2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

Al Gore 2000 Convention Speech Anniversary

Remarks as prepared for delivery by Al Gore at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, August 17, 2000 in Los Angeles, California.

"I speak tonight of gratitude, achievement, and high hopes for our country.

Tonight, I think first of those who helped get me here - starting with the people of Tennessee. Then, those who braved the first snows of Iowa and New Hampshire -- and all of you here, from all over this country, who have come with me into the warm sunlight of this great city.

While I can't thank each of you individually in words, I do so in my heart.

And I know you won't mind if I single out someone who has just spoken so eloquently, someone I've loved with my whole heart since the night of my high school senior prom -- my wife, Tipper. We've been lucky enough to find each other all over again at each new stage of our lives - and we just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.

I want to acknowledge with great pride our four children: Kristin, Sarah, and Albert;

Our oldest daughter Karenna and her husband Drew;

And the youngest member of our family, who a little over a year ago was born on the Fourth of July -- our grandson Wyatt.

I'm honored tonight by the support of a leader of high ideals and fundamental decency, who will be an important part of our country's future -- Senator Bill Bradley.

There's someone else who will shape that future -- a leader of character and courage. A defender of the environment, and working families --

The next Vice President of the United States, Joe Lieberman.

I picked him for one simple reason: he's the best person for the job.

For almost eight years now, I've been the partner of a leader who moved us out of the valley of recession and into the longest period of prosperity in American history. I say to you tonight: millions of Americans will live better lives for a long time to come because of the job that's been done by President Bill Clinton.

So to the young people watching tonight, I say: this is your time to make new the life of our world. We need your help to rekindle the spirit of America.

And I ask all of you, my fellow citizens: from this city that marked both the end of America's journey westward and the beginning of the New Frontier, let us set out on a new journey to the best America.

A new journey on which we advance not by the turning of wheels, but by the turning of our minds; the reach of our vision; the daring grace of the human spirit.

Yes, we have our problems. But the United States of America is the best country ever created -- and still, as ever, the hope of humankind.

Yes, we're all imperfect. But as Americans we all share in the privilege and challenge of building a more perfect union.

I know my own imperfections. I know that sometimes people say I'm too serious, that I talk too much substance and policy. Maybe I've done that tonight.

But the Presidency is more than a popularity contest. It's a day-by-day fight for people. Sometimes, you have to choose to do what's difficult or unpopular. Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong.

There are big choices ahead, and our whole future is at stake. And I do have strong beliefs about it.

If you entrust me with the Presidency, I know I won't always be the most exciting politician.

But I pledge to you tonight: I will work for you every day and I will never let you down.

If we allow ourselves to believe, without reservation, that we can do what's right and be the better for it -- then the best America will become our America.

In this City of Angels, we can summon the better angels of our nature.

Do not rest where we are, or retreat. Do all we can to make America all it can become.

Thank you - God bless you - and God bless America "

Full Speech Text

Bob Dole 1996 Convention Speech Anniversary

Senator Bob Dole Accepts Nomination on August 15, 1996 in San Diego, California.

The folks in Hollywood would be happy to know that I finally found a movie I liked -- the one I just saw.

This is a big night for me, and I'm ready. We're ready to go.

Thank you, California. And thank you, San Diego for hosting the greatest Republican convention of them all. The greatest of them all.

Thank you, President Ford and President Bush. And God bless you, Nancy Reagan for your moving tribute to President Reagan.

By the way, I spoke to President Reagan this afternoon, and I made him a promise that we would win one more for the Gipper. Are you ready?

Thank you. And he appreciated it very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, delegates to the convention, and fellow citizens, I cannot say it more clearly than in plain speaking. I accept your nomination to lead our party once again to the Presidency of the United States.

And I am profoundly moved by your confidence and trust, and I look forward to leading America into the next century. But this is not my moment, it is yours. It is yours, Elizabeth. It is yours, Robin. It is yours, Jack and Joanne Kemp.

