Please be seated.  As most of you know punctuality in these events is one of my wishes and desires.  Actually, I'd like to see that [we/you?] get out of here on time because we have a number of things happening after this convention today and one of those is the "Collision in Columbia," the debate tonight.  Are you all going to be watching that?  Are you all excited about that?  [applause].

I'm particularly proud of that because we have nine of our candidates here and the tenth guy apparently is not coming until next week we read.  President Bush has decided to start the 2004 campaign right here in Columbia, South Carolina.  [inaud.] city becomes the focus next week again of politics because he understands that this week in South Carolina the people of South Carolina are going to hear the real [inaud.] by the next real president of the United States [applause].  Not a guy who flies out to an aircraft carrier to have a photo op to announce the end of the war in which hundreds of our men and women died and put their life at risk, and pretty soon we're going to be discussing why; pretty soon, this time next year, we're going to still be in Iraq, we're going to still be in Afghanistan, and we're going to be asking why.

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, let me say this to ya.  I'm going to talk a little bit about what we've done here in the last four years and where we need to go, but this president, this president has taken us from unparalleled prosperity to the depths of despair.  This president has frittered away the advantage that his predecessor Bill Clinton left him economically [applause] and in the world community morally.

So I want to talk just a little--you know this is a guy who can find billions of dollars, billions of dollars to implement a universal health care program in Iraq, but not a penny for the men and women and children of this country.  [applause].  Maybe we ought to tell him there's some weapons of mass destruction out here on the Congaree River.  Is that the way we're going to get some federal assistance here?  Is that the way we're going to get [inaud.] health care here in South Carolina; on  rebuilding our roads and bridges; on giving us the kind of assistance we're entitled to?  Now we've got Fritz Hollings sitting over here who has said time and time; we've got John Spratt and Jim Clyburn who've gone up there and said Mr. President we don't need a $750 billion dollar tax cut; we need to invest in this country.  Don't spend our seed corn on giving tax cuts to rich people.  Let's make sure that the next generation of children in South Carolina have an education. [applause].

And ladies and gentlemen what about that Republican governor of ours and that Republican legislature of ours?  I mean they can't chew gum and walk at the same time.  [applause].  [inaud.] is restructuring.  This is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Restructure what?  We're a billion dollars short and who's going to pay the price tag?  Not the legislature.  They've upped their budget; they've upped their budget.  Not the governor.  The children of this state, the ill people of this state, the elderly of this state, the people that cannot fight for themselves, the people who can't afford a lobbyist to go up and fight for them.  They are the ones who will suffer, and I'm telling you that if you don't believe that their suffering will come home to roost on us then you do not understand society.

I was a prosecutor for 12 years here, 12 years, and in those 12 years I can tell you I saw the fruits of neglect of the Reagan administration and daddy Bush's administration.  Kids who were not educated; kids who did not have proper health care; kids who were angry at the world.  Eight years of Bill Clinton changed that.  [applause].  And unfortunately four years of George Bush are going to change it again, for the worse.

Now I want to talk a little bit about my tenure as your chairman and I want to thank each and every one of you that's come up and thanked me for this opportunity to serve you.  You know, being chairman of a party's like herding cats; it's hard to get a consensus, hard to [inaud].

In 1998 Sen. Hollings persuaded me I could be of service to the state as your chairman and I thank him for that because it's been an opportunity that I will never forget, never forget.  And why is that?  We won some races, we lost some races, but it wasn't about winning or losing; it was about bringing people to positions in this states who cared about education.  Now we gave to this state--Jim Hodges and I understand about working as a team for four years.  What did we get?

We got teacher salaries up beyond the Southeastern average.  We got the size of classrooms down.  We got a billion dollars spent on new school construction.  We had it rolling to improve education.  The number of certified teachers went up from 17 to over a thousand.  There was hope among our educators about improving the quality of our education system.  There was hope about making the difference to do that.  That alone was woth what we did in '98 and what we fought for in 2000 and 2002.

You know if we hadn't, if Jim Hodges had not fought for the education lottery, the education system in this states would be a half a billion dollars short today, shorter.  That's the lottery you remember the Republicans railed against: fool's gold, fool's gold; we don't want to rely on that.  Now they're out there trying to take it away from the kids [inaud.] and spend it on their own pet projects.  Ladies and gentlement our legislators say no to that.

