2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

Dennis Kucinich 2004 Announcement

Dennis John Kucinich Formal Announcement Speech in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, October 13, 2003.

"Thank you for joining me for this important moment, not only for myself but for the Cleveland community.

This moment, this moment, which evolved as the dream of an inner city child who once lived in a car, to become President of the United States celebrates not my potential but the creative potential of each and every child to be somebody, to be loved, to serve, to lead, to be carried into the myth and magic of the express power of the American Dream and our responsibility to make each child's dreams come true.

Cleveland is my home. Cleveland is where my heart resides. Cleveland is where my dreams started. Cleveland is where I've learned the lessons I want to share with every American: The lesson that one person can make a difference; the lesson that anyone can, and anyone should be able to rise from humble beginnings to lead a nation; the lesson that we can change the outcome; the lesson of the power of the human heart, and the power of the human spirit to transform the world. I have seen miracles. I have seen the people of Cleveland create miracles. During my career you have helped me to save a municipal electric system when it was already sold. You have helped me to keep hospitals open when they were already closed. You have helped me to save a steel mill, to help keep that bright light burning over the industrial valley when other communities' hopes were extinguished. Because of you, because of you, because of you, I know the power of hope, the power of optimism, the power of light!

So, by the lights which guided my grandfather to America; by the light still shining celebrating public power; by the lights which still emblazon the sky over Cleveland's steel valley, I stand here, ready to light up America. I am Dennis John Kucinich and I am running for President of the United States!"

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George Bush 1988 Announcement

George Bush Announcement Speech in Houston, Texas on October 12, 1987

"I am here today to announce my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. I mean to run hard, to fight hard, to stand on the issues -- and I mean to win.

I am following a great Presidency -- and a great President. Ronald Reagan returned dignity and good sense to the high office he holds. Seven years ago, a nation that needed to trust again turned to him -- and refound its spirit. I am proud to have been his partner; I am proud to have been part of his great work. 

And so I know what it all comes down to, this election -- what it all comes down to, after all the shouting and the cheers -- is the man at the desk. And who should sit at that desk.

I am that man.

I love my country too much -- I love my children and grandchildren too much -- to campaign for the job if I didn't think, if I didn't know that I am the best man for it.

And so it begins. And I ask for your help.

Will you join me?

Will you help me complete our triumph? It's going to be a great adventure. Come -- and we'll do it all, with trust in the future, with trust in each other -- together, as one nation, under God.

Thank you all -- thank you very much."

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Bill Clinton 1992 Announcement

Bill Clinton 1992 Announcement Speech at the Old State House, Little Rock, Arkansas on October 3, 1991.

"Thank you all for being here today, for your friendship and support, for giving me the opportunity to serve as your Governor for 11 years, for filling my life full of blessings beyond anything I ever deserved.

I want to thank especially Hillary and Chelsea for taking this big step in our life's journey together. Hillary, for being my wife, my friend, and my partner in our efforts to build a better future for the children and families of Arkansas and America. Chelsea, in ways she is only now coming to understand, has been our constant joy and reminder of what our public efforts are really all about: a better life for all who will work for it, a better future for the next generation. 

That is why today I am declaring my candidacy for President of the United States. Together I believe we can provide leadership that will restore the American dream - that will fight for the forgotten middle class - that will provide more opportunity, Insist on more responsibility and create a greater sense of community for this great country.

I believe with all my heart that together, we can make this happen. We can usher in a new era of progress, prosperity and renewal. We can - we must. This is not just a campaign for the Presidency - it is a campaign for the future, for the forgotten hard-working middle class families of America who deserve a government that fights for them. A campaign to keep America strong at home and around the world. Join with us. I ask for your prayers, your help, your hands, and your hearts. Together we can make America great again, and build a community of hope that will inspire the world."

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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 Lincoln, 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.

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.

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."

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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.

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."

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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."

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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.

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."

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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."

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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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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