And do not think I have forgotten whose moment this is above all. It is for the people of America that I stand here tonight, and by their generous leave. And as my voice echoes across darkness and desert, as it is heard over car radios on coastal roads, and as it travels above farmland and suburb, deep into the heart of cities that, from space, look tonight like strings of sparkling diamonds, I can tell you that I know whose moment this is: It is yours. It is yours entirely.

And who am I that stands before you tonight?

I was born in Russell, Kansas, a small town in the middle of the prairie surrounded by wheat and oil wells. As my neighbors and friends from Russell, who tonight sit in front of this hall, know well, Russell, though not the West, looks out upon the West.

And like most small towns on the plains, it is a place where no one grows up without an intimate knowledge of distance.

And the first thing you learn on the prairie is the relative size of a man compared to the lay of the land. And under the immense sky where I was born and raised, a man is very small, and if he thinks otherwise, he is wrong.
I come from good people, very good people, and I'm proud of it. My father's name was Doran and my mother's name was Bina. I loved them and there's no moment when my memory of them and my love for them does not overshadow anything I do -- even this, even here -- and there is no height to which I have risen that is high enough to allow me to allow me to forget them -- to allow me to forget where I came from, and where I stand and how I stand -- with my feet on the ground, just a man at the mercy of God.

We are the party that trusts in the people. I trust in the people. That is the heart of all I have tried to say tonight.

My friends, a presidential campaign is more than a contest of candidates, more than a clash of opposing philosophies.

It is a mirror held up to America. It is a measurement of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. For as much inspiration as we may draw from a glorious past, we recognize American preeminently as a country of tomorrow. For we were placed here for a purpose, by a higher power. There's no doubt about it.

Every soldier in uniform, every school child who recites the Pledge of Allegiance, every citizen who places her hand on her heart when the flag goes by, recognizes and responds to our American destiny.

Optimism is in our blood. I know this as few others can. There once was a time when I doubted the future. But I have learned as many of you have learned that obstacles can be overcome.

And I have unlimited confidence in the wisdom of our people and the future of our country.

Tonight, I stand before you tested by adversity, made sensitive by hardship, a fighter by principle, and the most optimistic man in America.

My life is proof that America is a land without limits. And with my feet on the ground and my heart filled with hope, I put my faith in you and in the God who loves us all. For I am convinced that America's best days are yet to come.

May God bless you. And may God bless America. Thank you very much."

Full Speech Text

Gore 2000 Launches New Web Site Anniversary

On August 14, 2000 the Gore Lieberman campaign issued this press release announcing the launch of the new Al Gore Web Site.

Karenna Gore Schiff Demonstrates New Site's Interactivity and Cutting-Edge Features.

Los Angeles - From the podium at the Staples Center, Karenna Gore Schiff today announced the launch of AlGore.com. This new site stresses interactivity and facilitates virtual participation in the campaign. Schiff's announcement will be available to voters and press via the Internet. The web site offers voters the opportunity to learn about the values and vision of Al Gore and his running mate, Joe Lieberman. Visitors can participate in an "Interactive Town Hall" or study up on the most important issues facing working families.

"I hope that every voter across the country visits our new website," said Gore. "In one place they can find everything they need to know, not just about me and my running mate, Joe Lieberman, but also about the important issues in this campaign."

Schiff is the head of GoreNet, a network of young people working to help elect Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. She has been campaigning on her own and building a network of young people across the country to support her father.

"Information is crucial to voters when choosing a candidate," said Schiff. "That's why I am excited about the launch of AlGore.com. It gives visitors the opportunity to learn where my father and Joe Lieberman stand on the issues."

Ben Green directs Internet operations at Gore 2000. He helped design the innovative "Interactive Town Hall," where voters can submit questions and see responses from the candidates.

"Voters are beginning to focus on this election. AlGore.com provides an opportunity to participate in the campaign and make a decision," said Gore 2000 director of Internet operations Ben Green. "This new site sets the standard for Internet campaigning and demonstrates Al Gore's commitment to working families."

