is cheap. It is doing that is hard. And it is only in doing that hope and dreams come to life.

"This Christmas, Ann and I gathered my five sons and five daughters-in-law to ask them whether I should run for President.

"We talked about the special time this is in the history of America – the challenges and the opportunities. We talked about the qualities that are needed in our leaders. They were unanimous. They know our hearts. They know our values. They know my experience innovating and transforming, in business, in the Olympics, and in Massachusetts. And they know we love this country.

"And so, with them behind us, with the fine people of Michigan before us, and with my sweetheart beside me, I declare my intention to run for President of the United States.

"It has been said that a person is defined by what he loves and by what he believes and by what he dreams.

"I love America and I believe in the people of America.

"I believe in God and I believe that every person in this great country, and every person on this grand planet, is a child of God. We are all sisters and brothers.

"I believe the family is the foundation of America – and that we must fight to protect and strengthen it.

"I believe in the sanctity of human life.

"I believe that people and their elected representatives should make our laws, not unelected judges.

"I believe we are overtaxed and government is overfed. Washington is spending too much money.

"I believe that homeland security begins with securing our borders.

"I believe the best days of this country are ahead of us, because…

"I believe in America!

"At this critical time, we must 1) transform our role in the world, 2) strengthen our nation, and 3) build a brighter future for the American family.

"Today, as we stare at the face of radical violent Jihad and at the prospect of nuclear epidemic, our military might should not be subject to the whims of ever-changing political agendas. The best ally of peace is a strong America!

"Our role in the world must be defined not only in terms of our might, but also by our willingness to lead, to serve, and to share. We must campaign for freedom and democracy in our own hemisphere, now threatened by a second aspiring strongman. We must extend our hand to Africa's poor and diseased and brutalized. We must lead the world's civilized nations in a partnership that will support moderate Muslim nations and peoples, to help them embrace principles of modernity and defeat violent Jihad. We must link arms with all responsible nations to block Iran from realizing its nuclear ambition. America must never engage and negotiate with Jihadists who want to destroy us, destroy our friends, and destroy our way of life!

"Across the nation, there is debate about our future course in Iraq. Our desire to bring our troops home, safely and soon, is met with our recognition that if Iraq descends into all-out civil war, millions could die; that Iraq's Sunni region could become a base for Al Qaeda; that its Shia region could be seized by Iran; that Kurd tension could destabilize Turkey; and even that the broader Middle East could be drawn into conflict. The possible implications for America and for American interests from such developments could be devastating. It could mean a future with far more military involvement and far more loss of American life. For these reasons, I believe that so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population.

"And no matter how Iraq is resolved, we must honor and care for the veterans who risked their lives, and for the families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice. Our nation has a sacred pact with those who defend freedom. It is a pact we must never break!

"America must regain our standing in the world. Our influence must once again match our generosity. Over the entire 20th century, no nation gave more, shed more precious lives, and took less for itself than America. Our sacrifice for freedom and for human dignity continues unabated. But this is not the way it is seen by others. America's goodness and leadership in the world, must be as bright and bold as our military might!

"America can also overcome our challenges and seize our abundant opportunities here at home, but only if we follow the right course.

"There are some who believe that America's strength comes from government – that challenges call for bigger government, for more regulation of our lives and livelihood, and for more protection and isolation from competition that comes from open markets.

"That is the path that has been taken by much of Europe. It is called the welfare state. It has led to high unemployment and anemic job growth. It is not the path to prosperity and leadership.

"I believe the American people are the source of our strength. They always have been. They always will be. The American people: hard working, educated, innovative, ready to sacrifice for family and country, patriotic, seeking opportunity above dependence, God-fearing, free American people. When we need to call on the strength of America, we should strengthen the American people, not the American government!

"We strengthen the American people by giving them more freedom, by letting them keep more of what they earn, by making sure our schools are providing the skills our children will need for tomorrow, and by keeping America at the leading edge of innovation and technology.

"Our government has become a weight on the American people, sapping their strength and slowing their climb. We must transform our government – to become a government that is smaller and less bureaucratic, one with fewer regulations and more freedom for our people. The innovation we need today is to make government more responsive to the needs of everyday American citizens. It's time to put government in its place, and to put the American people first!

"At America's core are millions of individual families: families of children and parents, aunts and uncles and cousins, grandparents, foster parents. There is no work more important for our nation's future than the work done in the home.

"But the work done in the home isn't getting easier. Values and morals that have long shaped the development of our children are under constant attack. In too many cases, schools are failing. For some, healthcare is inadequate. Family expenses and government taxes take a larger and larger bite. America cannot continue to lead the family of nations if we fail the families at home.

"How is the American family made stronger? With marriage before children. With a mother and a father in the life of every child. With healthcare that is affordable and portable. With schools that succeed. With taxes that are lower. And with leaders who strive to demonstrate enduring values and morality.

"This was the agenda I pursued as Governor of Massachusetts. This is the agenda I will pursue if elected President.

"When I was a boy, the American dream meant a house in the suburbs. The American dream today must mean more than a house. The new American dream should include a strong family, enduring values, excellence in education, dependable and affordable healthcare, secure employment and secure retirement, and a safe and prosperous homeland. It's time to build a new American dream for all of America's families.

"How will this new American dream be built? Our hopes and dreams will inspire us, for we are an optimistic people. But hope alone is just crossing fingers, when what we need is industrious hands. It is time for hope and action. It is time to do, as well as to dream!

"As we look around us in this museum, we see the evidence of American innovation – airplanes, automobiles, appliances. But these are not America's greatest innovation. America's greatest innovation is freedom. Without freedom, we have nothing. With freedom, nothing can hold us back.

"Freedom has made the American dream possible. Freedom will make the new American dream possible. And with the work, sacrifice, and greatness of spirit of the American people, freedom has made America – and will keep America – the greatest nation on earth. God bless America."

Source: Mitt Romney For President Barack Obama 2008 Barack Obama 2008 February 10, 2007











Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Announcement for President
Saturday, February 10th, 2007
Springfield, IL

Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.

We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.

That's the journey we're on today. But let me tell you how I came to be here. As most of you know, I am not a native of this great state. I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man then, just a year out of college; I knew no one in Chicago, was without money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for $13,000 a year. And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea - that I might play a small part in building a better America.

My work took me to some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced weren't simply local in nature - that the decision to close a steel mill was made by distant executives; that the lack of textbooks and computers in schools could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away; and that when a child turns to violence, there's a hole in his heart no government could ever fill.

It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education I ever had, and where I learned the true meaning of my Christian faith.

After three years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator.

It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge - farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here - friends that I see in the audience today.

It was here we learned to disagree without being disagreeable - that it's possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised; and that so long as we're willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.

That's why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken. That's why we were able to give health insurance to children in need. That's why we made the tax system more fair and just for working families, and that's why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said could never, ever be passed.

It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.

And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness - a certain audacity - to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more - and it is time for our generation to answer that call.

For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people - as Americans.

All of us know what those challenges are today - a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.

What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.

For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.

And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page.

We've made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.

But Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility - for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.

Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.

And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again.

Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do this.

Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.

Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.

Most of all, let's be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything we've got. Politics doesn't have to divide us on this anymore - we can work together to keep our country safe. I've worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the world's deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.

But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.

