Sen. John Kerry
Orlando Centroplex Exhibit Center
Orlando, FL
Friday, Oct. 29,
2004
(remarks as prepared)
Thank you. It's great to be back in Orlando.
Four days from now, Americans will face a choice.
How will we find our way forward? How will we keep America safe, and
keep the American Dream alive?
I
believe we begin by giving this country we love a fresh start. This
morning, I would like to give you as a plainly as I can the summary of
my case on how - together - we can change America.
I believe we begin by moving our economy, our government, and our
society back in line with our best values.
I
believe we begin by doing whatever it takes to lead our troops to
success and bring them home safe. And when they do come home, I believe
we begin by rebuilding an America with a strong middle- class where
everyone has the chance to work and the opportunity to get ahead.
My friends, after the many long months and miles of this campaign, in
four days this election will be in your hands.
In
four days, a father will check in at his polling place and think about
the family waiting for him to come home for dinner. His job has been
outsourced and his new job doesn't pay the bills like his old one did.
He'll wonder what they'll do if the kids get sick. And he'll wonder
whether we can afford four more years of a President who fights for
those at the top while telling everyone else that this is the best
economy of our lifetime.
But on Tuesday, you have the choice to give that father hope. You have
the choice to give the American economy a fresh start.
In
four days, a young woman will pick up her ballot and think about her
future. She'll wonder whether she'll be able to find a good job that
will pay off her college loans. She'll wonder how you juggle work and
family and why no matter how hard she works she seems to fall further
behind. She'll wonder whether we can afford four more years of a
President who calls concerns like these nothing more than a litany of
complaints.
But on Tuesday, you have the
choice to give her hope. You have the choice to give young people all
across America a fresh start on their future.
In
four days, a woman will walk into a voting booth thinking about the
husband she said goodbye to so many months ago. She'll wonder how much
longer he'll have to stay in Iraq, and when she'll see him again. And
she will wonder whether we can afford four more years of a President
who's unwilling to admit the mistakes he has made, and says he would do
everything all over again exactly the same.
But on Tuesday, you have the choice to give her hope. You have the
choice to give America a fresh start in Iraq.
My
friends, this is the most important election of our lifetime. And
that's not something I'm telling you, that's something you've told me
time and time again in this campaign. And when you go into that voting
booth you will face a fundamental choice: do we want four more years of
the same failed course? Or do we want a fresh start for America?
By
now, it is clear that no matter who tells him, no matter how many times
he hears it, and no matter how bad things get, George W. Bush just
doesn't understand the problems facing America.
In
Iraq, every day, every headline, has brought fresh evidence that our
Commander-in-Chief doesn't see what's happening -- isn't leveling with
the American people about why we went to war in Iraq...how the war is
going - and has no idea how to put our policy back on track. His
mistakes and misjudgments have hurt our troops, driven away allies,
diverted our focus from Osama bin Laden and the real war on terror.
At
home, George Bush looks at lost jobs, falling wages, and rising costs
and tells struggling middle-class families that everything's just fine.
That's because for the powerful and well- connected friends he's spent
the last four years fighting for, it really is the best economy of
their lifetime. And now he's asking us to give him another four years
so that he can keep giving them more of the same.
This is George Bush's record. But it doesn't have to be our future.
In
four days, you can choose a fresh start. You can choose a President who
will defend America and fight for the middle-class. And if you give me
the chance, I will be that President.
This is the choice we face on Tuesday.
In this election, the safety of the American people is on the ballot.
Our troops in Iraq are doing a heroic job - the problem is our
commander in chief isn't doing his.
The President tells us that in Iraq, his "strategy is succeeding."
The
Vice President tells us that the war is a "remarkable success story."
But every day on our TV screens, we see the hard truths. We see the
consequences of this President's decision to rush to war without a plan
to win the peace:
The loss of over 1,100
of our brave men and women in uniform. A cost of $225 billion with
billions more on the way. Entire regions controlled by insurgents and
terrorists.
By pushing our allies aside,
George Bush's catastrophic mismanagement of this war has left America
to bear almost 90 percent of the costs and 90 percent of the coalition
casualties. We relied on Afghan warlords instead of American troops to
hunt down Osama bin Laden, and the man responsible for murdering more
than 3,000 American walked away.
This is George Bush's record, but it doesn't have to be our future.
On
Tuesday, we have the opportunity to set a new course in Iraq...open up
a new chapter in our relationship with the rest of the world...and do
whatever it takes to defend America and keep our troops safe.
This can be our future.
But first we must choose.
When I'm President, I will bring other nations to our side and train
Iraqis so that we can succeed and bring our troops home. As president,
I will fight a tougher, smarter, more effective war on terror. We will
hunt down, capture, and kill the terrorists wherever they are. I
defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president.
But I believe we need a president who can do more than one thing at a
time.
