Former President Clinton's speech to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, July 26, 2004

Jimmy Carter's speech to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, July 26, 2004

PR Newswire
July 27, 2004 CARTERTEXT0727
BOSTON -- The following is a transcript of a speech by the Honorable Jimmy Carter at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, July 26, 2004:

My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm not running for president. But here's what I will be doing: everything I can to put John Kerry in the White House with John Edwards right there beside him.

Twenty-eight years ago I was running for president, and I said then, "I want a government as good and as honest and as decent and as competent and as compassionate as are the American people." I say this again tonight, and that is exactly what we will have next January with John Kerry as president of the United States.As many of you know, my first chosen career was in the United States Navy, where I served as a submarine officer. At that time, my shipmates and I were ready for combat and prepared to give our lives to defend our nation and its principles.At the same time, we always prayed that our readiness would preserve the peace. I served under two presidents, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, men who represented different political parties. Both of whom had faced their active military responsibilities with honor.

They knew the horrors of war, and later, as commanders-in-chief, they exercised restraint and judgment and had a clear sense of mission. We had confidence that our leaders, military and civilian, would not put our soldiers and sailors in harm's way by initiating "wars of choice" unless America's vital interests were endangered.

We also were sure that these presidents would not mislead us when it came to issues involving our nation's security. Today, our Democratic party is led by another former naval officer -- one who volunteered for military service. He showed up when assigned to duty, and he served with honor and distinction.

He also knows the horrors of war and the responsibilities of leadership, and I am confident that next January he will restore the judgment and maturity to our government that is sorely lacking today. I am proud to call Lieutenant John Kerry my shipmate, and I am ready to follow him to victory in November.

As you know, our country faces many challenges at home involving energy, taxation, the environment, education, and health. To meet these challenges, we need new leaders in Washington whose policies are shaped by working American families instead of the super-rich and their armies of lobbyists. But the biggest reason to make John Kerry president is even more important. It is to safeguard the security of our nation.

Today, our dominant international challenge is to restore the greatness of America -- based on telling the truth, a commitment to peace, and respect for civil liberties at home and basic human rights around the world. Truth is the foundation of our global leadership, but our credibility has been shattered and we are left increasingly isolated and vulnerable in a hostile world. Without truth -- without trust -- America cannot flourish. Trust is at the very heart of our democracy, the sacred covenant between the president and the people.

When that trust is violated, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken. After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded but determined and united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world. But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism.

Let us not forget that the Soviets lost the Cold War because the American people combined the exercise of power with adherence to basic principles, based on sustained bipartisan support. We understood the positive link between the defense of our own freedom and the promotion of human rights. Recent policies have cost our nation its reputation as the world's most admired champion of freedom and justice. What a difference these few months of extremism have made!

The United States has alienated its allies, dismayed its friends, and inadvertently gratified its enemies by proclaiming a confused and disturbing strategy of "preemptive" war. With our allies disunited, the world resenting us, and the Middle East ablaze, we need John Kerry to restore life to the global war against terrorism.

In the meantime, the Middle East peace process has come to a screeching halt for the first time since Israel became a nation. All former presidents, Democratic and Republican, have attempted to secure a comprehensive peace for Israel with hope and justice for the Palestinians. The achievements of Camp David a quarter century ago and the more recent progress made by President Bill Clinton are now in peril.

Instead, violence has gripped the Holy Land, with the region increasingly swept by anti-American passions. Elsewhere, North Korea's nuclear menace -- a threat far more real and immediate than any posed by Saddam Hussein -- has been allowed to advance unheeded, with potentially ominous consequences for peace and stability in Northeast Asia. These are some of the prices of our government's radical departure from the basic American principles and values espoused by John Kerry!