Finally, there is one other thing that is not too late to get right about this war - and that is the homecoming of the men and women - our veterans - who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their valor by providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let us be the generation that begins this work.

I know there are those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for president will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own.

That is why this campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

He tells us that there is power in words.

He tells us that there is power in conviction.

That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.

He tells us that there is power in hope.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."

That is our purpose here today.

That's why I'm in this race.

Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle - for justice and opportunity.

I want to win that next battle - for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.

I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.

And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth.

###

Source: Obama For America Joe Biden 2008 Joe Biden 2008 January 31, 2007










SENATOR JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Highlights Voters Desire for Bold Leadership and Change in Direction

January 31, 2007 - Senator Joseph R. Biden today announced in a video statement posted on his website www.joebiden.com that he has filed the necessary paperwork to become a candidate for President of the United States.

"I am heartened by the response so many people have given to my call for a new direction in American foreign policy and to our focus on middle class concerns," said Sen. Biden.

In the video statement, Biden stressed the disastrous results of the Bush Administration's failed policies and handling of Iraq.

"In my view, President Bush has dug America into a very deep hole," said Sen. Biden. "This administration's mishandling of the war in Iraq may be the greatest foreign policy disaster of all time."

Biden said the next president must be prepared to change our policy in Iraq immediately upon entering office, "The next President of the United States must be prepared to immediately step in and act – without hesitation – to end our involvement in the Iraq conflict without further destabilizing the Middle East and the world."

Biden also emphasized the need for a change in direction more broadly in both foreign and domestic policies, stating, "To restore America's place in the world, we also must focus on the hopes and needs of our own people. The Bush administration – because it worships profits over people – has forgotten that to make America strong, we need a growing, vibrant middle-class.

We need our citizens to feel secure. Secure that their children will be cared for if they are ill. Secure that they will have a retirement income they can count on. Secure that we are doing all we can to end global warming. Secure that their jobs and opportunities will not vanish like so many have in recent years."

Biden said he would make a more formal presentation of the prospective policies and principles of a Biden Administration over the next several months.

To watch the video statement or for more information on the campaign, please visit: www.joebiden.com.


Welcome to JoeBiden.com

Thank you for visiting JoeBiden.com

I want to thank all of you who have encouraged me with your support and contributions to run for President.

Please take a few moments to explore this website by following the links below. I hope you will get to know who I am, how my life has prepared me for this campaign, and what we hope to accomplish in the days and months ahead. Then I hope you will join the campaign by joining our email list or making a contribution.

A presidential campaign is an exciting journey. Along with my wife, Jill, and our children Beau, Hunter and Ashley, we look forward to spending time with you as we campaign across America.

Thank you,

Joe Biden

Source: Joe Biden For President Mike Huckabee 2008 Mike Huckabee 2008 January 28, 2007










Mike Huckabee Files Exploratory Committee Paperwork

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced Monday he has filed the necessary paperwork to form an exploratory committee as part of a 2008 presidential bid.

"This is an opportunity for me to show the American dream is still alive," Huckabee said to a group of state GOP leaders Monday in Little Rock. "By filing papers with the Federal Election Commission, I'm officially taking the next step to become a candidate for President of United States."

The formation of an exploratory committee allows Huckabee to raise money and hire a campaign staff for a presidential run. He said details of the organization will be announced in future weeks.

Huckabee, 51, left office on Jan 9. "People want an authentic conservative who has a proven record of results," he said.

Huckabee announced his plans to form an exploratory committee yesterday on NBC's 'Meet the Press' morning show with host Tim Russert.

"America loves an underdog," Huckabee told Russert. "One of the reasons that I'm running for president is because I think that America needs folks who understand what it is to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb their way to the top."

Huckabee became Arkansas' 44th Governor in 1996 when his predecessor resigned. Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998, attracting the largest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas. He was re-elected to another four-year term in November 2002. He was the third longest serving governor in the history of Arkansas, having served ten and a half years.

Huckabee served as chairman of the National Governors Association and chairman of the Education Commission of the States. During his tenure as governor, Huckabee made great strides in improving education, increasing access to health care, updating technology in state government and revamping the state's roadways.

Huckabee, a fiscal conservative, pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history. He led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights and created a welfare reform program that reduced welfare rolls in the state by almost 50 percent.

Last year, Huckabee campaigned in nearly 30 states on behalf of Republican candidates, state parties and conservative groups. He plans to travel to Iowa, his ninth trip to the Hawkeye State, on Tuesday. Huckabee has events scheduled in Des Moines, Waukee, Urbandale, Grinnell, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Tipton and Bettendorf.

Former AR Governor Mike Huckabee to Explore Presidential Bid

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press' morning show with host Tim Russert that he will explore a presidential bid for 2008.

Huckabee, who left office Jan. 9, said, "People want an authentic conservative who has a proven record of results."

"I'm taking the next step in becoming a candidate for President of United States," Huckabee, a Republican, said. "By filing papers with the Federal Election Commission, I will establish my official exploratory committee."

The formation of an exploratory committee allows Huckabee to raise and spend money for a presidential run.

"I've concluded that I should take this necessary and vital step to bring a new kind of optimistic leadership to the public square," Huckabee said, noting that he has received "strong, prayerful support" from his family, close friends and supporters in many states.

Last year, Huckabee campaigned in nearly 30 states on behalf of Republican candidates, state parties and conservative groups.

Huckabee became Arkansas' 44th governor in July 1996 when his predecessor resigned. He was one of the youngest governors in the country at the time. Huckabee first was elected lieutenant governor in a 1993 special election and was elected to a full four-year term in 1994. He was only the fourth Republican to be elected to statewide office since Reconstruction.

Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998, attracting the largest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, and was re-elected to another four-year term in November 2002. He was the third longest serving governor in the history of Arkansas, having served ten and a half years.

Huckabee is nationally recognized for his leadership capabilities and many accomplishments as governor. 'Governing' magazine named him as one of its Public Officials of the Year in 2005, Time magazine honored him as one of the 'Five Best Governors' in America, and he received the distinguished Impact Award from the American Association of Retired Persons.

Huckabee served as chairman of the National Governors Association and chairman of the Education Commission of the States. During his tenure as governor, Huckabee made great strides in improving education, increasing access to health care, updating technology in state government and revamping the state's roadways.

Huckabee, a fiscal conservative, pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history. He led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights and created a welfare reform program that reduced welfare rolls in the state by almost 50 percent.

The governor is a noted speaker and author. He has given speeches on politics and public policy to groups across the country and around the world.

Born and raised in Hope, AR, Huckabee, 51, and his wife, Janet, live in North Little Rock. They have three grown children, John Mark, David and Sarah.

Official announcement activities are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 30, with a two-day tour in Iowa. (This will be the Governor's ninth trip to the HawkeyeState.)

Source: Huckabee for President Exploratory Committee, Inc. Duncan Hunter 2008 Duncan Hunter 2008 January 25, 2007










Duncan Hunter 2008 Announcement Speech

Thank you ladies and gentlemen. The reception you have given me and Lynne warms our hearts.

The genius of the founding fathers is that they put together a government that can be run by ordinary people. I'm a very ordinary guy, but folks, I have a very extraordinary family. I had a very average tour of duty in the military and didn't do anything special, but my son, Duncan, quit his job and joined the Marines after 9-11 and served two tours in Iraq.