The new site is designed to serve a broad audience of Web users: supporters looking for information and opportunities to participate in the campaign; activists using the Internet as a means to mobilize voters; and undecided voters looking for more information on how Gore and Lieberman will fight for working families.

The site offers voters a broad range of Take Action opportunities, which allow supporters to participate actively in the campaign. Through these Take Action opportunities Web site visitors can: volunteer to participate in local campaign events; create custom Web pages with pictures and text to mail to friends; send links to Gore 2000 Web pages to friends; register to vote online; and join Women for Gore's "Winning the Difference" e-mail project.

The site's Interactive Town Hall allows Web-surfing voters to submit questions to Gore and Lieberman. Selected questions will be answered by Gore and Lieberman and posted on the Web site. On the site's Build Your Own Campaign page, Web visitors can contribute their views, sharing their passion about the issues facing working families.

Each of the fifty United States will have its own homepage that will feature issues and events important to that state. At the top of each Web page is a link to a Spanish translation, which features the same look and feel of the English language page.

Jimmy Carter 1980 Convention Speech Anniversary

Jimmy Carter Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, August 14, 1980 in New York, New York 

"I thank you for the nomination you've offered me, and I especially thank you for choosing as my running mate the best partner any President ever had, Fritz Mondale.

With gratitude and with determination I accept your nomination, and I am proud to run on the progressive and sound platform that you have hammered out at this convention.

Fritz and I will mount a campaign that defines the real issues, a campaign that responds to the intelligence of the American people, a campaign that talks sense. And we're going to beat the Republicans in November.

We'll win because we are the party of a great President who knew how to get reelected--Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And we are the party of a courageous fighter who knew how to give 'em hell--Harry Truman. And as Truman said, he just told the truth and they thought it was hell. And we're the party of a gallant man of spirit--John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And we're the party of a great leader of compassion--Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the party of a great man who should have been President, who would have been one of the greatest Presidents in history--Hubert Horatio Hornblower--Humphrey. I have appreciated what this convention has said about Senator Humphrey, a great man who epitomized the spirit of the Democratic Party. And I would like to say that we are also the party of Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Edward Kennedy.

I'd like to say a personal word to Senator Kennedy. Ted, you're a tough competitor and a superb campaigner, and I can attest to that. Your speech before this convention was a magnificent statement of what the Democratic Party is and what it means to the people of this country and why a Democratic victory is so important this year. I reach out to you tonight, and I reach out to all those who supported you in your valiant and passionate campaign. Ted, your party needs and I need you. And I need your idealism and your dedication working for us. There is no doubt that even greater service lies ahead of you, and we are grateful to you and to have your strong partnership now in a larger cause to which your own life has been dedicated.

I thank you for your support; we'll make great partners this fall in whipping the Republicans. We are Democrats and we've had our differences, but we share a bright vision of America's future--a vision of a good life for all our people, a vision of a secure nation, a just society, a peaceful world, a strong America--confident and proud and united. And we have a memory of Franklin Roosevelt, 40 years ago, when he said that there are times in our history when concerns over our personal lives are overshadowed by our concern over "what will happen to the county we have known." This is such a time, and I can tell you that the choice to be made this year can transform our own personal lives and the life of our country as well.

During the last Presidential campaign, I crisscrossed this country and I listened to thousands and thousands of people-housewives and farmers, teachers and small business leaders, workers and students, the elderly and the poor, people of every race and every background and every walk of life. It was a powerful experience--a total immersion in the human reality of America.

I need for all of you to join me in fulfilling that vision. The choice, the choice between the two futures, could not be more clear. If we succumb to a dream world then we'll wake up to a nightmare. But if we start with reality and fight to make our dreams a reality, then Americans will have a good life, a life of meaning and purpose in a nation that's strong and secure.

Above all, I want us to be what the Founders of our Nation meant us to become--the land of freedom, the land of peace, and the land of hope.      

Thank you very much."

Full Speech Text

Richard Nixon 1968 Convention Speech Anniversary

Richard M. Nixon Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida on August 8, 1968.