In repudiating extremism we need to recommit ourselves to a few common- sense principles that should transcend partisan differences. First, we cannot enhance our own security if we place in jeopardy what is most precious to us, namely, the centrality of human rights in our daily lives and in global affairs. Second, we cannot maintain our historic self-confidence as a people if we generate public panic. Third, we cannot do our duty as citizens and patriots if we pursue an agenda that polarizes and divides our country. Next, we cannot be true to ourselves if we mistreat others. And finally, in the world at large we cannot lead if our leaders mislead.

You can't be a war president one day and claim to be a peace president the next, depending on the latest political polls. When our national security requires military action, John Kerry has already proven in Vietnam that he will not hesitate to act. And as a proven defender of our national security, John Kerry will strengthen the global alliance against terrorism while avoiding unnecessary wars.

Ultimately, the issue is whether America will provide global leadership that springs from the unity and integrity of the American people or whether extremist doctrines and the manipulation of truth will define America's role in the world.

At stake is nothing less than our nation's soul. In a few months, I will, God willing, enter my 81st year of my life, and in many ways the last few months have been some of the most disturbing of all. But I am not discouraged. I do not despair for our country. I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail.

And so I say to you and to others around the world, whether they wish us well or ill: do not underestimate us Americans. We lack neither strength nor wisdom. There is a road that leads to a bright and hopeful future. What America needs is leadership. Our job, my fellow Americans, is to ensure that the leaders of this great country will be John Kerry and John Edwards. Thank you and God bless America! SOURCE Democratic National Convention Committee

July 26, 2004

Al Gore's speech to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, July 26, 2004

Friends, fellow Democrats, fellow Americans:

I’ll be candid with you. I had hoped to be back here this week under different circumstances, running for re-election.

But you know the old saying: you win some, you lose some. And then there’s that little-known third category.

I didn’t come here tonight to talk about the past. After all, I don’t want you to think I lie awake at night counting and recounting sheep.

I prefer to focus on the future because I know from my own experience that America is a land of opportunity, where every little boy and girl has a chance to grow up and win the popular vote.

In all seriousness, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity you have given me to serve America. I want to to thank you as Democrats for the honor of being your nominee for president four years ago. And I want to thank the American people for the privilege of serving as vice-president.

And most of all, I want to thank my family with all my heart – my children and grandchildren, and especially my beloved partner in life, Tipper.

I love this country deeply, and even though I always look to the future with optimism and hope – I do think it is worth pausing for just a moment as we begin this year’s convention, to take note of two very important lessons from four years ago.

The first lesson is this: take it from me -- every vote counts.

In our Democracy, every vote has power. And never forget: that power is yours. Don’t let anyone take it away or talk you into throwing it away.

And let’s make sure that this time every vote is counted.

Let’s make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next President, but also that this President is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court.

The second lesson from 2000 is this: what happens in a presidential election matters.

A lot.

The outcome profoundly affects the lives of all 293 million Americans – and people in the rest of the world too. The choice of who is president affects your life and your family’s future.

And never has this been more true than in 2004, because -- let’s face it -- our country faces deep challenges.

These challenges we now confront are not Democratic or Republican challenges; they are American challenges -- that we all must overcome together.

It is in that spirit, that I sincerely ask those watching at home who supported President [sic] Bush four years ago: did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for?

Is our country more united today?

Or more divided?

Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled?

Or do those words now ring hollow?

For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all?

Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?

By the way, I know about the bad economy. I was the first one laid off. And while it’s true that new jobs are being created, they’re just not as good as the jobs people have lost. And incidentally, that’s been true for me too.

Unfortunately, this is no joke for millions of Americans. And the real solutions require us to transcend partisanship.

So that’s one reason why, even though we meet here as Democrats, we believe this is a time to reach beyond our party lines to Republicans as well.

I also ask tonight for the help of those who supported a third party candidate in 2000. I urge you to ask yourselves this question: do you still believe that there was no difference between the candidates?

Are you troubled by the erosion of some of America’s most basic civil liberties?

Are you worried that our environmental laws are being weakened and dismantled to allow vast increases in pollution that are contributing to a global climate crisis?