I was a less than average student, but my brothers Bobby and John are world class physicists and Jim is a great civil engineer. My son Sam, just graduated from San Diego State University a few weeks ago.

I was a pretty average lawyer on the San Diego waterfront, but my sister Bonnie is a superb lawyer.

I was blessed in having a Mom and Dad who together embodied character and love.

I will tell you what I was great in though, I was great in marrying over my head to the most wonderful girl in the world, Lynne. We've been lucky to have two sons in whom we could not be prouder. They have added to our family two lovely daughter-in-laws Theresa and Margaret and four grandchildren whom we dearly love, Duncan 3, Sissy and Sarah, Marin.

This morning at 7:22 A.M. the first rays of sunrise illuminated the Stars of David and crosses on the markers at Arlington Cemetery.

Within a few minutes the East Coast was covered with the morning light. As dawn moved across the cities and towns of the Eastern U.S. it revealed what we've always called: "the Arsenal of Democracy."

America's Arsenal of Democracy is reflected in the thousands of factories, plants and businesses that make domestic products in peacetime, but can be called on to make military equipment in a time of war.

Three times in the last century we saved the world for freedom: WWI, WWII and the Cold War.

In World War II, our manufacturing base made more than: 100,000 tanks; 2.4 million vehicles; 36 billion yards of cloth; 3 million rifles; 41 billion rounds of ammunition; and 41,000 artillery pieces.

The Arsenal of Democracy carried Eisenhower's forces to Berlin and paved the way for the Marines in the Pacific as they pushed the Japanese back to their mainland. This great arsenal, our industrial base, was important to collapsing the Soviet Empire and the Berlin Wall because it provided the strength in Ronald Reagan's stand against the forces of evil.

Today my friends, the Arsenal of Democracy is being pulled away. Massive production of textiles, steel and machine tools are no longer found in South Carolina, or Ohio, or Pennsylvania, nor dozens of other states. In fact, as Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, when I sent my team to get more steel to protect troops against roadside bombs in Iraq, they found only one company in the U.S. making armor plate grade steel.

When a Swiss company cut off the critical component for our smart bombs only one U.S. company remained which could supply it.

Now, if you want to find where our Arsenal of Democracy has gone, you must look in places like Korea, France and, perhaps more ominously, China.

China is cheating on trade. They are piling up over 200 billion U.S. dollars each year as a result and they are buying ships, planes and missiles with American trade dollars.

They have purchased Russian Sovreignny Class missile cruisers designed to destroy American aircraft carriers.

They have built between 750 and 1,000 medium range ballistic missiles and they have 17 submarines under construction.

How are they cheating? China gives 17% tax rebate to their exporters and a 17% penalty to our businesses who export to them. In addition, they maintain a 40% currency devaluation just to make sure the U.S. business doesn't win.

This is not free trade. This is not fair trade. It's cheating and if we put up with it, then we are disserving not only business and workers, but also our security.

If this was a football game, it means China has put 74 points on the score board before the opening kick-off.

Our own head of the Federal Reserve Board, Mr. Bernanke, went to China a few weeks ago and wrote a speech describing China's currency manipulation as a "subsidy." Then he pulled those words out so as not to anger his Communist hosts.

I thought Republicans didn't believe in appeasing Communists.

This isn't a game. It is pulling apart American's Arsenal of Democracy which has saved the world three times in the last century and will be called on to do so again.

As President, I will make sure that our businesses and workers get a level playing field. I will do this because our security is at stake.

We will be able to do this because we still have the most important thing in a trade deal: we have the market, and to reach our market other nations will have to make a deal that gives our citizens a chance to win.

Today starts a time for choosing for every American manufacturer and worker. Choose to give in to China's cheating, to the one-way street that takes good profits, businesses and jobs and makes us a debtor nation to a country which has never shown mercy.

Or, choose to join me to enforce fair trade with a two-way street that gives every business and worker the chance to succeed.

Will you join me?

Now our businesses and workers need more than fair trade to prosper. They also need freedom. When government leaves a few dollars in the pocket of a businessman and he's able to expand his business, buy new machinery and hire new workers: everyone wins. The new workers pay taxes and revenues increase.

Workers and businesses need something else, they need government to cut the massive regulation that keeps businesses from opening and workers from jobs.

In lots of places it takes longer than it took to win WWII to subdivide 10 acres of land for businesses or homes. Throughout America good creative people are waiting for months and years for bureaucracy to move.

I'll have a new motto to move the federal bureaucracy out of the way. Our motto will be: "Get them their permits while they are still young."

This morning, an hour after the American sunrise first appeared at Arlington Cemetery, it began illuminating a little town in Texas called Kingston. Kingston is the birthplace of Audie Murphy, our most decorated soldier in WWII. 349 miles away that same sunrise shines on Cuero, Texas, the home of Sgt. Roy Benavidez, the Special Forces Sgt who, during the Vietnam War, went on a rescue mission of his comrades armed only with a bowie knife. And 1,697 miles from Benavides's town is Scio, New York, the home of Marine Corporal Jason Dunham who gave his life to save his buddies in Iraq.

These three men are all tightly bound to each other and us by this: they all won the Medal of Honor for Heroism and they all fought for the American interest of expanding freedom.

In WWII, we prevailed and brought freedom to millions of people in dozens of countries. In Vietnam, we failed to expand freedom. In Iraq, our success hangs in the balance, but the proposition that expanding freedom is an American interest cannot be questioned.

Who can argue that it is not in our interest to have a free and democratic Japan on the other side of the Pacific? That it is not in our interest to have nations like Poland as U.S. allies today.

When Ronald Reagan brought down the Berlin Wall, we freed hundreds of millions of people from behind the Iron Curtain. That was in our interest.

Now, it is in our interest to expand freedom in a difficult and dangerous places called Iraq and Afghanistan. In each nation we are following the basic pattern we've used for many years: 1. We stand up a free government; 2. We stand up a military capable of protecting that free government; and 3. The Americans leave.

In both nations we are in the second, difficult phase of standing up a security apparatus. The toughest challenge is in Iraq. The President with his military advisors has put together a plan for Operation Baghdad, which is being executed by moving 21,500 reinforcements to the theater. I've seen the plan. It has a good chance to work. It joins two to three Iraqi battalions with one American battalion in a back-up and mentoring role.

I support the plan. When we are in a shooting war and reinforcements are being called up by the Commander in Chief and the commanders on the ground, no political party should ever stand in their way. If Democrats move to cut off supplies, our troops and our people should never forgive them.

We have a debt to Audie Murphy, Sgt. Roy Benavidez, Corporal Jason Dunham and the more than 600,000 Americans who gave their lives in the last century for us. Our obligation is to stay strong and remember George Washington's warning: "The best way to prevent war is to prepare for it." And Ronald Reagan's policy of achieving peace through strength.

For the past 26 years on the House Armed Services Committee, the last four as its Chairman, I have endeavored to make us strong. Over the last eight years we've increased pay of our uniformed personnel by 40%; we've enlarged the Army by 30,000 and the Marines by 5,000; we've brought medical coverage to the National Guard and their families and we've modernized our forces.