I was talking to Senator Hollings a moment ago.  The textile industry in this state used to be the backbone--we had many jobs in this state where people used their hands and their backs and their legs to build things for other people worldwide.  And that is [inaud.] the sweat of your brow.  That is probably the most satisfying work you can do.

But this administration, the Republican administration, is intent on making sure that we in this state never have jobs like that.  There's been a loss of 60,000 manufacturing jobs.  The textile industry is no more.  Even with the influx of the BMWs and the Michelins and the others, we have a net loss of 40,000 jobs; that's 40,000 South Carolinians who have gone into the unemployment roll, moved somewhere else, or have given up.  Unemployment is the highest it's been in 12 years and the reaction of our state leadership and our federal leadership is trickle down economy.  Cut the taxes on the very rich and they might buy that second yacht, that third Jaguar, that fourth house.  Well ladies and gentlemen I don't [inaud]. that economic system you and I want to rely on.

I'm a trial lawyer and I make a few bucks doing that, but before I was a trial lawyer, I worked construction; before I was a trial lawyer I waited on tables; before I graduated from law school I worked in a machine shop.  And I understand that many of you and many of the people in this state are one paycheck away from being on the street.  [applause].

Now George Bush doesn't understand that because he's always been one trust fund from being on the street.  A guy who traded on his daddy's name to make money his entire life, a guy who's surrounded with syncophants like Karl Rove and the rest who advise him every day how do we maximize his photo ops--fly to the aircraft carrier, we'll have a press conference to announce the end of the war.  Now this isn't like the war of Senator Hollings, Greg Patterson [phon.] [inaud.] and others fought in back here where you go to an aircraft carrier with the Japanese, where you go somewhere and you meet the enemy and you sign a treaty.  This is a photo op.  And that's what this administration is about.  Photo ops.  Photo ops.  [applause].

Now let me tell you that's all the bad news; that's all the bad news.  Let me tell you the good news.  In this town at this moment you will meet the next president of the United States.  [applause]  Wandering around this hall, at the J-J dinner last night, at the meet and greet this morning, at the debate tonight, and in Columbia tomorrow the next president of the United States will shake your hand and tell you how they will do things differently.  Now ladies and gentlemen that is something that not only helps this country, but that is something that helps this state.

Many of us fought in 2000 to have this primary, this early primary here, but were denied the right to do so.  I think if that had happened we wouldn't have lost races in 2002.  If we'd had this enthusiasm in 2000 we wouldn't have lost races inn 2002.  We would have been able to use this like New Hampshire and Iowa and many other states too.  Now I'm not going to whine about that.  We took a kick in the teeth.  We're going to move on; we're tough people.  But ladies and gentlemen what this weekend signifies is the beginning of the beginning.  This is the beginning of the end of the Republican administration in Washington.  It starts right here, right now.  [applause].

You don't agree with what George Bush is doing to this country, you don't agree with what the Republican Congress and Senate is doing in this country--to this country, you have a unique opportunity that many other people in this country won't have and that is to work between now and next February 3rd to make sure this primary happens and work for your candidate, work day and night, work weekends, work every waking moment to make sure that your candidate, your nominee, your next president of the United States can maximize the opportunity they have here.  Because we will pick that president.  This state--the nominee, the person who wins this state will be the next president of the United States.

We are Southerners.  We understand that the South has to vote for that Democratic ticket in order for [him?] to be the next president.  Bill Clinton proved that; Jimmy Carter proved that; and unfortunately Al Gore proved that.

So we have to be agressive.  This is no time to go home and say that was a great convention, wonderful speeches and I met Gephardt or Kerry or Dean or Sharpton or whoever.  Don't go home and take that tee-shirt and put it up on your wall.  This is the beginning.

Now this is the end of my term as chairman of the party, but it is the beginning of my role as one of you again.  I'm going to have my candidate.  If my candidate is not your candidate, we're going to kick your ass.  [cheers].  Okay.  I challenge you, okay, either get with me or get out of the way because whoever I'm for will be the next president of the United States and I'm going to work day and night and I'm going to spend money and I'm going to be in your living room, in your den, knocking on your door.  I'm going to do exactly what each and every one of you ought to do.