No matter how you voted in the last election, these are profound problems that all voters must take into account this November 2d.

And of course, no challenge is more critical than the situation we confront in Iraq. Regardless of your opinion at the beginning of this war, isn’t it now obvious that the way the war has been managed by the Administration has gotten us into very serious trouble?

Wouldn’t we be better off with a new President who hasn’t burned his bridges to our allies, and who could rebuild respect for America in the world?

Isn’t cooperation with other nations crucial to solving our dilemma in Iraq? Isn’t it also critical to defeating the terrorists?

We have to be crystal clear about the threat we face from terrorism. It is deadly. It is real. It is imminent.

But in order to protect our people, shouldn’t we focus on the real source of this threat: the group that attacked us and is trying to attack us again -- al Qaeda, headed by Osama Bin Laden?

Wouldn’t we be safer with a President who didn’t insist on confusing al Qaeda with Iraq? Doesn’t that divert too much of our attention away from the principal danger?

I want to say to all Americans this evening that whether it is the threat to the global environment or the erosion of America’s leadership in the world, whether it is the challenge to our economy from new competitors or the challenge to our security from new enemies, I believe that we need new leadership that is both strong and wise.

And we can have new leadership, because one of our greatest strengths as a democracy is that when we are headed in the wrong direction, we can correct our course.

When policies are clearly not working, we can change them. If our leaders make mistakes, we can hold them accountable – even if they never admit their mistakes.

I firmly believe America needs new leadership that will make us stronger at home and respected in the world.

We are here this week to present to the nation the man who should be our new president: John Kerry.

John and I were elected to the US Senate on the same day 20 years ago and I have worked closely with him for all that time. So I want to say a personal word about John Kerry the man.

He is a friend who will stand by you. His word is his bond. He has a deep patriotism that goes far beyond words. He has devoted his life to making America a better place for all of us.

He showed uncommon heroism on the battlefield in Vietnam. I watched him show that same courage on the Senate floor. He had the best record of protecting the environment against polluters of any of my colleagues – bar none.

He never shied away from a fight, no matter how powerful the foe. He was never afraid to take on difficult and thankless issues that few others wanted to touch -- like exposing the threat of narcoterrorism and tracing the sources of terrorist financing.

He was one of the very first in our party to take on the issue of drastic deficit reduction. He has developed a tough and thoughtful plan to restore our economic strength and fiscal discipline.

To put it simply, those of us who have worked with John know that he has the courage, integrity and leadership to be a truly great President of the United States.

And he showed wisdom in his very first decision as the leader of our party – when he picked as his running mate an inspiring fighter for middle class families and families struggling to reach the middle class: John Edwards.

John Kerry and John Edwards are fighting for us and for all Americans, so after we nominate them here in Boston and return to our home states across this land, we have to fight for them.

Talk to your friends and neighbors, go to “JohnKerry.com”, raise money, register voters and get them to the polls, volunteer your time, and above all: make your vote count.

To those of you who felt disappointed or angry with the outcome in 2000, I want you to remember all of those feelings. But then I want you to do with them what I have done: focus them fully and completely on putting John Kerry and John Edwards in the White House.

Fellow Democrats, when I look out and see so many friends who have meant so much to me in my own public service, my heart is full tonight. I thank you for all the love you’ve shown Tipper and me. You will forever be in our hearts.

There’s someone else I’d like to thank, and that’s the man who asked me to join him on the ticket at our convention 12 years ago, my friend -- and my partner for eight years -- President Bill Clinton.

I’ll never forget that convention or that campaign – the way we barnstormed the country, carrying a message of hope and change, believing with our whole hearts that America could be made new again.

And so it was. And with your help, and with the leadership of John Kerry and John Edwards, so it shall be again.

Thank you – God bless you and your families – and may God bless the United States of America.

Excerpts from the book; "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency"

By Robert C. Byrd
New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004. 269 pages. Hardback. $ 23.95

pjnyden@wvgazette.com

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, who served with 11 presidents, calls the Bush administration the most dangerous this nation has ever seen.