Since the Clinton Administration stepped out of the White House, I have worked with the current administration to more than double the precision firepower of the U.S. military. Let any would-be-terrorist or wrong thinking nation know: if you believe media reports that the U.S. military is unable to handle another threat along with Iraq and Afghanistan, don't bet your life on it, because you'll lose.

Lots of security challenges remain for our nation. Iran appears committed to the development of a nuclear weapon and North Korea already has some and is racing to build missile delivery systems. China is emerging as a military super-power, stepping into the shoes of the former Soviet Union.

We must continue to develop broad military capability for the U.S.

We must be able to fight conventionally as well as prosecuting the war against terror with an emphasis on intelligence and special operations.

We must remain strong and build new strengths in space and cyber-space.

Today we have the first missile defense in our history. It's a limited capability. As President I will build on it, so that if one day missiles are fired at our cities we can stop them.

Two and a half hours after the sunrise first touched Arlington Cemetery, the first rays reveal the Southwest border. There a thin green line of U.S. Border Patrolmen guard a vast 2,000 mile border. They need reinforcements and they need a border fence.

In San Diego, we built the double fence that reduced the smuggling of hundreds of thousands of people and tons of drugs by more than 90%. The fence works and the new fence law that I wrote extends the San Diego fence more than 700 miles across the Arizona, New Mexico and Texas borders.

As President, I will complete the border fence from start to finish in six months. The "mission impossible" crowd who runs Washington, DC is trying to stop it, but we will overcome them.

We need more agents, we need the fence. I'll tell you why.

Since 9-11, border security has become national security. In 2005, we stopped 155,000 people coming across from Mexico who weren't citizens of Mexico. They came from nearly every country in the world, including from Communist China and Iran.

You know, for all the critics, America has the most generous legal immigration system in the world. I call that the front door. And as President, I will have a message for folks who want to come to our wonderful country: "Knock on the front door because the fence will be up and the back door will be closed."

There is another message here: it takes more than walking across a border to be an American. It takes the willingness to serve your country when called. It takes the commitment to be honest in your work and the heart to help your neighbor. To be a person like Wendell Cutting, who in January 2005 was discovered to be missing from his sick-bed where he lay with terminal cancer. "Where is Wendell?" we asked. Then we got our answer, he was on a plane to the center of the tsunami disaster scene. There, sick with chemo-therapy, he aided the victims with his beloved Rescue Task Force. "God re-energized me," he told me later.

What's most special about Wendell was he was not alone.

Millions of Americans help across our nation and across our globe. To our international critics I say: When you had floods the Americans were there. Asking for nothing, taking nothing, only helping. When you had fires and earthquakes and tsunamis, the Americans were there. When you had disease Americans brought medicine, when you were hungry, the Americans brought food. When you were attacked, Americans left the safety of their homes to defend you. Sometimes the Americans came under their government, but many times they just came because of the goodness of their hearts. America is great because America is good.

The reason our citizens are good is because of our faith and because we believe that all mankind is endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. We believe in the value of the human soul. When we appoint judges, we are handing great power, the power of life and death, to individual people. As President, I want judges with discernment. If a judicial candidate can look at a sonagram picture of an unborn child and not see a human being worthy of protection, I will not give him an appointment to the court. I will, however, get him an appointment with an optometrist for a set of eye glasses.

This country spends millions of dollars a year searching for life on distant planets. We should be able to see it easily in the beating heart of an unborn child.

I said at the start of this speech that the first rays of sunlight lit up Arlington Cemetery at 7:22 this morning. In 2 and a half hours from then the sunrise will spread across America and reaches another national cemetery 3,000 miles from here on the Pacific Ocean. That cemetery, Rosecrans National Cemetery, stands guard over the entrance to San Diego Bay.

In 1945, a young Marine returning home from the South Pacific to San Diego wrote these words:

"I think that just to be able to live with your wife and family...to be able to take care of them every day is the greatest privilege a person can enjoy." 61 years later another Marine returned to San Diego from a place called Fallujah and wrote: "At some point in a dangerous environment you forget about your own safety and you try to keep your men safe and place your own life in the hands of God, but your family, your wife and kids never leave your mind. Families lift our country up. They support us with fidelity, morality, faith in God, and raising the next generation of Americans."

The first Marine was my dad, R.O. Hunter, to whom I owe all that I am or ever will be. The second was my son Duncan, here today. These letters over 60 years apart reflect the truth of America: God still loves this nation. We are still a people of character and strength and kindness.

My fellow Americans, with the support of our families, with faith in God and with confidence in the goodness of the American people, let's begin this race for the Presidency. Let's win.

Source: Duncan Hunter for President Hillary Clinton 2008 Hillary Clinton 2008 January 20, 2007










01/20/2007

Video Transcript: Presidential Exploratory Committee Announcement

HILLARY CLINTON: I announced today that I am forming a presidential exploratory committee.

I'm not just starting a campaign, though, I'm beginning a conversation -- with you, with America. Because we all need to be part of the discussion if we're all going to be part of the solution. And all of us have to be part of the solution.

Let's talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq and to restore respect for America around the world.

How to make us energy independent and free of foreign oil.

How to end the deficits that threaten Social Security and Medicare.

And let's definitely talk about how every American can have quality affordable health care.

You know, after six years of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America. Our basic bargain that no matter who you are or where you live, if you work hard and play by the rules, you can build a good life for yourself and your family.

I grew up in a middle-class family in the middle of America, and we believed in that promise.

I still do. I've spent my entire life trying to make good on it.

Whether it was fighting for women's basic rights or childrens' basic health care. Protecting our Social Security, or protecting our soldiers. It's a kind of basic bargain, and we've got to keep up our end.

So let's talk. Let's chat. Let's start a dialogue about your ideas and mine.

Because the conversation in Washington has been just just a little one-sided lately, don't you think? And we can all see how well that works.

And while I can't visit everyone's living room, I can try. And with a little help from modern technology, I'll be holding live online video chats this week, starting Monday.

So let the conversation begin. I have a feeling it's going to be very interesting.

Presidential Exploratory Committee Announcement e-mail

I'm in. And I'm in to win.

Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.

And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country -- about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.

I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I'm starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days.

The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.

As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

Only a new president can renew the promise of America -- the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day.

And only a new president can regain America's position as a respected leader in the world.

I believe that change is coming November 4, 2008. And I am forming my exploratory committee because I believe that together we can bring the leadership that this country needs. I'm going to start this campaign with a national conversation about how we can work to get our country back on track.

This is a big election with some very big questions. How do we bring the war in Iraq to the right end? How can we make sure every American has access to adequate health care? How will we ensure our children inherit a clean environment and energy independence? How can we reduce the deficits that threaten Social Security and Medicare?

No matter where you live, no matter what your political views, I want you to be a part of this important conversation right at the start. So to begin, I'm going to spend the next several days answering your questions in a series of live video web discussions. Starting Monday, January 22, at 7 p.m. EST for three nights in a row, I'll sit down to answer your questions about how we can work together for a better future. And you can participate live at my website. Sign up to join the conversation here.

I grew up in a middle-class family in the middle of America, where I learned that we could overcome every obstacle we face if we work together and stay true to our values.

I have worked on issues critical to our country almost all my life. I've fought for children for more than 30 years. In Arkansas, I pushed for education reform. As First Lady, I helped to expand health care coverage to millions of children and to pass legislation that dramatically increased adoptions. I also traveled to China to affirm that women's rights are human rights.

