But, my friends, this is serious business, and I want to talk to you seriously -- to win this November and in Novembers to come -- to fulfill our historic mission to be the party of opportunity, and responsibility, and community as Bill Clinton described it-- we Democrats must offer real answers to the challenges facing your state and our nation at home and abroad.
 

We cannot be timid – nor grow complacent in our thinking, for politics at its best is always about ideas. We can’t rely on fear to forge our future. Nor can we be intimidated by the polling numbers of our opponents because we know our cause is right. After all, we’ve beaten a George Bush with 80 percent approval ratings before, haven't we?  Just ask Bill Clinton.
 

But my fellow Democrats, we will not gain the confidence of the American people to lead this state or this nation -- unless we prove that we are committed to keeping America safe and secure; unless we show that we're determined to make the American dream a reality for all our people; and unless we make clear that we will be steadfast in protecting and reflecting the values of the American family.
 

We cannot concede any one of these areas – security, opportunity, and values – to the other party.
 

We must have enough confidence in our values to stand up and say where we think the President and his party are right, and where we think they are wrong.  Where the governor of this state and his party are right, and where we know they are wrong.  And together we must offer a vision of hope, a clear picture of the brighter future we see – and we will create over the horizon.
 

Dear friends, when we do that, victories will come not just for the Democratic Party – but for all the people of Florida and for all of the American people.

Now right now, in the war on terrorism, I am proud to say that we Democrats are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the President -- as we should.

We are putting country above politics, as we must. For this war is about one thing, and one thing only and that is America – and defending our American way of life.  Right.

There is no D or R or I on the dogtags of the brave men and women serving in our armed forces today. There's only one label they wear – and they wear it proudly – and that is “American.”

In the days and weeks since the attacks of September 11, President Bush has brought a moral clarity to the conflict we're in. He’s made it clear that we will go after those who threaten us and our values with violence – and that includes any nation or group that sponsors, supports, or harbors terrorists.

Now that's why I'm encouraged that the Bush has now finally engaged directly in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and sent Secretary Powell to the region because that conflict is now the frontlines of the war against terrorism. A continuation of the current violence there would fundamentally endanger America’s security.

I must say today that I appreciate Chairman Arafat's statement in Arabic yesterday opposing terrorism, but the declaration, but that declaration must be followed by action which will make clear that Arafat's goal is Palestinian sovereignty, not the destruction of the state of Israel.

What concerns us about what is happening in the Middle East today is not Palestinian statehood, which we should support, but Palestinian suicide terrorists, which America and Israel should work together to stop.

Now here I’m sorry to say, and I say it respectfully, that the Bush Administration has recently muddied our moral clarity. Our closest ally in the Middle East and fellow democracy, Israel, has been forced to defend itself against a relentless campaign of suicide bombers – killers with the same disregard for human life as those who attacked us on September 11.

Yet the Bush Administration has publicly and persistently pressured Israel not to do exactly what we have rightly done to fight the terrorists who struck us on September 11th.  In pursuing this policy, the President risks losing the high ground, the moral high ground and compromising our own war on terrorism.

My friends, how can we credibly continue to do what we must do, which is to search for and destroy the remaining al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan – and all over the world -- while demanding that the Israelis must stop doing exactly that in the West Bank?

The answer is, the answer is: we cannot.  We cannot and remain true to our principles and protect America's security.

Ladies and gentlemen we need a consistent foreign policy that doesn’t bend to pressure, but is rooted in bedrock American values: that those who threaten the safety of our families at home, those who use violence to undermine our interests and attack our allies abroad, those who reject our core values of freedom, and equality, and tolerance with terror – they are enemies of the American people. And those who fight those terrorists are friends of the American people.  No ifs, ands, or buts.

And that is why I feel so strongly that America cannot rest until the most dangerous anti-American terrorist in the world, Saddam Hussein, is removed from power in Baghdad. And I pledge my support to President Bush as he plans to do that.

But dear friends it's not enough just to drain the swamp of terrorists like Saddam. We must also seed the garden, by combating the poverty and isolation and absence of human rights in the Islamic world that terrorists exploit today.

In the 1990s we learned a lesson from President Clinton and Vice President Gore – that if America keeps its military strong and uses it wisely and our prestige and leadership is also used wisely, we can bring progress to the most seemingly hopeless conflicts in the world: in the Balkans, in the Korean peninsula, in Northern Ireland, and in the Middle East.

It is in America’s national interest to remain not just resolute in our principles, but also fully engaged in the world. And the proud history of our Democratic Party requires us now to make this case to the American people – to show that we know how to lead. My friends I promise you that I will work with other Democrats in Washington to do our best in the days ahead to make sure that is exactly what happens.

Now, you know in the 1990’s, we Democrats also showed that we knew a thing or two about how to grow the economy and spread its bounty to more of our people.  Right.

I am proud, I am proud of what we did – and I know you are too. Through fiscal discipline, smart investments, expanding trade, and the Clinton-Gore Administration restored the American people’s faith in the American dream. And we put that dream in the hands of millions of hardworking American families.

A decade ago, it seemed as if the American dream was slipping from our grasp, didn't it. People said that our children might be the first generation in American history not to do as well as their parents.

But we Democrats under Bill Clinton and Al Gore refused to believe that. I certainly refused to believe it because my family and I have lived that American dream.