"Losing America, Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency," Byrd's new book, will be sold in bookstores, beginning July 26.

Widely regarded as "The Conscience of the Senate," Byrd is the third longest-serving member of Congress in the nation's history. He has an unparalleled knowledge of the U. S. Constitution.

"This administration is trampling our great Constitutional protections, including the power of the purse. It does not want any oversight by Congress. It is ruthless in its pursuit for power," Byrd said during an interview last week.

"I feel that somebody had to speak up. I am trying to alarm the American people, to make them aware of the dangers to the Constitution, to their liberties. This as an imperial presidency that seeks to pry into the private affairs of people, of individuals," Byrd said.

Retired Ohio Senator John Glenn was the person who first suggested he write this new book, Byrd said.

"Losing America" is also a passionate plea to Americans to protect their economic welfare and the future of their children and grandchildren. Byrd has been one of the strongest voices challenging Bush's huge tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

"The vast majority of our people were being asked to settle for smaller dreams and more limited horizons in order to finance tax givebacks to the elite, " Byrd writes.

And 70 percent of the cost for those tax cuts is "backloaded," Byrd said. They will occur between 2007 and 2011, "after the president is back on his ranch. When the baby boomers begin to retire, it will be a train wreck."

The War in Iraq

Some of Byrd's most impassioned words challenge Bush's pre-emptive war in Iraq.

As network television crews routinely broadcast "shock and awe" bombing raids as if they were a video game, Byrd reminds us of war's human costs.

"War is death; blood; maimed young men and women; grief-torn families; children without parents; and untold thousands of innocents killed by our bombs, " Byrd writes. "We must never gloss over those realities."

(At the same time, Byrd is a major voice demanding better pay and health benefits for our soldiers and veterans. Many who back Bush's war agenda have voted to curtail those benefits.)

"Losing America" has harsh words for Karl Rove, a key political adviser who urged Bush to speak before backdrops of National Guard and military soldiers.

"Capitalizing on the war for political purposes - using the war as a tool to win elections - was an affront to the men and women we were sending to fight and die in a foreign land," Byrd writes.

"This president is using our military men and woman as backdrops, as potted plants," Byrd said last week.

The senator readily discusses what he calls his own mistakes, from voting for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, which passed the Senate with only two dissenting votes, to voting for the Patriot Act in 2001.

"Vietnam has a long echo," Byrd writes. "If one goes to the black wall ... of the Vietnam Memorial, bearing inscribed upon it the names of those who died, one will see the poor souls who still come to weep for a loved one lost." Based on false reports of a North Vietnamese torpedo attack on a U. S. destroyer, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing the president to use force "to repel armed attack" and to "prevent further aggression." It passed the Senate on Aug. 7,1964 by a vote of 98 to 2. Byrd writes that during the discussion about the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, "We had not looked long enough at the evidence, not asked enough questions."

In mid-2002, Byrd became the Senate's leading voice opposing Bush plans to attack Iraq. Only 22 other Senators voted with him on Oct.11 against giving Bush broad war powers. Byrd also failed to get enough support to set a date to "sunset" those powers.

"It was a shock to me that Congress voted overwhelming to shift the power to declare war to the president," Byrd said. "I tried to sunset it, but got only 31 votes. "Can you imagine members would be so timid as to vote against a sunset provision for this awesome power? "Congress was afraid of being called unpatriotic. Why didn't we ask more questions? That is where went wrong on the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. But at least then we had the thoughtfulness to sunset those powers."

Byrd criticizes Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., for appearing with Bush, "leading the charge" for war.

He writes that Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S. D., defended Democratic Senate staffers who worked with the White House to draft the war resolution. Daschle said they made "improvements." "I did not see how it could have been 'much worse,' " Byrd writes. "Here was a complete handing over of congressional war power to the president." The cowardice of the majority of senators "left an indelible stain on its own escutcheon."