And in the Senate, I have worked across party lines to get billions more for children's health care, to stop the president's plan to privatize Social Security, and to make sure the victims and heroes of 9/11 and our men and women in uniform receive the fair treatment they deserve. In 2006, I led the successful fight to make Plan B contraception available to women without a prescription.

I have spent a lifetime opening opportunities for tens of millions who are working hard to raise a family: new immigrants, families living in poverty, people who have no health care or face an uncertain retirement.

The promise of America is that all of us will have access to opportunity, and I want to run a 2008 campaign that renews that promise, a campaign built on a lifetime record of results.

I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine. After nearly $70 million spent against my campaigns in New York and two landslide wins, I can say I know how Washington Republicans think, how they operate, and how to beat them.

I need you to be a part of this campaign, and I hope you'll start by joining me in this national conversation.

As we campaign to win the White House, we will make history and remake our future. We can only break barriers if we dare to confront them, and if we have the determined and committed support of others.

This campaign is our moment, our chance to stand up for the principles and values that we cherish; to bring new ideas, energy, and leadership to a uniquely challenging time. It's our chance to say "we can" and "we will."

Let's go to work. America's future is calling us.

Source: HillaryClinton.com Sam Brownback 2008 Sam Brownback 2008 January 20, 2007











FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
January 20, 2007

Brownback Announces Run for President
Delivers remarks from Heritage Hall in Topeka, Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He delivered the following remarks from Heritage Hall in his hometown of Topeka, Kansas:

"I am declaring today my candidacy for President of the United States.

"Ours is a great nation and I make one pledge to you, to use our greatness for goodness.

"We are a great nation because our greatness is built on the foundation of fundamental goodness. If ever we lose our goodness, we will surely lose our greatness. Our purposes, from the time of our nation's founding, have always been bigger than we are. They must be if we are to fulfill our destiny.

"But destinies are built on daily achievements. Inch by inch, step by step, we press on to our higher calling. Today I wish to state what I believe those next steps are, for our nation and for our people.

"Two hundred years ago this year, a little known British Parliamentarian by the name of William Wilberforce finally achieved success after a lifetime of effort to end the slave trade in the British Empire. A committed Christian who believed his faith should be a force for good in Britain and around the world, Wilberforce had two great passions: ending the slave trade and renewing the culture. Although his goals appeared impossibly lofty, both were achieved.

"He used Britain's greatness for goodness.

"Our mandate today has a similar feel. If William Wilberforce were alive today, I believe he would be passionately fighting for the dignity of every human life everywhere, without regard to race, wealth, or status. He would also feel compelled to take up the vital cause of renewing the family and the culture.

"These are our fights today.

"We must fight for the downtrodden, the voiceless and the powerless. We must fight for freedom and justice. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of our heritage.

"But, our land needs healing.

"Our people need hope.

"Our world needs help.

"We need reconciliation. Lincoln properly observed that, 'a house divided against itself cannot stand.' We are divided and need healing.

"We need to rebuild our families. We need stronger families! We need people belonging and committed! By doing so, we will reduce poverty, strengthen our nation and increase hope.

"We need to support the foundational institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman for life. We should support marriage, not tax it. It's wrong to take away welfare benefits just because someone gets married. Marriage remains the best place to raise children--not the only place, but the best.

"We must stop wasteful spending that steals a families' income and then insults them by throwing their money away on pork-barrel projects.

"And we need more opportunities--not more taxes. I've never voted for a tax increase, and I certainly will never sign one!

"But that's not enough. We need a different income tax system altogether. This one, the Internal Revenue Code, should be taken behind the barn and killed with a dull axe.

"I propose the creation of an alternative flat tax, which lets the people choose which system works for them.

"We need a social security system in which all Americans are given a choice in how to prepare for their retirement; a choice they do not presently have. No one should be required to leave the current system, and everyone must be guaranteed their current level of benefits. Every American should be given this freedom.

"We are a large nation. Let's start embracing American-sized goals that lift us up and pull us together!

"Let's put our energies into conquering the number one fear in America: the fear of getting cancer. We can end deaths by cancer in ten years. The last two years have seen a decrease in deaths by cancer. It's time to put this killer to death. With our intense effort, we can make it a chronic--rather than a terminal--illness. What a gift to humanity!

"We need high-quality, affordable health care for everyone. Here, let me step back for a moment. I am a conservative. A conservative that believes in addressing problems, not ignoring them. We must address our health care problems with market-based solutions, not government-run health care. We can, and we must. This topic requires our urgent attention.

"We must be energy self-reliant in North America in the next fifteen years--at the same time we need to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. This is possible using our ingenuity, resources, and determination.

"Also, we need judges who want to be judges, not legislators.

"And for goodness sakes, the last thing we need in America is to take God out of our public lives and institutions! We need to embrace our nation's motto 'In God We Trust,' not be ashamed of it. Search the record of history. To walk away from the almighty is to embrace decline for a nation. To embrace him leads to renewal, for individuals and for nations.

"Something most people feel deeply in their hearts is the need for a culture of life--a culture that doesn't allow the strong to exploit the weak--a culture of compassion instead of a culture of convenience. Life is beautiful. We all know this. Let's start following our hearts and work to protect all innocent human life.

"We are a nation at war. I just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our troops--the finest, most courageous people our nation has to offer--are fighting for the cause of liberty in places that have never known her. It is a long fight. We will win. We cannot lose our will to win! We must win to redeem our troops' sacrifice. Let us resolve to have a bipartisan strategy for the war. We need unity here to win over there. This is not the time for partisanship on any side. Lives--and our future--are at stake.

"We will achieve these goals, not through government action, but by tapping into our innate goodness as a society and working together. This is how America has always achieved great goals.

"At the end of the day, it comes back to the basics: faith, family, and freedom. America is great because she is good. That goodness is not based in Washington, or New York, or even Topeka. It is based in the hearts of the American people. This is a goodness whose author is the divine. A goodness that doesn't let us rest until our neighbor is at peace. A goodness that feels the chains of another rub on our own skin. A goodness from God that demands our vigilant action.

"How much better we will be as we seek to live the great commandment to love God and one another.

"Yes, we are great and that is a humbling thing, for to whom much is given, much is required.

"Let us, in this generation, continue our destiny of greatness by focusing on the heart, a heart full of good. That's what I'll seek to do everyday.

"So it is with sincere humility and a determination to do good that I declare my candidacy for President of the United States.

"God bless you all, and may God continue to bless this great nation!

Source: Sam Brownback for President Website. Chris Dodd 2008 Chris Dodd 2008 January 11, 2007










Dodd Enters Presidential Race

For Immediate Release

January 11, 2007

WASHINGTON – Today Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd officially entered the 2008 Presidential race as a candidate for the Democratic nomination. He will kick off his Presidential campaign with stops in Iowa and South Carolina this weekend.

The following is Senator Dodd’s statement –

“I am running for President of the United States of America because I believe that we have reached a defining moment in American history. America today is at grave risk of losing many things we’ve always taken for granted. Our leadership in the world, our role as innovator, our hopes for a better life – are all threatened.

