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Stand With Us!
Governor Dean spoke in East Lansing, Michigan today. Here is some of the text of his prepared remarks:
Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire have cast their ballots. The 2004 election is underway.
The election won’t be decided by pundits or polls. That’s not the way our Constitution works. Democracy leaves the last word to the people, and the people are going to decide – in primaries and caucuses across this country in coming months.
I began this campaign over two years ago, hoping to talk about issues: health care, investing in children, balancing budgets.
I was outraged at the direction of the country – but what struck me quickly was how deeply my outrage was shared by the people. Outrage not just at the President but at the Democrats in Washington for failing to stand up to George Bush and for what we believe.
Our economy is at risk. Our international reputation is in tatters. The fabric of our society is being ripped apart.
These aren’t petty political differences to be papered over. This is a fundamental disagreement over the very nature of what it means to be an American.
Eleven months ago, when few people knew our campaign existed, I spoke before the Democratic Party leadership in Washington. I asked some fundamental questions.
I wanted to know what the Democrats, including many of my opponents, were doing give George Bush a blank check for his war in Iraq.
I wanted to know about the deficit, health care, and No Child Left Behind.
I am still waiting for the answers. The American people deserve the answers. The Democratic Party deserves the answers.
This campaign is about who has the courage to ask these questions, the judgment to find solutions, and the toughness to fight for real change. In my book, leadership means having the courage to stand up for what you believe, no matter what the polls say. And to deliver results, not just rhetoric.
Today, all my opponents are talking the talk. Even those who voted for the war speak like they opposed it.
Those who voted for No Child Left Behind, now criticize it.
Those who shrank from confrontation in the face of polls and pundits, now compete to outdo each other in their condemnation of George W. Bush.
But in 2004, Democrats must decide: Who will stand up for you against George W. Bush?
I say, only someone who has consistently and firmly stood for change – even when it wasn’t politically popular – can truly lead this great struggle.
I ask Democrats to imagine 2005. Radical Republicans of the Bush–DeLay school will press their divisive agenda:
- * more tax give-aways, driving national debt higher;
* phony health care plans that transfer your money to HMOs and drug companies;
* efforts to slice away further at the Bill of Rights, threatening a woman’s right to choose, and giving government greater power to search our homes, read our mail, monitor our Internet use;
* maybe even another dangerous, preemptive unilateral war that puts our brave men and women in uniform at risk and further damages moral leadership.
When that happens, who will stand up for you?
A Washington insider who shifts with every poll? Who cuts deals that sell out the interests of ordinary Americans? Who has spent decades collaborating with the special interests that fuel his campaigns?
Or someone from outside Washington, truly independent, and ready to do what’s right? As President, I will stand up for you – I won’t just say it.
You know I will do it – because I have done it.
For eleven years in Vermont, we balanced budgets. We created 20 percent more jobs and raised the minimum wage.
We invested in Vermont’s children. We lowered child abuse rates and raised graduation rates. Teen pregnancy went way down; childhood immunization way up.
We provided health care for nearly every child in Vermont. We expanded prescription coverage for seniors.
And we can do it for all Americans if we stand together.
If you want to stand up to George Bush and the special interests who own his White House, stand with us.
If you want to address the real concerns of American families, from the challenges of making ends meet, to the Iraqi war that continues to take young lives, stand with us.
If you want to bring Americans together to reclaim our government and our democracy, then I say: Stand with us
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