After Bush invaded Iraq, Byrd's speeches began to attract more and more attention, especially on the Internet and in the foreign press.

Time magazine wrote in June 2003, "Once known as a hawk ... Byrd has become the Senate's new Paul Wellstone." A liberal Minnesota senator, Wellstone died in a plane crash during his 2002 re-election campaign. "He would follow his conscience, and damn the consequences for his re-election. He was my kind of senator," Byrd writes.

Byrd's long history

Byrd earned a law degree in 1963, after attending night classes at American University for 10 years.

Today, he has become the Senate's foremost authority on the Constitution and its history.

On April 1, Byrd cast his 17,000th roll-call vote in the Senate.

Fourteen years earlier, Byrd surpassed the previous record for roll call votes, when he cast his 12,134th vote.

For years, his influence as Senate President and senior Democratic member of the Senate Appropriations Committee helped one of the nation's poorest states receive federal funds to construct highways and offices for various federal agencies.

Today, Byrd often speaks about protecting jobs of American steel, aluminum and other manufacturing workers, whose employment is threatened by imports produced by workers paid a pittance.

Byrd holds previous presidents in respect.

"I got along well with all of them," he said.

"I had no problem with George Bush 41 [Bush's father]. I liked him. I had no problems with Ford or Eisenhower, who was one of the greatest Republican presidents in my lifetime. I got along with Nixon.

"Then he [George W. Bush] came along like a drugstore cowboy, a gunslinger. He has a penchant for secrecy.

He tried to set up a phantom government, a shadow government.

He tried to create an Office of Homeland Security that would not answer to the Congressional committees.

"There is an imperiousness that I have never seen. The sophistry. The hubris. The contempt for Constitutional checks and balances," Byrd said.

"We have a duty to reverse the national decline of our knowledge of the Constitution and history."

In his book "Bush at War," Bob Woodward quotes Bush: "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president. Maybe somebody needs to explain why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."

"That speaks volumes, "Byrd said. "Losing America" also includes eight speeches Byrd delivered on the Senate floor between 2001 and 2004, praising American history and criticizing Bush's economic and war policies.

Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. said, "Senator Byrd speaks with the voice of a Founding Father defending the traditional ideals of the old republic against the ideological radicals who have seized Washington, today an occupied city.

'Losing America' is a passionate book and it is an absorbing book. Every citizen should read it."

Last year, Byrd told Time magazine: "Eventually, the truth will emerge. And when it does, this house of cards, built of deceit, will fall."

© 2004 Eric Margolis

July 26, 2004 IRAN: THE NEXT BIG LIE

NEW YORK - Did Iran help al-Qaida to stage the Sept 11 attacks on the United States? Perhaps, suggested the US 9/11 commission which claimed Iran allowed 8 al-Qaida future airplane hijackers to pass through Iran from Afghanistan between 7 and 11 months before the attacks on America.

Unnamed senior Bush Administration officials also claim Iran proposed collaborating with al-Qaida in 2000, but was rejected by Osama bin Laden. `Maybe we attacked the wrong country,’ one of the dimmer lights in Congress ruefully observed.

There has been no evidence produced that Iran knew of the 9/11 attacks or assisted them. But never mind Iran. The Bush Administration still has not published the White Paper promised by Colin Powell in late 2001 proving Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were behind 9/11. What we have seen is a faked tape of bin Laden, a lot of faked documents produced by the Afghan communists who run the so-called Northern Alliance, and more fakery from the Chalabi group in Iraq.

Why would Iran, knowing it was in Bush’s gunsights, join in a monstrous terrorist attack that, if linked to Tehran, could have brought US nuclear retaliation? Iranians are a very clever, sophisticated people, and certainly not suicidal.

This column has long predicted the Bush Administration would orchestrate a pre-election crisis over Iran designed to whip up patriotic fervor in the US and distract public and media attention from the Iraq fiasco. Bush’s strategic mentor, Israel’s PM Ariel Sharon, called on the US `to march on Tehran the day after it takes Baghdad.’

