Thank you very much.  Thank you Mark Brewer your kind words and warm introduction.

And to Terry McAuliffe thank you so much for your leadership, and for organizing this fall meeting of the Democratic National Committee.  The energy of this Democratic field has touched the American people, and I am just so proud of the "alternative resonance" that we're setting up against the propaganda coming out of the White House.

And I want to thank you, the members of the DNC, for your consistent commitment to this party, and for your advocacy of the values the Democrats share.  You make this the party of the big tent, and there are all kinds of Democrats here today - old Democrats, labor democrats, new democrats, green democrats, progressive democrats, democrat democrats - but the one thing that brings us together is that we are, as we have always been - the peoples' party.

You give of your time, and your energy, and your effort to stand up for those who don't have special interest backing.  And for those who may not have the inside track.  And for those who care the most about the American dream because they have to work for it.  What brings us together as Democrats is a shared vision of this country as one that works for everybody, not just the privileged and the powerful.  We believe that government exists to serve and protect people. And all of us are united in wanting a government of, by and for the people.

We are also united as members of the ABB club.  ABB: Anybody but Bush.  This administration has failed on so many fronts, has insulted the American people on so many occasions, that to list the horribles of this failed presidency would take up my whole time up here.  And so I'm not going to do it.  But, one thing is certain: whoever of the ten of the Democratic candidates wins this nomination as the standard bearer for this party should have the enthusiastic support of the whole party.  If we remain civil and focused and clear in our mission to send the current President back to the ranch, I have no doubt that we will savor a Democratic victory in 2004.

Let me be very clear, make one thing very clear to you today: I am in it to win it.  However you may view my candidacy for this office, I can tell you one thing: I know how to win elections, I have a message that the people are prepared to vote for, and I believe that the voters are ready to embrace a clear alternative to George Bush.  I am ready and able to speak to the hearts and minds of the American people and to give them hope.

And I want your help to do what I have always done in my public life; break down barriers, build bridges and bring people together.

Let me tell you one other thing when people ask the standard question, how are you different than the other candidates.  Well I am, I hear chuckles because of the obvious, but let me tell you this: I am the clearest alternative to George Bush

- I don't look like him

- I don't talk like him

- I don't think like him

- I don't act like him

And I have a recipe for Democrats to win the White House in 2004.  Now, Terry you might want to take notes on this.

First, you start with the people who elected Gore in 2000, and who haven’t forgotten that their votes were discounted.

Then you add the people who voted for George Bush who are:

- Out of work, out of money and out of hope and…

- who are horrified that his Patriot Act has Big Brother spying on them and threatens to put the librarians in jail.

Now we know that hard times and Republican administrations have a way of going together.

But this President has shown us the very worst of trickle down economics.

And so you add a pinch of those voters who are distressed about the deficits, dismayed about the costs of Iraq and disgusted about the way that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have frittered away our standing in the world.

And you stir all of this up with tax cuts for the rich, Enron, Worldcom and Haliburton and you have a powerful stew.

But, but it's going to take a woman to transform it into a recipe of success for Americans.

I can create jobs and get this economy working for everybody and take a new broom to the mess that Bush has left, and put our economic house in order.

I will dust off the Constitution of the United States, and make sure that our children get no less liberty, no less opportunity, no less hope and optimism than we got from our parents.

We will bring our troops home with honor and restore relationships with the rest of the world in a global effort to stop terrorism and drugs and poverty and violence and the exploitation of women and children.

And we will finally, we will finally get health care reform right, and make sure that every American has health care coverage and that every physician, nurse and provider has more to say about care than somebody at a call center thousands of miles away.

Democrats, it is time to be bold and creative, and to put away the cynicism and the cronyism and do what you know is right.  All that we are saying is give a woman a chance to lead.

I have the credentials, the experience, the track record and the platform to rebuild and renew this country, and to give us an American renaissance.

I tell people what I believe in, I do what I say I'm going to do, and I hold myself accountable to the voters for my service.  My campaign has inspired people - not just the girls and women who know we can do it, but the men who have the vision to see capacity and potential.  For every detractor who would say that--who would call my campaign silly and hopeless, there are many more who see it as bold and courageous and the silver bullet to send Bush back to the ranch.

I am asking, I am asking for your support, I am asking you for a chance to lead.

I am asking you to believe in yourself and in what you tell your daughters.

Democrats it is time for a woman to save America and I have the strength to do it.

Together, together we will break down barriers, bring Americans together and yes rebuild that bridge to the 21st century.

Thank you all so very much, thank you.