“There is a sense of urgency. The country wants leadership. Iraq is the clearest example of the need for change. Today the American people are listening to their elected officials in Washington debate the President’s new plan for Iraq. In my view, the President’s new plan for Iraq is not simply a "surge" but rather an escalation of the Administration's current failed strategy that will needlessly place additional troops in harms way.

“We cannot afford to continue the current failed military option. The failure in Iraq has cost us in two ways. It has cost us the lives of three thousand brave men and women, which is tragic. But it has also diverted our attention away from trouble spots around the world, from the looming threat in Iran to N. Korea and most importantly, the greater war on terror.

“But my decision to run for President is not just about the war in Iraq but about the urgent need to get America back on track. On every issue important to the American people – from the loss of jobs overseas, to the security of our ports, to retirement, health care, our schools – there’s been no leadership. This Administration inherited a great deal of prosperity and goodwill six years ago, and they’ve squandered it.

“But it’s not too late to make the world right once again. We need to be optimistic and confident about our future. I believe America can lead again. We can be respected and admired in the world again. We can create the kind of jobs again here at home that allow people to buy a home, have decent health care, have decent retirement, send their kids to college.

“It’s going to take one fundamental thing we’ve been lacking: leadership.

“I believe I bring that kind of leadership to my candidacy for the Presidency. I know how to get things done. Let me give you just one example: long before children’s issues were a priority in Washington, I brought forward the simple idea that parents shouldn’t have to choose between the child they love, and the job they need. I fought for almost a decade to create the Family and Medical Leave Act, and today, over 50 million Americans have been able to make sure their family got the right start after the birth or adoption of a child. I was able to do that by being innovative about what the country needed, and then working with both Democrats and Republicans to get something done.

“I’m proud of the fact that the work I’ve done the past 25 years has made a real difference for America – getting resources and funding to our nations first responders; strengthening our military, supporting smart, pro-growth economic policies, reforming our nations broken election laws, and, as I said earlier, fighting for our children’s health, education, and well being.

“In 2008, I believe that this kind of experience is going to count. We can’t afford four more years of on the job training in the Oval Office. We need a President who’s ready to lead from day one, who has the ability to bring people together, and really work on these big issues at home and abroad.

“I say this not just as a public servant, but as a parent, the father of two young daughters – ages five and 22 months. At some point soon, they are going to be part of a jury coming along that will judge us all. They’re going to want to know what we did on our watch to address issues like global warming, to create a world with more friends than enemies – when we had the chance.

“Today, I have announced that I am running for President because I want to be able to say to them and all of our children that we did everything in our power to pass along a world where they can grow up to live as beautiful and meaningful a life as anyone can imagine. I believe I have the leadership, experience, vision and optimism this nation needs to create a better future and a better world.”



Why I am running for President

Dear Friend,

I am writing to you today to let you know I am an official candidate for President in 2008. I have filed papers today to make it official.

I am running for President of the United States of America because I believe that we have reached a defining moment in American history. America today is at grave risk of losing many things we've always taken for granted. Our leadership in the world, our role as an innovator, our hopes for a better life - are all threatened.

I'm an optimist who believes America can lead again. We can be respected and admired in the world again. We can create the kind of jobs here at home that allow people to buy a home, have decent health care, have decent retirement, and send their kids to college.

But, in order to get our nation back on track, we need something that has been lacking lately - leadership.

I believe I bring that kind of leadership to my candidacy for the Presidency. Let me give you just one example: long before children's issues were a priority in Washington, I brought forward the simple idea that parents shouldn't have to choose between the job they need, and the child they love. I fought for almost a decade to create the Family and Medical Leave Act, and today, over 50 million Americans have been able to make sure their family got the right start after the birth or adoption of a child. I was able to do that by being innovative about what the country needed, and then working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get something done.

I'm proud of that fact, and the other policies where I've been able to make a real difference - getting resources and funding to our nation's first responders, strengthening our military, supporting smart, pro-growth economic policies, reforming our nation's broken election laws, and, as I said earlier, fighting for our children's health, education, and well being.

I look forward to having a conversation with the American people, and that starts with you, your family, friends and neighbors. Please take a moment to use the link below to encourage people you know to sign-up at ChrisDodd.com.

Can you help us expand the conversation right now?

The campaign season is not a sprint, it's more of a marathon. Let's start out on the right foot by discussing the issues that should set our agenda. I look forward to working together with you to find real solutions to the many issues that face our nation.

Will you help us expand the conversation right now?

Warm regards,

Source: Chris Dodd For President Dennis Kucinich 2008 Dennis Kucinich 2008 December 12, 2006










Announcement of Candidacy
Democratic Nomination for

President of the United States

Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Cleveland City Hall

12:00 pm

On November 7th, the people voted for a new direction for our nation. They voted for the Democrats because they expected us to end the occupation and to bring the troops home from Iraq.

On October 1st Congress appropriated $70 billion for the war in Iraq. The money is in the pipeline right now to bring the troops home. Unfortunately our Democratic leaders have already announced they will support an additional appropriation for the war of up to $160 billion dollars. Not only are we not listening to the voters and taking steps to withdraw our forces quickly, we are actually planning to spend twice as much on the war as we did last year!

Somebody didn’t get the message. And unfortunately it is the leadership of the Democratic Party and the consequences may be disastrous for our party, our nation and the world.

My home is in Cleveland. Each day I see the effect of our misplaced national priorities on my city: The number of factories and businesses, large and small, closing. My constituents and people just like them across America are losing their jobs, losing their middle class status and being pushed into poverty. Blue and white collar workers in the city and suburbs are losing their homes. They are losing their hard-earned retirement. A total of one hundred million Americans have no health care or are underinsured. Budget deficits have crippled school districts. Many cities are in financial trouble, forced to lay off vital city workers, unable to finance repairs to bridges, roads, water systems and sewer systems. The price of natural gas is rising. Huge utility rate increases are in the offing. It is getting more and more difficult for people to make ends meet.

Meanwhile millions of entrepreneurs whose ingenuity will create new jobs by bringing forth advanced clean energy technologies
are being starved for capital.

I live in the same working class neighborhood in the same home I purchased thirty five years ago. My parents raised seven children and never owned a home. We lived in twenty-one different places by the time I was seventeen, including a couple of cars. I know what people go through. I have seen first hand the effects of poverty and social disorganization. I also know of the powerful strivings of the human heart. I know that with just a little help, a little encouragement, and a little money, people are capable of creating new wealth and new worlds. That creative power is part of the birthright of all Americans.

I also know what the destructive power of war does to families and to our nation.. I know what Vietnam did to this country and did to my family. I know how it divided our nation and set America apart from the world. The war in Iraq has already taken its toll on Cleveland and in communities like Cleveland across the United States. The war, tax cuts for the already privileged, and our trade policies have become a massive engine to redistribute upwards the wealth of our nation and to transfer our national wealth out of the country. Policies which divide people and fracture the social compact are inherently un-American. Our nation’s very name makes of striving for unity a sacred cause.

How can we unite America around the health care needs of our people if we instead spend trillions of dollars in Iraq? How can we meet the educational needs of the children of our nation if we have money for arms build-ups, but no money for education build -ups? For example, the $160 billion dollars which our leaders are ready to appropriate for more war is equal to three times the entire annual federal education budget.

