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 Support The DrudgeReport; Visit Our Advertisers  SENATORS KERRY AND EDWARDS DELIVER REMARKS AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT Wed Jul 7 2004 13:00:11 ET KERRY: It is really wonderful to be here. It's wonderful to be introduced by a new partner in this great, great journey that we are all sharing together. And I think you will agree with me that Elizabeth Edwards is going to be an absolutely spectacular second lady of the United States. It's great to be here in Strawbridge Plaza. Not long ago this was a parking lot -- some people may remember that -- on the lakefront. It didn't look so great. Today, it looks absolutely amazing and I will adopt the words of one of your own, Drew Carey: Cleveland rocks. (APPLAUSE) Now, I'll tell you, in 1879, great things happened in Cleveland. You may not know it, but in 1879 the public square of Cleveland was lit by electric streetlights: the first city in America to get that kind of electricity. (APPLAUSE) And today you are the first city in America to get a different kind of electricity called John Edwards. (APPLAUSE) KERRY: I want to introduce special people to both John, Elizabeth, Teresa and myself who are here with us. I want you all to welcome them. First of all, we have John's daughter who just graduated from college this year and is setting out on her own career. And we're delighted she's taken time to be with us. Cate. We want to thank Cate Edwards for being here, being part of this great effort. Thank you. And Cate's little sister and little brother that we got to know real well last night. We had a great evening last night. I have to tell you. I have to share it with you. They came over to dinner. I think it took about five minutes before little Jack and Emma Claire were in the pool swimming around and having fun. Jack does a mean cannonball, ladies and gentlemen. And I'll tell you something else, just to give you a sense of priorities at that age of life. We learned that yesterday morning Elizabeth was down in North Carolina and John was in Washington. And John was with the kids. And after I telephoned, Emma Claire was pretty excited and John got on the phone to call Elizabeth. Elizabeth gets on the phone and says, "Mommy, Mommy, John Kerry picked Daddy." Big deal. And Jack wants to get on the phone so Jack gets on the phone right away. And Jack says, "Mommy, Mommy, I can swim with my head out of the water." (LAUGHTER) So Jack's got his priorities wired, ladies and gentlemen. Jack is being propped up right now in the loving arms of my stepson, Andre Heinz. And I want you to welcome him here. He's a great fellow. (APPLAUSE) And standing beside one person over from an extraordinary man -- I'll say a word about him in a minute -- is my daughter, Alexandra Kerry. And I want you to welcome her. (APPLAUSE) KERRY: And Vanessa Kerry who has adopted Emma Claire, and Emma Claire and Christopher Heinz -- Chris Heinz right over here. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. Now, I want you -- you've had a chance to celebrate this guy a lot. I'll tell you, one of the thrills of my life time in Washington was standing in the Smithsonian one evening when we went over there for dinner, and I was standing right beside John Glenn and we were standing right beside the Friendship capsule that he went around in space. And it was -- you have to -- I mean, it sounds weird. It was weird to be standing there with this guy that I remember celebrated by this ticker tape parade, and there was a moment that we realized what a hero he was. He was already a hero because of his service in the wars and his courage. (APPLAUSE) We are grateful. We are all of us so blessed. And Ohio has been more blessed than any other place because he represented you with such class, he and Annie, for so many years. And we thank John Glenn for his great service to our country. (APPLAUSE) KERRY: So you did hear that I've picked a great team to lead America. (APPLAUSE) We're ready to take back the White House and we're ready to do the most important work of our country, which is to make American strong at home again and respected in the world. (APPLAUSE) That is what we will accomplish. You may have also heard that the man I selected is John Edwards of North Carolina. (APPLAUSE) And I want you to know we think this is a dream ticket. We've got better vision. We've got better ideas. We've got real plans. We've got a better sense of what's happening to America. And we've got better hair. I'll tell you that goes a long way. (APPLAUSE) Let me ask you something. Do you believe that John Edwards is going to be a vice president who understands and defends the values of America? AUDIENCE: Yes! KERRY: Do you believe John Edwards is going to show the courage and the conviction that has always made him a champion of the middle class? AUDIENCE: Yes! KERRY: Do you think that John Edwards is going to be a vice president who always speaks of the hope and the optimism that are at the core of who are as Americans? AUDIENCE: Yes! KERRY: So will John Edwards be one of the best vice presidents this country has ever had? AUDIENCE: Yes! KERRY: That's exactly what I thought, and that's why I chose him. I know this man's skill. I know him personally. This is an important choice for our country. And I thought about it, as it deserves thought, as any decision of the president of the United States deserves thought. I watched John Edwards on the trail. I've seen him in the purest as a colleague, where we worked together to pass what he undertook to create, which was the Patients' Bill of Rights. And when we are in the White House that bill will be signed into law and Americans will have the rights... (APPLAUSE) But I also got to know him as a competitor, both running for president of the United States. We did more than 31 forums and debates together. We traveled, we criss-crossed in the late of night. We saw our staffs talk with each other. We got to know the stuff of the person. That's what this is about. This is about understanding who someone is. And I understand that America is going to come to understand who this man is. He represents the best of the hope of our country, the best of opportunity. This is a man who defines opportunity because he grew up watching his father go to work in a mill, his mother go to work in a furniture store. And he became the first person in his family to graduate from college. (APPLAUSE) This is a man who saw the law as a means of improving life in America and took the challenge and made life better for people who'd been hurt by people who are powerful, some of the most powerful forces that were willing to leave them behind. KERRY: This is a man for whom opportunity meant taking a risk and standing up and taking on the right wing and extremists and rising to power in his state of North Carolina. (APPLAUSE) This is a man who shares my unyielding optimism and sense of hope about our nation, about the possibilities of the future. Together we are going to restore to America the values that belong to Americans and define us as a people. Together we are going to move one step closer in these next days through the convention and on to November to end the Bush presidency. (APPLAUSE) Together over the next 120 days we are going to fight for the America that we love. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome with me, with your help the next vice president of the United States of America, John Edwards. (APPLAUSE) EDWARDS: Thank you. I just heard my 4-year-old son Jack behind me asking why there are so many American flags out here. I have an answer for my son: Because when John Kerry is president of the United States we are going to restore real American values to this country. It's what this campaign and this election is about. (APPLAUSE) And I, like John, am very proud to be with their beautiful family, with my own family. This campaign will be a celebration of American values. We are going to have a great time, you and I together, during this campaign, together, all of us, we're going to do great things for America when we take over the White House at the beginning of next year. EDWARDS: I have to be honest with you, when I got the call yesterday from John, I was a little surprised because what I thought was there was another reporter calling to ask what I knew. Here's what I know. What I know is we're going to win this election, we're going to make America stronger and we're going to create respect for America all around the world; the America that all of us believe in. (APPLAUSE) You know, the truth is I am here for one very simple reason: because I love America. I love this country. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina. I never dreamed I would have the opportunities and the chances that I've had. What this campaign and this election is about at its core is to make sure every single American gets exactly the same chance, the same opportunities that I have, and to build one America that works for everybody. That's what this campaign and this election is about. (APPLAUSE) And the people that I grew up with in that little town in North Carolina, they deserve a president like John Kerry. They deserve a man who has stood up and fought for them his entire life. Here's what I know. John talked about what we learned about each other during the course of the campaign. What I saw was a man who has the strength, the courage, the vision, the determination and the heart to be a great president of the United States. He will lead this country to the place that it can go. (APPLAUSE) I also know that John understands, in a very real way, the problems of the families that I grew up with in North Carolina are facing every single day. EDWARDS: This is not news to any of you. You know about it. You know, some of the academics call it the middle-class squeeze. This is real. You know what I'm saying. You can't save any money. It takes every dime you make just to pay your bills. If something goes wrong, if somebody gets laid off, you have a child that gets sick, you go right off the cliff. John Kerry understands this. He has spent the last year and a half in real America listening to the problems that people face in town hall meetings, which is why he has a real plan to create jobs, to have trade agreements that actually work for America. (APPLAUSE) It's why he's for middle class tax cuts so that we actually have a tax system that's fair, that's consistent with the values that all of us believe in. It's why he'll build a strong military and strong alliances. Because when John Kerry is president of the United States, no young American will ever go to war needlessly because America has decided to go it alone. (APPLAUSE) And the truth is there is no one better prepared to keep the American people safe than this man. Back in the 1960s, he volunteered three different ways. He volunteered for military service. He volunteered to go to Vietnam. And then he volunteered for one of the most hazardous duties you could have in Vietnam: to be the captain of a swift boat. The result was he was wounded. He won a whole series of medals. And if you have any question about what John Kerry's made of, about his leadership ability, about his strength and his courage, just spend three minutes, three minutes with the men who served with him 30 years ago who still stand by his side. They saw up close when their lives were at risk that this man is a leader, that he has courage, determination, and he would never leave any American behind. (APPLAUSE) And that's what he will do as our president. (APPLAUSE) EDWARDS: The truth is we, America, we need a president that will lead the world, not bully it. (APPLAUSE) EDWARDS: We need a commander in chief that will protect and keep the American people safe, who will keep our military strong and stand up for the men and women who serve this country. And for John Kerry this is personal. He'll stand up for the young men and women who serve us abroad, who serve us at home. And he'll stand up for the millions of Americans who have served us before, our country's veterans. This is the kind of president we need in the White House. (APPLAUSE) And the truth is, when John came back from Vietnam, his service continued. He became a prosecutor, fighting to protect people from crime. He became a leader in the United States Senate fighting for all the things that Americans care about: jobs, health care, cleaner air, cleaner water. The truth of the matter is these have been the causes of John Kerry's life. They are the causes of America, and they are the reason he will be elected president come this November with all of your help. (APPLAUSE) The truth is that John Kerry has spent his life fighting for America. And I can tell you one thing you can take to the bank: He will always tell the American people the truth. (APPLAUSE) The real reason that John Kerry and I are here together is that we share the same values. I'm talking about the values that I grew up with in that small town in North Carolina: faith, family, opportunity, responsibility, trying to make sure that everybody gets a chance to do what they're capable of doing. I'll tell you something else that we believe: We believe that tomorrow is going to be better than today. EDWARDS: We believe... (APPLAUSE) We believe that if we put our hearts and minds behind it, that anything is possible. And between now and November, an important thing's going to happen in this country: The American people are going to reject the tired, old, hateful, negative politics of the past. They are going to embrace the politics of hope, the politics of what's possible because this is America where everything's possible. That's what John Kerry means for this country. He's hope. Hope for you, hope for me, hope for all our children, And when he is president tomorrow will once again be better than today. Thank you all, God bless you. God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) KERRY: Well, now, what do you think about my choice for vice president of the United States of America? (APPLAUSE) I am so proud to have John Edwards on this ticket. And I'll tell you, together we are going to provide -- we are going to provide a future worth fighting for, worth voting for and worth living with. And together this fight, John just said it: hope, opportunity, responsibility, family, faith. What's happened in America is that so many Americans have been separated from the people who were supposed to lead them. And the words now are just a torrent of words. People don't believe them. John and I are fighting together now to restore truth to the discussion between Americans, to restore hope to families who are struggling to make ends to meet, to restore values to the ability of people to do better... |
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