2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

Patrick Ruffini Named RNC eCampaign Director

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman today announced that Patrick Ruffini has been selected to assume the role of RNC eCampaign Director.

Patrick Ruffini served as Webmaster for Bush-Cheney ?04 where he was responsible for managing President George W. Bush?s reelection campaign website. 

?We are very happy to welcome Patrick back to the RNC as eCampaign Director,? Chairman Mehlman said.  ?He has been at the forefront of innovative political communications and he will enable the Republican Party to become even more effective at communicating our positive vision for the country.?

John Kerry Campaigns in St. Paul for Chris Coleman

John Kerry campaigned for Chris Coleman at a rally Monday, October 10th at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Kerry endorsed Coleman for mayor of St. Paul in an email to the Minnesota members of the johnkerry.com grassroots community. This was Kerry's second trip to Minnesota this year. He traveled to Saint Paul in May for a town hall meeting on his Kids First legislation.

Clinton Gore '96 Announce Innovations to Web Site

New innovations to the Clinton Gore Web Site are highlighted in this press release issued September 30, 1996.

President Clinton’s and Vice President Gore’s re-election campaign is breaking new ground on the information superhighway. Clinton/Gore ‘96 is relaunching its world wide web site to showcase state of the art technological advances, announced Clinton/Gore ‘96 Campaign Manager Peter S. Knight. President Clinton and Vice President Gore understand that continuing investments in technology represent an investment in our nation’s future. Technology opens doors, creates jobs, and makes possible the opportunity for all of our citizens to reach out for the American dream. "We are excited about these additions and innovations on our web site. Through these interactive components, our web site users can be a part of our campaign and see first hand how the campaigns are strategizing to win the electoral college on November 5th," said Knight.

One of the most exciting changes in the website is a new main menu which features a "java script mouse-over application." Animated icons appear as the mouse rolls over the headings for each section offering the viewer a "sneak peak" of each section of the site. "We have not found any other site that has implemented this unique viewing option," stated Clinton/Gore ‘96 Director of Technology Adam Sohn.

Another new, interactive aspect of the web site is an electoral college simulation game. The simlulator allows users to learn about the state-by-state electoral voting system in a fun, easy to use interactive, map-driven game. As users choose states for each candidate, the electoral process is revealed and a presidential candidate becomes the winner.

The web site also includes a new multimedia presentation entitled, "The Challenges Ahead" to keep web browsers informed about the issues important to them. This visually stimulating presentation features streaming audio and still photographs, and will be continually updated with short segments of President Clinton’s vision for the challenges that face our nation.

President Clinton’s trademark of listening to communities and appealing to people all across America to become involved has been incorporated into the web site in a new feature called, "America’s Home Page." Each week, Clinton/Gore ‘96 web site users submit testimonials and stories on why they support the Clinton/Gore ticket. These are made available to read each week in the "America’s Home Page" newsletter. It is an opportunity for web users to share how they have been affected by President Clinton and the work of this Administration and another example of the Clinton/Gore ‘96 campaign’s commitment to community involvement.

With all these new services available, Clinton/Gore ‘96 has added a new technology which allows users to select specific content from the web site and register to have it automatically updated whenever they are on the web. Every time a user logs back into the Internet, the server automatically begins downloading the updated information from the Clinton/Gore ‘96 page in the background. The viewer is alerted when it is done. This exciting technology will keep Clinton/Gore ‘96 web site users updated on information including the President’s campaign speeches and additions to the "Challenges Ahead" video.

The web site will continue to provide instant access to statements by the President, position papers, and detailed accounts of the Clinton Administration’s record. Those who want to get involved can register to volunteer, while journalists will also gain access to valuable information quickly and easily. Finally, no campaign is complete without bumper stickers and buttons. The Clinton/Gore ‘96 web site has available bumper stickers and buttons in addition to screen savers and wallpaper.

For the next five weeks this virtual campaign headquarters will take the President’s vision for the next four years and his proud record of achievement directly to America’s voters.

Bob Kerrey 1992 Announcement

U.S. Senator Bob Kerry Announcement Speech for the Candidacy of President of the United States of America on September 30, 1991 in Linclon, Nebraska.

"At the center of this great country and on the edge of a new century, I am today announcing my candidacy to be the next President of the United States of America.

This announcement is to all America. But the first message is to Nebraska. You are the people who supported me each time I've asked for help. In my family, business and in politics.

I have never done anything alone; I have always needed you and you have never disappointed me.

At the beginning of this campaign I remember this community most for what you did for me during my life's most difficult time: when I came home wounded and disillusioned from the Vietnam War. Through your collective kindness, you helped a weakened, lonely and altogether unpleasant young man to renew his sense of purpose and to rediscover his spirit.

You did not ask what was in it for you. You didn't calculate the return you might receive on your investment. You simply and powerfully extended love and friendship ... and I will never be able to thank you enough.

Nothing better symbolizes the sense of new purpose we need to demand of our leaders than the building that stands behind me -- Nebraska's State Capitol. It was built by Nebraskans at the start of the Great Depression. If ever a people had the right to give up it was the people who built this building.