Now we have a tremendous amount of attention on this state this weekend.  Look at all those cameras back there.  Usually we got a little video camera somebody can take home and show that grandma who couldn't get here.  We got national attention here, and how we handle this is important not only for the national ticket but for South Carolina.  Remember last year if 35,000 South Carolinians out of 1.2 million had voted D instead of R, we would have won every race, every race.  35,000.  That's nothing.  Nothing.  But we've got to make the case for why our candidates are better than their candidates.

I want to talk for a moment about something that many folks don't want to talk about, but I would be remiss, remiss if I didn't take this opportunity.  I would not attempt in any way to offend anybody, but this is how in my heart of hearts I feel after four years as your chairman.

Let me give you a little history.  In 1966, which is far long, way long ago, many of you maybe weren't even born then, I went to Clemson University.  I attended schools in Charlotte, North Carolina--high school, middle school--and I attended school with nothing but white people.  You know.  I see Herb Fielding.  [former State Senator and one of the first African-American legislators elected to House since Reconstruction]  Do you remember those days, Herb?  We went to one school; you went to another. You had your water fountain; I had mine.  I had my bathroom; you had your bathroom.  You had your place in the restaurant; I had mine.  You had the balcony; I had downstairs in the theater.  It seemed awful normal back then.  I don't know how we didn't notice it, Herb.

Jim Clyburn and Herb and others decided maybe they wanted to sit in the front of the bus, they wanted to use my water fountain, they wanted to use my bathroom, and they wanted to sit next to me at the theater.

And many of us at my age, 15-16, did not quite understand that.  I mean you had your bathroom.  What's the problem here?  I mean we really were--we didn't quite understand it.  But then as we matured we began to understand it.  And we listened to calmer heads about how you dealt with this effort.  What was the difference here.

Fritz Hollings, right here, integrated the colleges and universities of this states without a single person being [hurt?].  [applause].  God bless him.  When I got to Clemson, my attitude change a little bit, but I did not change dramatically until I met three black kids who came by [inaud.] student newspaper office one night.  They were coming back [inaud.] and they told a horrible story of what had happened the previous night.  Three kids were killed and a number of them wounded at South Carolina State and what were they trying to do?  This never made sense to me.  They were attempting to go bowling.  They wanted to go bowling at the bowling alley downtwon.  And that, that made no sense to me.  I mean we weren't malicious about race, but if they wanted to bowl, why couldn't they bowl.  And that began the process of opening my mind and a number of other minds about race.  Why were we having this conflict?  What was this about?

And I met Joe Grant [phon.] who's here somewhere who went to Clemson with me and the two of us became friends and all of the sudden I understood that many of those folks would never enjoy the opportunity that I was about to have simply because of the pigmentation of their skin.  In April of that year Joe Grant, Tim Rogers and a few of us went to Atlanta for Dr. King's funeral.  We marched from Ebenezar Baptist Church to Morehouse.  We heard a wonderful speech by a young man running for president named Bobby Kennedy and he was dead six weeks later.

That process didn't radicalize me, but it made me aware that this state or this country could never reach its maximum potential without all of us working together.  And I ran for office.  I became involved in politics.  I ran for County Council here and ran at large and I went into the bedrooms and--excuse me [laughter]--the living rooms--that was when I was with Clinton in New Hampshire.  I went into the living rooms and--whoa--went into the living rooms and dens of all people in this county and Kershaw County.  I went to Bernice Scott's house.  I went to many, many houses and asked people, African-American and white, for their support and won.  I did the same thing when I ran for solicitor.

And then we had a lawsuit.  And the lawsuit was designed [inaud.] change, because white people wouldn't vote for them.  A wonderful idea.  And as we sit her today, Democrats, we understand you've got to reach out; you've got to have affirmative efforts to try to include women and African-Americans, and people that look different that me.  Right?  [applause].  And we've done that.  But the Republicans, Republicans will take any well meaning effort and try to twist it into something that benefits them no matter the cost, no matter the cost.  What they did was they said well you're going to create a district in which an African-American has an opportunity by getting African-American votes.  Why don't we make that an 85-percent African-American district or a 75 so that we can get all the African-Americans out of the white Republican's district so they don't have to listen to them any more...  It's called bleaching out.