"Sixteen years ago I stood before this Convention to accept your nomination as the running mate of one of the greatest Americans of our time -- or of any time -- Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Eight years ago, I had the highest honor of accepting your nomination for President of the United States.  Tonight, I again proudly accept that nomination for President of the United States.

But I have news for you. This time there is a difference.

This time we are going to win.

We are going to win because at a time that America cries out for the unity that this Administration has destroyed, the Republican Party -- after a spirited contest for its nomination -- for President and for Vice President stands united before the nation tonight.

I congratulate Governor Reagan. I congratulate Governor Rockefeller. I congratulate Governor Romney. I congratulate all those who have made the hard fight that they have for this nomination. And I know that you will all fight even harder for the great victory our party is going to win in November because we're going to be together in that election campaign.

And a party that can unite itself will unite America.

My fellow Americans, most important -- we are going to win because our cause is right.

The time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn --a new day for America, and a new dawn for peace and freedom in the world."

Full Speech Text

George W. Bush 2000 Convention Speech Anniversary

Governor George W. Bush Acceptance Speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday, August 3, 2000.

"Mr. Chairman, delegates, and my fellow citizens ... I accept your nomination. Thank you for this honor. Together, we will renew America's purpose.

Our founders first defined that purpose here in Philadelphia ... Ben Franklin was here. Thomas Jefferson. And, of course, George Washington -- or, as his friends called him, "George W."

I am proud to have Dick Cheney at my side. He is a man of integrity and sound judgment, who has proven that public service can be noble service. America will be proud to have a leader of such character to succeed Al Gore as Vice President of the United States.

I am grateful for John McCain and the other candidates who sought this nomination. Their convictions strengthen our party.

I am especially grateful tonight to my family.

No matter what else I do in life, asking Laura to marry me was the best decision I ever made.

To our daughters, Barbara and Jenna, we love you, we're proud of you, and as you head off to college this fall ... ... Don't stay out too late, and e-mail your old dad once in a while, will you?

And mother, everyone loves you and so do I.

Growing up, she gave me love and lots of advice. I gave her white hair. And I want to thank my father -- the most decent man I have ever known. All my life I have been amazed that a gentle soul could be so strong. And Dad, I want you to know how proud I am to be your son.

My father was the last president of a great generation. A generation of Americans who stormed beaches, liberated concentration camps and delivered us from evil.

Some never came home.

Those who did put their medals in drawers, went to work, and built on a heroic scale ... highways and universities, suburbs and factories, great cities and grand alliances -- the strong foundations of an American Century.

Now the question comes to the sons and daughters of this achievement...

What is asked of us?

This is a remarkable moment in the life of our nation. Never has the promise of prosperity been so vivid. But times of plenty, like times of crisis, are tests of American character.

Prosperity can be a tool in our hands -- used to build and better our country. Or it can be a drug in our system -- dulling our sense of urgency, of empathy, of duty.

Our opportunities are too great, our lives too short, to waste this moment.

So tonight we vow to our nation ...

We will seize this moment of American promise.

We will use these good times for great goals.

We will confront the hard issues -- threats to our national security, threats to our health and retirement security -- before the challenges of our time become crises for our children.

And we will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country.

To every man and woman, a chance to succeed. To every child, a chance to learn. To every family, a chance to live with dignity and hope.

My fellow citizens, we can begin again. After all of the shouting, and all of the scandal. After all of the bitterness and broken faith. We can begin again.

The wait has been long, but it won't be long now.

A prosperous nation is ready to renew its purpose and unite behind great goals ... and it won't be long now.

Our nation must renew the hopes of that boy I talked with in jail, and so many like him... and it won't be long now.

Our country is ready for high standards and new leaders ... and it won't be long now.

An era of tarnished ideals is giving way to a responsibility era ... and it won't be long now.

I know how serious the task is before me.

I know the presidency is an office that turns pride into prayer.

But I am eager to start on the work ahead.

And I believe America is ready for a new beginning.

My friend, the artist Tom Lea of El Paso, captured the way I feel about our great land.

He and his wife, he said, "live on the east side of the mountain ...