But just look at what they did. They built this building with cash. They built it to last and to be enjoyed beyond their lifetimes. They were not motivated by a depreciation schedule or the desire to brag about their accomplishment on their campaign brochures. They built this building for generations yet unborn. And they did something else we should notice and emulate -- they built it to inspire.

This building turns our eyes and spirits upward. It should occur to us that if God gave the Nebraskans of our past the strength and courage to overcome pessimism and build for greatness, then we ought not doubt our capacity to do the same.

It requires us to believe. It requires us to risk. Most of all it requires us to look towards and work for the future.

The words of a martyr to the cause of freedom should guide our work today:

"It may be that the day of judgment will dawn tomorrow; in that case, we shall gladly stop working for a better future. But not before."

Let us go now ... and begin the good work of building greatness in America again."

Full Speech Text

John McCain 2000 Announcement

Republican presidential candidate U.S. Senator John McCain's announcement speech.

"I have the privilege of beginning my campaign with you here in New Hampshire, but I began this day as I began my career of service to our nation...in the company of United States Naval Academy midshipmen.

Whenever I see those young men and women, and think of their dedication and the purposeful careers on which they will soon embark, I am reminded of how lucky I was to have been one of them. So there is no more appropriate place for me to have begun this mission than Annapolis.

I do not announce my candidacy to satisfy my personal ambitions. My life has already been blessed more than I deserve.

I don't begin this mission with any sense of entitlement. America doesn't owe me anything. I am the son and grandson of Navy admirals, and I was born into America's service. It wasn't until I was deprived of her company that I fell in love with America. And it has been my honor to serve her and her great cause - freedom. I have never lived a day since that I wasn't thankful for the privilege.

It is because I owe America more than she has ever owed me that I am a candidate for President of the United States.

II want to be President to protect, until my life's end, our magnificent dream of freedom - God's great blessing to the world. And with your help I will.

Thank you."

Fred Harris 1972 Announcement

Statement of U.S. Senator Fred R. Harris in Washington, DC.

"1972 is a crucial year. America won’t be the same in 1976. I intend to try to turn this country around before it's too late.

I am a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

People have a right to believe that if they get interested in a presidential campaign things will change.

I believe that a President can call this country back to the greatness that is in us. I mean to try."

Full Speech Text

Steve Forbes 1996 Announcement

Steve Forbes Presidential Announcement at the National Press Club on September 22, 1995.

"It's no secret. I am here today to announce that I am running for President of the United States.

This is, to say the least, an unusual candidacy, and I expect there are a few skeptics in the room.

But, I am throwing my hat into the ring today in full confidence that this campaign for President can and will succeed.

I am running because I believe the American people share the same desire for an end of politics as usual. I believe that they share the same vision of an unshackled future-- a future that embraces all the wonderful opportunities in the new economy.

I think a lot of people would agree, there is an empty feeling in this campaign so far. One reason is that none of the other candidates is raising high the banner of economic expansion and opportunity -- like John F. Kennedy did with his promise to "get this country moving again," and like Ronald Reagan did when he cut taxes and regulation and ushered in the longest peacetime expansion in American history.

We must re-discover and revitalize the American experiment, the essence of which is giving individuals the opportunity to discover and develop their God-given talents. In America, extraordinary deeds are done when seemingly ordinary people are allowed and encouraged to take responsibility for themselves, for their families and for their communities.

If the American experiment is renewed and re-energized, we will astound ourselves and the world with our opportunities and our achievements. The people of the world will ask themselves and their governments, "If America can do it, why can't we?" By following our example and our principles, they will.

And I'll leave you with a final thought. Fifteen years ago, in 1980, the candidacy of a man named Ronald Reagan was considered right here, at this great Press Club. And his prospects seemed so bad that when you listed candidates and their support, he got an asterisk. That's pretty much where I'm starting. But, like Reagan, that's not where I intend to finish.

I thank you all very much."

Full Speech Text

Carol Moseley Braun 2004 Announcement

Announcement Speech on 22 September 2003 at Howard University - Washington, D.C., Benedict College - Columbia, SC, University of Illinois - Chicago, IL.

"I would like to thank all of the friends, supporters, and strangers, too, who have led me along my path towards this day. Over the past several months I have traveled America, talking with people, listening to them, registering voters and engaging in a passionate debate about our country's direction. I am grateful to all those who opened their homes and their hearts, to those who shared their experiences with me, and who made it possible for me to explore the prospect of a Presidential campaign. Thank you for your encouragement.

Today, I am officially declaring my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

I am running for the Democratic nomination because I believe this party ought to stand for inclusion, hope, and new ways to resolve old problems.

I am fighting for the nomination because I am determined to move our party in the direction of our nation's most noble ideals, and live up to our generation's duty to leave the next generation no less freedom, no less opportunity, no less optimism than we inherited from our ancestors.

I am dedicated to building partnerships for peace, prosperity and progress based on new ideas that are as practical as they are innovative. These partnerships will help us shape an American renaissance and renewal in the best traditions of our country.

