Post by bot on Mar 26, 2004 4:07:17 GMT -5
Transcript of Al Gore's speech to the 2004 Democratic Unity Dinner
------------------------------------------------------------------
Remarks as delivered
Thank you very much. Thank you, Terry. Thank you very much.
I'm here to listen to President Carter and President Clinton. And to make
sure that we all are unified - - as we are - - to elect John Kerry as
President of the United States. But before I say just a few, brief
remarks, I want to thank Chairman Terry McAuliffe for his leadership of
the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of this
country. Thank you, Terry. And thank you, Dorothy.
(Applause)
And I want to say a deep and sincere word of thanks to all of you who have
supported in every possible way the candidates of this Party and the
values and policies of this Party. We appreciate what you have done, all
of you - - the supporters of the candidates who have run in these
primaries. And it is a great honor for me to be on the same platform that
will shortly be taken by President Carter and President Clinton. We are
proud as Democrats to have these two former Presidents standing and
representing the values and the traditions and the accomplishments of the
Democratic Party. We salute you, and we honor both of you this evening.
(Applause)
And I want to say a word about all of the former cabinet members who are
here and appointees who have - - who ought to get a lot of the credit for
the great accomplishments that we always attribute to these leaders - -
and they always say yes, it was the men and women who helped them that
made it possible.
But I'd like to ask you to think for just a moment about the contrast
between the way John Kerry has earned the nomination of our Party, and the
way George W. Bush ended up with the nomination of the other Party four
years ago. You'll remember that they had a bunch of people go down to
Texas, and they tried to push everybody else out of the contest. And they
tried to lock it up for then Governor Bush in advance, and they just kind
of "anointed" the person that they thought would take care of them.
Well, that's the way they do it on that side.
But think for a moment about what we have just been through as a Party.
We have had a group of outstanding candidates for President of the United
States. And I salute every one of them and all of them as a group.
Haven't they been great?
(Applause)
There've been wonderful debates, a great contest, wonderful competition.
And as for "anointing" John Kerry. I didn't support John Kerry.
President Carter didn't support John Kerry. President Clinton didn't
support John Kerry. Terry McAuliffe didn't support John Kerry - - in the
primaries. John Kerry earned the nomination of this Party! He
won, it the hard way! He got out there, and he fought for it!
(Applause)
And he did it in a way that earned the respect of all of his opponents.
And earned the respect everyone in our Party and millions, tens of
millions more besides, all across this nation, who saw that John Kerry is
a fighter for what he believes in.
And I want to say a word as a colleague of John Kerry in the United States
Senate. I went to the United States Senate on the very same day that John
Kerry did. And I speak for all of his classmates in the Senate and all of
the men and women who have served in the United States Senate with John
Kerry over the years. He has become known to one and all as a man of
experience and integrity and enormous ability. And every time there was a
fight that needed to be waged on behalf of the people of this country,
John Kerry was helping to lead that fight. He helped to lead the fight to
help President Clinton and the Clinton/Gore Administration bring about the
new economics that we enjoyed in the 1990s. He helped to lead the fight
for a clean environment. And I can tell you as somebody who's fought for
the environment all my life, there is nobody that I have ever served with
who has a better record on the environment - - environment and the economy
together - - than John Kerry.
(Applause)
You can count on him. His values are just in the right place. And you
can trust him.
And let me say also that nobody has done more to help articulate the
values that are necessary to rebuild a strong a defense in this country.
Because in the Clinton/Gore Administration, we built back up the strength
of our military into the strongest military force that this world has ever
seen. And John Kerry was in the forefront, in the United States Senate,
of building up that strong defense for the people of the United States of
America. He stood for the C.O.P.S. program, and strong law enforcement.
And one other thing - - there is no one who has ever served with John
Kerry who has ever doubted for one moment that he has the innate ability
to serve this country in whatever capacity he is asked to serve this
country. He was a genuine war hero, fighting for America in Vietnam - -
and we honor that service - - and in the United States Senate. And he's
going to be a great President of the United States of America, ladies and
gentlemen.
(Applause)
Now in closing, I want to ask all of you to consider, just for a moment,
what it was that happened in the election year of 2000. I want you to
remember - - briefly - - how you felt after the voting was over with, and
all of that long thirty six day period began, leading up to the Supreme
Court decision. Do you remember what you were going through during that
time?
(Shouts of "Yes!")
Do you remember watching on television and talking to your friends and
wondering how it was going to come out? Do you remember what you felt
when the Supreme Court handed down its decision the case called "Bush
versus Gore"?
(Indistinguishable shouts)
I remember.
(Laughter and applause)
And I want you - -
(Indistinguishable shouts)
- - I want you to remember for one simple reason. Every time since then
that you have felt that this guy that's down there in the White House now
shouldn't be there because the job he's doing is hurting this country - -
we heard it from his own Secretary of the Treasury; we just heard it from
his own Head of Anti-Terrorism - -
(Applause)
- - We've heard it from his own people, about how he does. Every time you
have felt that he shouldn't be there, every time you have felt that you
would like to get him out of the White House, I want you to draw on all
that energy, and I want you to channel it in support of John Kerry to
elect him the next President of the United States of America.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Remarks as delivered
Thank you very much. Thank you, Terry. Thank you very much.