And that's what's happened.  And that's what's happened.  And the result of that is that we have created these huge majority black and huge majority white districts so black folks and white folks don't even talk any more.

And if you're a white Republican you can wrap yourself in the Confederate flag [inaud.] roll around on Main Street [inaud.] and get re-elected by overwhelming numbers.  [applause].  That kind of mentality has to stop.

We don't need a new [inaud]... Confederate flag off the dome, but they didn't move it quite far enough because they had Glenn McConnell, the Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate, who dresses up in a Confederate uniform every weekend and runs around with a [inaud.] sabre thinking he's Robert E. frigging Lee.  [cheers, applause].  Now Glenn McConnell has a few black folks in his district, you know, the could do what ever the hell he wants to.

But it wouldn't be affecting us.  You know the folks that went down in the Hunley, God love 'em, you know, they were fighting for something they believed in.  I didn't belive in it.  You don't believe in it.  Right?  [applause].  It's history.  But you know Glenn wants millions of dollars to fund this Hunley restoration project--your dollars, and your dollars; your dollars--but not enough money to fund education.  [applause].  I honor our past.  I respect it.  But you know what?  I honor our future more.  [applause].

So the well meaning effort of [inaud.] creating single member districts for county council, city council, legislature was great and in many counties it works well, but in many, many, many areas, especially the House and Senate, what's it resulted in?  A resegregated state government with huge black districts represented by black folks and huge white districts represented by white folks.  Unfortunately the white folks outnumber the black folks and so the white folks, the Republicans, continue to use race as the issue they discuss in their districts so they never have to talk about education or environment or economy.  [applause]. If all you ever have to talk about is the flag, you never get to talking about what matters.

So ladies and gentlemen as I stand here before you tonight or today and say to you we as Democrats have the power, we as Democrats have the power to say to the legislators, to say well [inaud]. Democratic performance--black--population in my district by 10 percent so I don't have to worry about [inaud.].  Let's say to them, let's construct districts in which you, an African-American, have to go out and convince white people to vote for you and Republicans you ought to have a district where you have to talk to the black people occasionally other than to say can I have [inaud.] [applause].  You know.  Now I understand that what I just proposed is taboo.

It's about race and as I look out--Carol Khare and some of us were at a meeting the other night where we were talking about our affirmative action plan for delegate selection.  We as a party understand that if you don't reach out and say, women, we're going to set aside a place at the table for you; African-Americans we're going to set aside a place at the table for you; Hispanics we're going to set aside a place at the table for you.  No matter what your gender, your sexual orientation, your race, we've got a place at the table for you here.  [applause].  This is America; this looks like America.  You know George Bush wants America to look like an Enron board meeting.

Well ladies and gentlemen I want to take just a couple of minutes to finish here and tell you a couple of things that are important to me.  You cannot do this job--one of you out there soon will have this job--without tremendous suppport from the people that work for you.  Joanie Lawson, our executive director--where are you Joanie--she's out there working somewhere--thank you.  Ashlie Bagwell, our finance director, again she's out there raising money somewhere.  Thank you.  Will Drake political field director, thank you.  And this weekend we brought in some folks that have helped us.  Mike McCurry, who's come to our rescue.  Thank you.  God bless you.  I think his parents are here.  Where are they?  They're right back there.  Great Democrats.  Marcia Hale from Aiken.  Thank you.  Thank God for you.  Tom Gorman has come in from Washington.  You've done a tremendous job making sure the execution of our idea was as professional as it should and can.

Let me say one thing in conclusion.  I have a reputation for being a fighter.  My skills at building consensus and bringing peace among groups isn't exactly reknown.  I was on county council for four years.  Bernice Scott, God lover her, was on there with me.  What I exhibit as chairman, I learned there.  Every time I stuck out a hand in friendship to a Republican I pulled back a nub.  So what I say to you is this.  We're going to beat 'em.  We're going to have 'em on ther ground.  They're going to say let me up.  Don't do it.  [applause].

Just one final thing.  This guy over here.  This Hollings guy.  Should he run again?  [Cheers, applause].  Who's the senior Senator from South Carolina now?  [cheers].  Fritz!  Who do you want to run again?  [response].  Who do you want to be senior Senator again?  [response].

God bless you.  God bless this state.  God bless Fritz Hollings.  Thank you very much.