It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side.

It is the side to see the day that is coming ... not the side to see the day that is gone."

Americans live on the sunrise side of mountain.

The night is passing.

And we are ready for the day to come.

Thank you. And God bless you.

Full Speech Text

Bob Dole Web Site Redesign 10th Anniversary

August 2, 1996
DOLE CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES NEW WEB SITE

"There's no doubt we'll look back at Web sites today and basically say ... that they were quite primitive. They don't customize what they present to the viewers' interests. They don't remember: Have you been there before? What have you seen before? And that's got to change." -- Bill Gates, MSNBC, July 15, 1996

IT HAS . . .

DOLE CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF FIRST INDIVIDUALLY-CUSTOMIZED POLITICAL WEB SITE

The Dole for President campaign today launched its general election Web site -- the first political Web site to individually-customize itself for each user's interests, home state, and last visit.

When users first visit the site, they are given the option of setting up a custom Dole Web page. Each custom page contains a personal tool bar that welcomes the user by name, alerts them to an electronic "In Box" containing any new press releases or other campaign materials posted since their last visit, directs them to briefing papers on issues in which they expressed interest, and offers a home-state icon for local information about the Clinton record and the Dole agenda in that state.

The Dole Web site also customizes to take each users' technical capabilities into account by offering different variations with Shockwave applications and/or RealAudio. The user is even given a layout choice by selecting from a variety of animated and non-animated "footers" for the main page.

Unlike other political Web sites, the Dole campaign also offers users a mechanism to give feedback to the campaign on policy positions. Each briefing paper is an interactive document that lets users tell the campaign what priority they think a Dole administration should give the initiative.

The Interactive section of the site has also been redesigned and expanded. In addition to reviewing policy papers, speeches, backgrounders, and press releases, visitors to the Dole site can:

Create custom Dole campaign buttons.

Download official Dole for President computer "wallpaper."

Design and mail their own e-mail postcards to friends.

Make a personalized Dole for President campaign poster.

Test their knowledge with Dole trivia questions and crossword puzzles.

Review state issues and where Dole has visited through interactive maps.

John Kerry 2004 Convention Acceptance Speech Anniversary

Remarks of Senator John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention on Thursday, July 29, 2004 held at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

"I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty. (Salutes)

We are here tonight because we love our country.

We are proud of what America is and what it can become.

My fellow Americans: we are here tonight united in one simple purpose: to make America stronger at home and respected in the world.

My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime. The stakes are high. We are a nation at war � a global war on terror against an enemy unlike any we have ever known before. And here at home, wages are falling, health care costs are rising, and our great middle class is shrinking. People are working weekends; they're working two jobs, three jobs, and they're still not getting ahead.

And in this journey, I am accompanied by an extraordinary band of brothers led by that American hero, a patriot named Max Cleland.  Our band of brothers doesn't march together because of who we are as veterans, but because of what we learned as soldiers. We fought for this nation because we loved it and we came back with the deep belief that every day is extra.  We may be a little older now, we may be a little grayer, but we still know how to fight for our country.

And standing with us in that fight are those who shared with me the long season of the primary campaign:  Carol Moseley Braun, General Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman and Al Sharpton.

I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as President.  Let there be no mistake:  I will never hesitate to use force when it is required.  Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response. I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security.  And I will build a stronger American military.

My fellow citizens, elections are about choices. And choices are about values.  In the end, it's not just policies and programs that matter; the president who sits at that desk must be guided by principle.                        

I learned a lot about these values on that gunboat patrolling the Mekong Delta with young Americans who came from places as different as Iowa and Oregon, Arkansas, Florida and California.  No one cared where we went to school.  No one cared about our race or our backgrounds. We were literally all in the same boat. We looked out, one for the other � and we still do.

That is the kind of America I will lead as President � an America where we are all in the same boat.

Never has there been a more urgent moment for Americans to step up and define ourselves. I will work my heart out.  But, my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than mine. 

It is time to reach for the next dream.  It is time to look to the next horizon.  For America, the hope is there.  The sun is rising.  Our best days are still to come. 