America
has always been driven by a powerful idea: that with hard work and good
values, we can give our children a better life. Our economy, our
society is built on that basic bargain: Everyone who works hard and
does right should have the chance to get ahead.
Not
long ago, that middle-class dream was within reach of all those willing
to work for it. But this President walked away from our basic bargain -
and today, America's great middle class is in danger because this
President doesn't share your values.
With
almost every choice he's made, George Bush has given more to those who
have the most at the expense of middle-class families who are working
hard to get ahead.
Jobs get shipped overseas, but the companies who send them there get
tax breaks.
Today,
America is replacing high-paying, middle-class jobs with temporary and
part-time jobs that don't pay enough to make ends meet. But big
corporations keep getting higher profits and larger tax breaks.
The
middle-class is paying a larger share of the tax burden, but the
wealthiest individuals making an average of $1.2 million are getting
$89 billion in tax cuts.
American families are earning less but paying more.
Health
care's up 64 percent. College tuition's up 46 percent. Medicare
premiums are up 56 percent. 5 million more Americans don't health care.
220,000 students couldn't afford college last year. But George Bush
thought it was a good idea to give Enron a $254 million tax break, the
big drug companies $139 billion in windfall profits, and Halliburton a
$7 billion no-bid contract. You know, as Ronald Reagan used say, facts
are stubborn things.
This is George Bush's
record, but it doesn't have to be our future. On Tuesday, we have the
opportunity to make sure the American Dream touches every American
heart. We can bring back good-paying jobs for middle-class families so
that they don't just get by - they get ahead. We can bring down the
cost of health care and child care and tuition so that you can pay the
bills and give your children the same chance at life that your parents
gave you.
This can be our future.
But first we must choose.
It's
a choice between four more years of George Bush's policy to ship jobs
overseas and give tax breaks to the companies that do it -- or a
President who will reward the companies that create and keep good jobs
here in the United States of America.
You can choose a fresh start. And when I'm President, that's what
you'll get.
On
Tuesday, you'll face a choice between four more years of George Bush's
giveaways to the big drug companies and the big HMOs -- or a President
who will finally make health care a right, and not a privilege, for
every American.
You can choose a fresh start. And when I'm President, that's what
you'll get.
This
election is a choice between four more years of tax giveaways for
millionaires along with a higher tax burden for you -- or a President
who will cut middle-class taxes, raise the minimum wage, and make sure
we guarantee women an equal day's pay for an equal day's work.
You can choose a fresh start. And when I'm President, that's what
you'll get
On
Tuesday, America faces a choice between four more years of an energy
policy for big oil, of big oil, and by big oil -- or a President who
finally makes America independent of Mideast oil in ten years. A choice
between George Bush's policy that just yesterday showed record profits
for oil companies and record gas prices for American consumers. I
believe that America should rely on our own ingenuity and innovation,
not the Saudi Royal family.
You can choose a fresh start. And when I'm President, that's what
you'll get.
I
believe that the only way to do this is by coming together as One
America. It is time for America to put the politics of polarization
behind us. It is time to appeal to the best instincts of Republicans,
Democrats, and Independents alike. It is time again for America to
honor the truth that what unites us is stronger than what divides us.
It is time for America to renew the faith that there is something for
everyone single one of us to do - and challenges each of us to try.
My
fellow Americans, running for president has been a privilege and a
gift. Over two years and more, I have traveled into the communities,
the homes, and the town squares of America. I have seen heartache, but
I have also seen hope. I have been told stories of struggle, but in
those voices there is also a sense of optimism. The people I have met
understand how hard the last four years have been, but they know in
their hearts that if we believe in ourselves, America's best days are
ahead of us.
Our choice could not be clearer. And the stakes could not be higher.
In
four days, we can change the course of our country. I ask for your vote
and I ask for your help. When you go to the polls next Tuesday, bring
your friends, your family, your neighbors. No one can afford to stand
on the sidelines or sit this one out.
In
four days, this campaign will end. The election will be in your hands.
If you believe we need a fresh start in Iraq ... if you believe we can
create and keep good jobs here in America ... if you believe we need to
get health care costs under control ... if you believe in the promise
of stem cell research ... if you believe our deficits are too high and
we're too dependent on Mideast oil ...then I ask you to join me and
together we'll change America.
I see an America of rising opportunity. And I believe hope, not fear is
our future.
A
woman in Ohio said something about a month ago. I didn't get to meet
her, but she grabbed one of my people at the end of an event and she
said: "You be sure to get a hold of the Senator and give him this
message for me." And the message was, "Senator, we've got your back!"
Give
me the chance to make you proud. Give me the chance to lift our country
up. And every day I'll look you in the eye and be able to say, "I've
got your back!" Four days to change America. Let's go out and make it
happen!
Thank you, God Bless, and God bless America.
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