In a period of two years the budget for the military, plus the war in Iraq, will exceed one trillion dollars. The billions we are spending in Baghdad we are borrowing from Bejing. We must end this reckless sacrifice of blood and treasure. We must stop sacrificing our dreams and the dreams of future generations of Americans to the nightmare of this war.

How can we have strong neighborhoods in our cities, with solid city services, adequate police and fire protection, if our cities are starving for tax resources because the federal government has money for war and not much else?

The National Priorities Project issued a report that says that in the year 2005, twenty-nine cents of every federal tax dollar went to the military, plus another nine cents went to pay interest on borrowing to finance the military. That’s 38% of federal tax income being spent for guns not butter. Contrast this with 0.3% on job training, 2% on housing, 4% on education.


Consider that our nation is now spending more money on arms then all the other countries in the world put together and you can understand why our leaders have trouble extricating ourselves from a war based on lies. As President Dwight David Eisenhower recognized, the dramatic shift of resources to grow a military industrial complex does not help protect democracy, it destroys it.

This is the moment to remember first principles, to remember why America was founded, to remember our strivings for liberty, for truth, for justice, to remember the primacy of our Constitution. This is the moment to remember the deep historic mission of the Democratic Party. We are the party of the people. We are the Party of FDR and the New Deal. We are the party of JFK and the New Frontier. We are the Party of LBJ and the Great Society. We are the party of the courage of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, the moral power of Cesar Chavez, the daring of Robert Kennedy, the compassion of Jimmy Carter, the brilliance of Bill Clinton. We have a sacred responsibility to keep alive the spirit of our nation, to protect people’s faith in not just our party, but in the political process itself.

At this moment, people’s trust in government is on the line. Trust in the Democratic Party is on the line. What does it sayif only one month after the voters gave us control of Congress on the issue of Iraq, that we turn around and say we will keep funding the war?

What kind of credibility will our Party have if we say we are opposed to the war, but continue to fund it?
There is still time to change the outcome. There is still time to rescue the people’s confidence in the Democratic party and their trust in government. But only if someone steps forward quickly to wake the nation and tell the people, to travel to those dozens of cities like Cleveland, to go to the villages, the farms and the factories and say: “This is the moment to stop the US occupation, this is the moment to end our war against Iraq, this is the moment to bring our troops home, because the money is there to bring them home. And bring them home we must, to rebuild our cities, to invest in our children, to restore our environment, to work with the world to create new opportunities through peace.

The constituents have called me to action. Their economic future calls me to action. My country calls me to action. My conscience calls me to action. I am not going to stand by and watch thousands more of our brave young American men and women killed in Iraq or permanently injured while our leaders are ready to take action to keep the war going. We Democrats were put back in power to bring some sanity back to our nation. We are expected to take a stand. We are expected to assert our constitutional power as a co-equal branch of government. We are expected to do what we said we would do: Get out of Iraq and bring the troops home.

Clevelanders remember that twenty-eight years ago this week, I put my career on the line to protect the people’s right to own a municipal electric system. They remember that I had the courage to stand up for the people, to stand against all odds and to prevail. Years later I was proven right. I know what it is like to take a stand. I know what it is like to put my career on the line. Today I am prepared to put my career on the line again to save my community and my nation from the devastating effects of more war.

Therefore, I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States, with the intention of rallying the American people to the cause of the troops in the field, to the cause of stopping more American families from suffering, to the cause of ending a deepening tragedy in Iraq, to the cause of repairing America’s reputation in the world, to the cause of the dreams of people in my own neighborhood and my own city.

I fully expect to be win, because when the American people hear this clarion call for a new and true direction, this call to confirm their intent, their power, I am confident that they will respond as powerfully, as they did just one month ago, to demand that America quickly change course in Iraq and to demand a leader who will make it happen.

My campaign will be about the truth in action. It will be about the power of decisiveness, and the power of compassion which comes from an understanding of the imperative of human unity, the imperative of human security, the imperative of peace.

In 2002, I led the effort in the House of Representatives, challenging the Bush Administration’s march toward war in Iraq. It was that effort which gives me hope. Because although the opposition to the authorization for war began with only a handful of members of Congress, it soon grew to 125 Democrats. Everything I said then has been proven to be true: Iraq had nothing to do with 911. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq had no intention or capability of attacking the United States. But we attacked Iraq.

Consider these facts and consider that, according to the prestigious Lancet publication, over 650,000 excess deaths have occurred in Iraq as a result of the war. What an injustice has been done to the Iraqi people. We must stop our betrayal of our own heart and work immediately to rally the world community in the cause of relieving the suffering of Iraqis. But we cannot do it as occupiers.

I ran for President in 2004, not just to challenge the war and Democratic Party policy, but to bring forth a message: Fear ends. Hope begins. My candidacy will call forth the courage of the American people to meet the challenge of terrorism without sacrificing our liberties and everything that is near and dear to us. My candidacy will inspire hope for a new America, where social, economic and political progress is grounded in work for peace.

My stand for peace is not simply being against the Iraq war. It was against all war. We have the right to defend ourselves, but our leaders have confused offense with defense. America has separated itself from the world, put itself beyond the reach of international law, We must reunite with the world. We must rally the world in the cause of human unity, in the cause of the survival of the planet facing challenges from global climate change, nuclear proliferation and from useless war. I believe that as human beings we have evolved to the point where we can settle our differences without killing one another.

This is what President Franklin Roosevelt, who knew war, meant when he spoke of our responsibility to pursue “the science of human relations.” It was this thinking that inspired legislation to create a Department of Peace which seeks to meet the challenge of domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, violence in the schools, racial violence, violence against
gays, and to resolve conflict between police and community groups. War is not inevitable. Peace is inevitable if we are dedicated to creating new structures for peace.

Einstein once said “the significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Yet that is what we are in Washington with respect to Iraq. Even though we know that our presence in Iraq is totally wrong, we seem unable to do anything about it, except keep spending more money for the war. We must end this march of folly. Together we are going to change this and rescue our nation.

This is a moment that we need to call our Democratic leaders to courage. This is about leadership, clear vision and integrity. The people were behind us in November. They are behind us now. We must stand by our word and bring the troops home now.

I am the only member of the House and the Senate running for President who has consistently voted against funding for the war, based on a principled opposition.

I was against the war then. I am against it now. A leader must have not just hindsight, but foresight. The prophet Isaiah said “Without vision, a people perish.” I am stepping forth at this moment because I believe, as did Lincoln that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth.”. Thank you.

Source: Dennis Kucinich for President Website. John Edwards 2008 John Edwards 2008 December 28, 2006










Tomorrow begins today.

I'm writing to you from New Orleans, where tomorrow I will announce that I am a candidate for president of the United States.

I'm announcing here because no place better demonstrates the two Americas I've talked about for a long time. But even more important, no place better demonstrates the power people have when they -- not Washington -- take responsibility and take action to build the America we believe in.

Watch a preview on YouTube of what I'm going to talk about tomorrow.

I'm running to ask millions of Americans to take responsibility and take action to change our country and ensure America's greatness in the 21st century.

And I'm asking you to play a crucial role in this campaign.

Last week I asked if you were ready to take our effort to change America to the next level. Thousands of letters have come in, and the answer was an overwhelming yes -- we're in this together.

That's why I'm asking you to help spread the word in your area by holding your own local "Citizens' Launch" event tomorrow. It just takes a few minutes to set up, and anyone can do it.