I have the experience, the ability and the ideas to heal and renew America. In all of my public service, I have broken down barriers, built bridges and brought people together to achieve solutions that put the public interest first.

The time has come to meet the challenge of our founding fathers' vision, and I am prepared to fight for you and with you to revive the American dream of freedom and opportunity. Together we will break down barriers. Together we will rebuild and restore our country. And together we will give ourselves the greatest gift of all: an America we can be proud of.

Thank you for your patriotism. Thank you for your energy. Thank you for your faith in the goodness of this country. We will lift up the hearts of the American people. We will inspire hope. We will renew the American Spirit. And we will win. Together, failure is impossible."

Full Speech Text

Sargent Shriver 1976 Announcement

Announcement Statement of Sargent Shriver at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. on September 20, 1975.

I am happy to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.  I seek an open nomination openly arrived at, earned in the primaries and local caucuses and state conventions.  I want to tell you why I am running and why I am asking people to join in running with me.

It may be hard for some to believe, but it is not lust for elective office or power.  I know too well, and in ways too personal, the sadness and isolation associated with the Presidency.  So I do not approach this campaign in a spirit of compulsive ambition or naive exhilaration.

The reason I am running is simply this: Given what I believe; what I have worked for throughout the last 30 years; what I see happening in this country and the world, and what I want to see happen; and given the lack of leadership to deal with our problems at home and abroad -- I could not stand aside.

Every candidate for the office of the presidency in recent memory has believed that his was the critical hour.  So, it is difficult to find language undebased by the rhetoric of the past to express how I feel about where we are as a people today.

The test of leadership now, as it was for Lincoln, is to reach and bring into action the better angels of our nature.  No poll can prove this, but I am convinced that people’s cynicism about politicians rises and falls with politicians’ cynicism about people.  There are many frustrations and modern life, even the best of times, which a demagogue can invoke.  He may win some passing applause and perhaps even votes, but if he releases the worst instincts of people, we will reap the whirlwind. 

How do we decide who will lead the American people?  The truth is that no one man and woman is qualified to lead single-handedly.  From the experience of 30 years in public and private life, I know it is vital to do as much listening as talking, as much questioning as answering.  For the American people are the greatest teachers of all.  What we will need is a rallying together, a mutual struggle, not just a commitment to a candidate but commitment to one another. 

So I look forward to a people’s campaign.  And I’m grateful to the many who are here to start with me, including planeloads and busloads of friends and associates who have known me most of my life; people committed to justice and community, regardless of region, race, religion, and all the a conventional divisions of left, right and center. 

Finally, I’m fortified by my family -- by my mother who has seen 23 presidential campaigns, by my wife, Eunice, and our sons and daughter, by my brother Herbert, by Rose Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy and Jackie, by Jean, and Pat, and Joan, and when my most admirable sister-in-law, Willa Shriver of Baltimore.  In peace and war, in public and private life, they know the demands and duties, the joys and sorrows of the kind of course I’m taking, and have encouraged me to take it. 

When my own family came to Maryland over 250 years ago, they came with dreams that millions of Americans have come to share.  Those dreams nourish me today.  They will inspire all of us in the days and months ahead.

Whenever Washington lacks positive direction, it has been remarked, you may be sure that something is struggling to be born in the nation.  There is a wind coming.  It can be a good wind or an ill wind; it is up to us, together, to set its direction. 

Let us remember there is no conservative or liberal remedy for the sickness of the national spirit.  The cure will come from honest, truthful leadership that summons the best in us – as we remember John Kennedy once did.  His legacy awaits the leader who can claim it. 

I intend to claim it, not for myself alone, but for the family that first brought it into being, for the millions who joyfully and hopefully entered public service in those days in order to produce a better life for all, and to those billions of unknown, uncounted human beings who I’ve seen all over the world -- in Asia, South America, Western Europe and the Soviet Union -- for whom the memory of those days and of John Kennedy is still an inspiration to their minds and a lift to their hearts.  That’s what we must all be proud of once again. 

Full Speech Text

Alan Keyes 2000 Announcement

Alan Keyes Announcement Speech in Iowa on September 20, 1999.

"Thank you, please have a seat. Thank you all for coming. I want first to make it very clear that the purpose of bringing you all together tonight is to clarify, if there had been any doubt in anybody's mind, that I am seeking and do intend to pursue the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

What we must try to do within the Republican Party today is bring the healing influence of the real grass roots to a cadre of leadership that has lost its way in the confusions of ambition and power. This is something that from time to time the people of this country are called to do if we are to preserve our heritage of self-government. It is hard work. It will require that in spite of all hesitation and embarrassment and this and that, we show a willingness to stand in our own circles, in our own families, amongst our own friends and our own workplaces, in our own churches, to issue the call for an unequivocal commitment to this agenda of principle. But I believe that if we are willing to do so, then that faithfulness will indeed be rewarded by our God, with a victory that will help to restore the hope that alone can come in this country from our dedication to the moral spirit of reverence for truth and for God that is in fact the basis of our claim to rights, and our hope for justice and liberty. Thank you very much."

Full Speech Text