Goodnight, God bless you, and God bless America."

Full Speech Text

Mike Dukakis 1988 Convention Speech Anniversary

Michael S. Dukakis accepting the Democratic Nomination for the Presidency of the United States in Atlanta, Georgia on July 21, 1988.
 
"My fellow Democrats. My fellow Americans.

Sixteen months ago, when I announced my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States, I said this campaign would be a marathon. Tonight, with the wind at our backs; with friends by our side; with courage in our hearts; the race to the finish line begins.
 
And we're going to win this race.

We're going to win because we are the party that believes in the American dream.

A dream so powerful that no distance of ground, no expanse of ocean, no barrier of language, no distinction of race or creed or color can weaken its hold on the human heart.

And I know, because my friends, I'm a product of that dream and I'm proud of it"

A dream that brought my father to this country 76 years ago; that brought my mother and her family here one year later--poor, unable to speak English; but with a burning desire to succeed in their new land of opportunity.

And tonight, in the presence of that marvelous woman who is my mother and who, came here 75 years ago; with the memory in my heart of the young man, who arrived at Ellis Island with only $25 in his pocket, but with a deep and abiding faith in the promise of America--and how I wish he was here tonight; he'd be very proud of his son, and he'd be very proud of his adopted country, I can assure you--tonight, as a son of immigrants with a wonderful wife and now with Lisa our lovely daughter-in-law, four terrific children; and as a proud public servant who has cherished every minute of the last sixteen months on the campaign trail, I accept your nomination for the Presidency of the United States.

And we're going to build the kind of America that Lloyd Bentsen has been fighting for 40 years; the kind of America where hard work is rewarded; where American goods and American workmanship are the best in the world, the kind of America that provides American workers and their families with at least 60 days' notice when a factory or a plant shuts down.

To build the future so that when our children and grandchildren look back in their time on what we did in our time; they will say that we had the wisdom to carry on the dreams of those who came before us; the courage to make our own dreams come true; the foresight to blaze a trail for generations yet to come.

And as I accept your nomination tonight, I can't help recalling that the first marathon was run in ancient Greece, and that on important occasions like this one, the people of Athens would complete their ceremonies by taking a pledge.

That pledge--that covenant--is as eloquent and timely today as it was 2000 years ago.

"We will never bring disgrace to this, our country, by any act of dishonesty or of cowardice. We will fight for the ideals of this, our country. We will revere and obey the law. We will strive to quicken our sense of civic duty. Thus, in all these ways, we will transmit this country greater, stronger, prouder and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."

That is my pledge to you, my fellow Democrats.

And that is my pledge to you, my fellow Americans.

Thank you all, very, very much."

Full Speech Text

Ronald Reagan 1980 Convention Speech Anniversary

Ronald Reagan Nomination Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan on July 17, 1980.

"With a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. I do so with deep gratitude, and I think also I might interject on behalf of all of us, our thanks to Detroit and the people of Michigan and to this city for the warm hospitality they have shown. And I thank you for your wholehearted response to my recommendation in regard to George Bush as a candidate for vice president.

I am very proud of our party tonight. This convention has shown to all America a party united, with positive programs for solving the nation's problems; a party ready to build a new consensus with all those across the land who share a community of values embodied in these words: family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.

More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country; to renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a member of this community of shared values.

The time is now to say that while we shall seek new friendships and expand and improve others, we shall not do so by breaking our word or casting aside old friends and allies.

Yes, isn't now the time that we, the people, carried out these unkempt promises? Let us pledge to each other and to all America on this July day 48 years later, we intend to do just that.

I have thought of something that is not part of my speech and I'm worried over whether I should do it.

Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe freely: Jews and Christians enduring persecution behind the Iron Curtain, the boat people of Southeast Asia, of Cuba and Haiti, the victims of drought and famine in Africa, the freedom fighters of Afghanistan and our own countrymen held in savage captivity.

I'll confess that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest--I'm more afraid not to--that we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer. God bless America."

Full Speech Text