I'm here to listen to President Carter and President Clinton. And to make
sure that we all are unified - - as we are - - to elect John Kerry as
President of the United States. But before I say just a few, brief
remarks, I want to thank Chairman Terry McAuliffe for his leadership of
the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of this
country. Thank you, Terry. And thank you, Dorothy.
(Applause)
And I want to say a deep and sincere word of thanks to all of you who have
supported in every possible way the candidates of this Party and the
values and policies of this Party. We appreciate what you have done, all
of you - - the supporters of the candidates who have run in these
primaries. And it is a great honor for me to be on the same platform that
will shortly be taken by President Carter and President Clinton. We are
proud as Democrats to have these two former Presidents standing and
representing the values and the traditions and the accomplishments of the
Democratic Party. We salute you, and we honor both of you this evening.
(Applause)
And I want to say a word about all of the former cabinet members who are
here and appointees who have - - who ought to get a lot of the credit for
the great accomplishments that we always attribute to these leaders - -
and they always say yes, it was the men and women who helped them that
made it possible.
But I'd like to ask you to think for just a moment about the contrast
between the way John Kerry has earned the nomination of our Party, and the
way George W. Bush ended up with the nomination of the other Party four
years ago. You'll remember that they had a bunch of people go down to
Texas, and they tried to push everybody else out of the contest. And they
tried to lock it up for then Governor Bush in advance, and they just kind
of "anointed" the person that they thought would take care of them.
Well, that's the way they do it on that side.
But think for a moment about what we have just been through as a Party.
We have had a group of outstanding candidates for President of the United
States. And I salute every one of them and all of them as a group.
Haven't they been great?
(Applause)
There've been wonderful debates, a great contest, wonderful competition.
And as for "anointing" John Kerry. I didn't support John Kerry.
President Carter didn't support John Kerry. President Clinton didn't
support John Kerry. Terry McAuliffe didn't support John Kerry - - in the
primaries. John Kerry earned the nomination of this Party! He
won, it the hard way! He got out there, and he fought for it!
(Applause)
And he did it in a way that earned the respect of all of his opponents.
And earned the respect everyone in our Party and millions, tens of
millions more besides, all across this nation, who saw that John Kerry is
a fighter for what he believes in.
And I want to say a word as a colleague of John Kerry in the United States
Senate. I went to the United States Senate on the very same day that John
Kerry did. And I speak for all of his classmates in the Senate and all of
the men and women who have served in the United States Senate with John
Kerry over the years. He has become known to one and all as a man of
experience and integrity and enormous ability. And every time there was a
fight that needed to be waged on behalf of the people of this country,
John Kerry was helping to lead that fight. He helped to lead the fight to
help President Clinton and the Clinton/Gore Administration bring about the
new economics that we enjoyed in the 1990s. He helped to lead the fight
for a clean environment. And I can tell you as somebody who's fought for
the environment all my life, there is nobody that I have ever served with
who has a better record on the environment - - environment and the economy
together - - than John Kerry.
(Applause)
You can count on him. His values are just in the right place. And you
can trust him.
And let me say also that nobody has done more to help articulate the
values that are necessary to rebuild a strong a defense in this country.
Because in the Clinton/Gore Administration, we built back up the strength
of our military into the strongest military force that this world has ever
seen. And John Kerry was in the forefront, in the United States Senate,
of building up that strong defense for the people of the United States of
America. He stood for the C.O.P.S. program, and strong law enforcement.
And one other thing - - there is no one who has ever served with John
Kerry who has ever doubted for one moment that he has the innate ability
to serve this country in whatever capacity he is asked to serve this
country. He was a genuine war hero, fighting for America in Vietnam - -
and we honor that service - - and in the United States Senate. And he's
going to be a great President of the United States of America, ladies and
gentlemen.
(Applause)
Now in closing, I want to ask all of you to consider, just for a moment,
what it was that happened in the election year of 2000. I want you to
remember - - briefly - - how you felt after the voting was over with, and
all of that long thirty six day period began, leading up to the Supreme
Court decision. Do you remember what you were going through during that
time?
(Shouts of "Yes!")
Do you remember watching on television and talking to your friends and
wondering how it was going to come out? Do you remember what you felt
when the Supreme Court handed down its decision the case called "Bush
versus Gore"?
(Indistinguishable shouts)
I remember.
(Laughter and applause)
And I want you - -
(Indistinguishable shouts)
- - I want you to remember for one simple reason. Every time since then
that you have felt that this guy that's down there in the White House now
shouldn't be there because the job he's doing is hurting this country - -
we heard it from his own Secretary of the Treasury; we just heard it from
his own Head of Anti-Terrorism - -
(Applause)
- - We've heard it from his own people, about how he does. Every time you
have felt that he shouldn't be there, every time you have felt that you
would like to get him out of the White House, I want you to draw on all
that energy, and I want you to channel it in support of John Kerry to
elect him the next President of the United States of America.