The growing clamor over Iran’s nuclear intentions, with rumblings about Fall US-Israeli air strikes against Iran’s reactors, are part of this manufactured crisis.

Remember, these latest fevered claims about Iran come from the same `reliable intelligence sources’ and neo-conservative hawks that insisted Iraq had a vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction that threatened the US, and intimate links to al-Qaida.

The Iran-Afghan border is 1,000 km border of wild, broken terrain that is extremely difficult to police. Large numbers of smugglers cross this border on countless hidden trails, bringing hashish and gems into Iran.

The US, with fleets of planes, helicopters and sensors, cannot stop a flood of undocumented Mexicans crossing its own southwestern borders. Why should the poorly equipped Iranians do any better?

Didn’t these same 9/11 hijackers also enter the US unchallenged? Of course. They simply slipped unnoticed into Iran and the US. No one knew their intentions. This is the most likely explanation. The hijackers studied flying in the US, not Iran.

Iran does not have a unified government. This nation of 72.5 million is afflicted by feuding factions that have produced a state of political chaos. Iran has certainly been involved in acts of terrorism, possibly against Jews in Argentina. Militants from the intelligence service or Pasdaran( Revolutionary Guards), might have let al-Qaida mujahidin to slip across the border without Tehran’s knowledge.

Far more important, there are two key facts media and government are not telling you. First, Iran and al-Qaida were bitter enemies.

In Afghanistan, al-Qaida ardently backed the Pushtun-dominated, Sunni Taliban movement, which hated Shia’s as heretics and killed large numbers of them. Shia Iran ( and Russia) armed and supported Taliban’s greatest foe, Ahmad Shah Massoud and his Northern Alliance, composed of Dari (a Persian dialect)-speaking Tajiks, Afghan Communists, and Shia. Massoud was a long-time collaborator with Soviet/Russian intelligence.

After Taliban killed a group of Iranian intelligence agents, Iran almost invaded Afghanistan to overthrow Taliban. Just before 9/11, Al-Qaida assassinated Massoud. Iran quietly aided the US invasion of Afghanistan that overthrew Taliban, and jailed scores of al-Qaida members, including one of bin Laden’s sons.

Active Iranian cooperation with al-Qaida seems illogical. Of course my enemy’s enemy is my friend, and collaboration was theoretically possible, but Iran derived no benefit whatever from the 9/11 attacks. – quite the contrary.

Second, the Bush Administration and former Clinton officials are trading accusations that the other was responsible for failing to take action against al-Qaida and ally Taliban prior to 9/11. But what no one admits is that both administrations sent millions in aid to Taliban until four months before 9/11.

Why? Because CIA was considering using Taliban and al-Qaida as weapons against Iran and, possibly, China, where a Muslim insurgency was underway in the remote Sinkiang region. This nasty, embarrassing intrigue remains buried. That’s the major reason no action was taken against Taliban and al-Qaida before 9/11. No one in Washington dares admit to playing footsie with the devil.

Iran is now Washington’s latest whipping boy. Those who deceived the US into invading Iraq are at it again with Iran. So when you read or see alarmist reports about the looming danger from Iran, remember Iraq. Caution is advised.

Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2004

Posted by Eric Margolis at 03:01 PM Comments (1)

The text of the keynote address by Barack Obama,

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois, as prepared for delivery at the Democratic National Convention in Boston:

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.

But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place: America, which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed up for duty, joined Patton's army and marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved west in search of opportunity.

And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed," believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride.

I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, "We hold these truths to he self-evident, that all men 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 is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will he counted — or at least, most of the time.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans — Democrats, Republicans, Independents — I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. More to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that's moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn't have the money to go to college.

Don't get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don't expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.

In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they've defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we've seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us.

John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he'll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never he the first option.

A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga.

A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!

In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!

Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do — if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.