My father worked his way from the back of a bakery truck to the counter of his own store in a building that he eventually bought. I know that may not sound like a long way to some, but it was for my family. And what did it do, it enabled him to send me to college, the first in my family to have that opportunity.

And that is why it pains me so to see the total lack of sensible leadership from the Bush Administration when it comes to our economy. Because dear friends this debate is not just about budget numbers, oh no, it’s about people’s dreams – the dreams of millions of families eager to start on the same journey that so many of our own families began years ago.

But instead of a plan to expand opportunity and grow the middle class, the President Bush just gave us a tax cut plan.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. . .  We support tax cuts.

But not tax cuts that do nothing for our long-term prosperity, and just about everything for those who already have just about everything.

You know there is something really wrong with an economic policy that eats up the surplus we worked so hard to build up, plunges America back into national debt.

There is something terribly wrong with an economic policy that saves no money to better healthcare and help America's seniors afford the medicines they need to stay alive and well.

There’s something awfully wrong with this Administration's economic policy that prevents it from making the investments it promised just a month ago to make in education.

And there is something massively wrong with a Republican economic policy that will take more than $2 trillion out of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds just to keep our government going.  That is wrong.

It's time to bring that lockbock back, lockbox back isn't it.

Now, we Democrats of course have a responsibility to do more than say what we’re against. We have to say what we’re for and we've got to offer a sensible economic plans that expand opportunity to all Americans. A program rooted in fiscal responsibility; with tax cuts for people and businesses that boost growth and create jobs; and smart investments in science, research, and most of all, in our students, our teachers and our schools.

You know as well as I do that for the smartest investment we can make is to give our public schools the tools they need to help our children do better. In particular, we cannot ask our teachers to do the critically important job we need them to do unless we treat them with respect and give them the professional salaries they deserve.  Right.

Getting a little hot up here. [takes off jacket]  Am I beginning to remind you a little of Ricky Martin?

From these debates that I have described, we can see not only differences between the parties in our policy priorities. We also get a clear look at the differences in values.

We must never forget that values are what lie at the heart of politics. Because politics is about choices, and the choices we make come down to: what we believe is right, and what we believe is wrong.

And here, we must be honest with ourselves my friends: our party has sometimes seemed uncomfortable talking about values. We’ve sometimes seemed reluctant to draw clear lines between what is right and what is wrong. And too often, we've been slow to recognize that for many Americans, understanding what’s right and wrong flows from their faith.

We have too often made the faithful, I fear, feel unwelcome in our party. And that has to end.

Because faith has been a powerful ally of progress throughout America's history – inspiring our Founders to give us our freedom, inspiring the abolitionists, the suffragists, and those who marched for civil rights in this state and across our country.

I know that for me, and my classmates, who went to Mississippi to register African-Americans to vote in the fall of 1963, it is what we learned in our churches and synagogues about God's gift of equality that moved us to take that action.

So we've got nothing to be embarassed about, about our values.  We in fact have to make clear by our word and our deed that for all their talk, the other party doesn’t have a monopoly on moral values, right.

Just look at their record.

Rolling back environmental standards, cutting funding for clean air and clean water, drilling in our wildlife refuges and off your beautiful Florida coast – let me ask you: are those America’s best values?   [Audience: No]

Running up a enormous national debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay – are those America’s values? [No]

Saying – in English and Spanish -- you want to welcome new Americans, but then refusing to give legal immigrants the same medical benefits as all other Americans – are those America’s values? [No]

Making energy policy behind closed doors, closed to everyone except you know who, thespecial interests – are those America’s values? [No]

Absolutely right.  You and I know that those are not America's best values.  I don’t know whose values they are…But they're not America’s values.

So to build a national community, I want to argue with you today and urge you to do what I know you feel we in your heart that we must, we Democrats must talk about – and act on – our best values, the ones that all Americans share.  And I'm speaking of values like freedom and faith and family; values like patriotism and hard work and tolerance; opportunity for all, and responsibility from all.

Who will best stand up for these values?

Who will open the American dream to all?

Who will offer strong leadership to keep America safe and secure at home and abroad?

It is the Democratic party.

For those are surely the questions the American people will be asking us in this election and in the contests to come. And we Democrats must stand up and give the answers we have. And with your help, we will.

We will crack the ice of old assumptions and offer bold alternatives to the backwards Bush agenda. We will redouble our efforts to strengthen our party, providing the leadership we are capable of and that Americans deserve. And we will open our arms to all who share our values and our vision of a Florida and an America of boundless opportunity for all our people.

A Florida and an America in which we take seriously our responsibilities to our parents, our children, and our neighbors.

And a Florida and an America of strong communities built around our most cherished values.

And finally critically today an America that is a consistent and principled force for freedom and security all over the world.

That, that is the American Dream we Democrats have been moving our nation toward for decades. That is the more perfect union that we have sought for more than two centuries now.  And that is what you and I are working for this November here in Florida on Election Day.

Keep that in mind, keep that in mind when you knock on those doors and get out that vote.

Never forget that it’s with your hard work that we will elect Democrats all over Florida this fall and we’ll give Jeb Bush a one-way ticket out of Tallahassee.

And then together dear friends, we will build a better Florida and an even better America.

Thank you, and God bless you all.