We know what we need to do. Changing our country means:

Providing moral leadership in the world -- starting with Iraq, where we should begin drawing down troops, not escalating the war
Strengthening our middle class and ending the shame of poverty
Guaranteeing health care for every single American
Leading the fight against global warming
Getting America and the world to break our addiction to oil
That's not just my vision –- it's our vision. And we can't wait for the next president to take office to begin fundamentally changing our country.

And the truth is, we don't have to wait. Since I left Washington, I've seen firsthand the power that ordinary people have when we work together.

We worked with thousands of volunteers to raise the minimum wage in six states – and we got it done. We're making the first year of college free for young people in Greene County, North Carolina. And we've been working from the grassroots up to organize workers so they can stand up for their rights and earn a decent living.

And this week in New Orleans, I've been working with young people who gave up part of their Christmas vacation to work on rebuilding and helping those in need -- just like the hundreds of college students who came here to work with me during their Spring Break earlier this year.

This is the kind of commitment to solving our problems that I've seen time and time again over the last two years – and it reaffirms one of the great lessons of my whole life. The power of America doesn't lie in Washington; the true power of America is in the people of America.

That's why we're getting ready to launch a campaign that says to everyone who wants to take responsibility for our future: we can't wait until tomorrow. We must act now.

Tomorrow begins today."

Your friend,

John

Source: John Edwards For President Tom Vilsack 2008 Tom Vilsack 2008 November 30, 2006











Tom Vilsack’s
Announcement Speech

"Christie, thank you. It sure feels good to be home. I want to thank Christie, Jess, and Doug for their love, support, and inspiration. Without them I would not be here today. As a family we are committed to this campaign and this effort - you can be sure of that. And I want to thank all of you for being here and for your friendship and support for so many years. My life was profoundly changed and made better when you welcomed me into your community 30 years ago.

Three weeks ago, Americans courageously voted to create change. We sent a clear message that we wanted our country led in a new and better direction. But our job is not done. We have more work to do.

Today in the White House, we have a president whose first reflex is to divide and conquer...who preys on insecurities and fears for partisan gain...who has tried to rob us of the very asset that has made the United States the greatest country on earth: Our sense of community, optimism and can-do spirit.

In the last election, Americans were not fooled by political tricks or gimmicks. We said in one voice, from all regions of the country, for our children and grandchildren: Tomorrow does matter.

That is why I am here today -- to bring even bolder change and build an even stronger future for our great nation.

Let us face facts.

The world today is filled with real threats and real problems. Our way of life is at risk from terrorism throughout the world. Here at home, families struggle with skyrocketing healthcare costs and rising college tuition. For too many, home ownership is a fading dream. For others, a secure retirement is an unfulfilled promise. And for many neighborhoods and cities, crime is a daily threat and danger.

Let us also speak truth.

Our way of life and national security have been put at risk by fiscal irresponsibility and by our dependence upon foreign oil and the countries that provide it. In some cases, the governments of these countries take our money -- and yet despise us and harbor terrorists.

By any measure or standard we are less safe and less secure than we were 6 years ago. Our country needs bold leadership guided by the right values and the right experience.

That is why I am here today.

For those of you meeting me for the first time, let me say a few words of introduction.

I have always been the underdog and long shot. And I have always been inspired by stories of ordinary people who struggled, but ultimately succeeded.

I began life in an orphanage in the arms of a stranger. I was adopted into a loving but troubled home. During my early years, my mother battled alcohol and prescription drug addiction. My parents separated. I watched as my father balanced being a single parent while trying to keep his business alive. We struggled and adapted to a declining standard of living. I know what it is to feel alone and forgotten...as if you do not belong.

The deepest hole anyone can dig is addiction and dependency. My mother dug that hole, but she dug herself out. She relied on her faith, family and friends. In doing so she taught me a valuable lesson - that the courage to create change can overcome anything, and that community can give you the support and confidence to succeed.

My parents got back together. And when they did, they taught me never to give up on people, family or community. Their values live here inside me and will always guide me in everything I do.

I have served as a mayor, state senator and two-term governor. I have worked every day in public life to bring people together to create change.

In the past eight years, Iowa successfully changed farm fields into energy fields. We changed the traditional idea of agriculture and became the national leader in renewable fuel and energy production. As a state, we became more economically, environmentally and energy secure. If you drive around Iowa today, you will see a changing landscape marked by new ethanol and bio-fuel production plants and wind farms.

We had the courage to create change in education, health care and government itself. And by having the courage to create change, we provided greater security and opportunity to our people

That is why I am here today - to continue our work, and to bring the courage to create change to America. It will take leadership to create this change. But it also will take an active sense of community.

You do not have to be raised behind a white picket fence to understand the power of community. Some of America's strongest communities do not have any white picket fences or even yards for that matter.

In these communities, there are countless American success stories - immigrants from every continent who traveled here to farm fields, work in factories and pursue the American Dream. Many of these new Americans faced and overcame discrimination. Our country must always remain a destination for those in pursuit of that dream, for a better life for their family and to live in freedom.

That too is why I am here.

America needs a president who builds and creates...who makes our country more secure... who is bold and has the courage to create change.

I will be that president.

So today, in front of the family and friends I love and here in the community I call home, I announce my candidacy to be the next President of the United States.

Let us have the courage to create the bold change we need. Let us stop the endless debates and empty talk.

Together, with the courage to create change, let us develop a healthcare system that prevents illness, cures diseases and helps people live longer healthier lives -- without taking away every penny in their bank accounts after a lifetime of sacrifice and hard work.

Together, with the courage to create change, let us fight for an education system that helps every child become as inquisitive and creative as God intended them to be. If we are to compete in a tough, global economy, Americans must remain the most innovative people on earth.

Together, with the courage to create change, let us build a 21st Century economy of cutting-edge companies and technologies that lead us to energy security. Energy security will revitalize rural America, re-establish our moral leadership on global warming and climate security and eliminate our addiction to foreign oil.

Together, with the courage to create change let us embrace a new foreign policy that renews friendships, develops alliances and isolates enemies. In Iraq, we must act, take our troops out of harm's way and allow Iraqis to begin providing their own security.

I am running for President because every America has the right to pursue the American Dream.

I am running for President because every community should contribute to our success. Americans who live in cities, barrios, suburbs and small towns all deserve a president who works for and remembers them.

Most of all, I am running for President to replace the anxiety of today with the hope of tomorrow and to guarantee every American their birthright: Opportunity.

It will take courage to create this change. But by restoring America's community, optimism and can-do spirit, we will succeed. I ask for your support and your vote. Together let us have the courage to create change in America.

May God Bless our work and the United States of America."

Source: Tom Vilsack for President Website.

4President Blog COPYRIGHT 2000-2024 - 4PRESIDENT CORPORATION/MIKE DEC PHOTOGRAPHY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4President Org COPYRIGHT 2000-2024 - 4PRESIDENT CORPORATION/MIKE DEC PHOTOGRAPHY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4President US COPYRIGHT 2000-2024 - 4PRESIDENT CORPORATION/MIKE DEC PHOTOGRAPHY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Twitter COPYRIGHT 2000-2024 - 4PRESIDENT CORPORATION/MIKE DEC PHOTOGRAPHY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED