You have given me an enormous responsibility. But it is a responsibility we share.
We can change this Party? but only by working together and competing inall 50 states. We can change this Party? but only by working togetherand becoming a national party again. We can change this Party? but onlyby working together at thelocal level.
If we want to win nationally, we have to win locally.
With your help, I am certain that today will not mark the end of theprocess of selecting a DNC chair. Today will be the beginning of thereemergence of the Democratic Party.
We have a lot of work to do.
But we have a bright future? exemplified by the other candidates who joined me in this race. They are all great Democrats.
I want to thank Terry McAuliffe. He has given this party so much. Notto mention every waking day of the past four years as our Chairman.
He has also given us something else ? a Party in strong financialshape, with the infrastructure to meet the challenges of the future.That is no small gift. Thank you, Terry McAuliffe.
I also want to thank my family. I wouldn’t be here without their support, or their belief in a more fair and just America.
I especially want to thank my wife, Judy, for her patience and her love. She’s here with me today.
We all know that we’re the party of the big tent and new ideas.
We know that we’re the party for young Americans looking for agovernment that speaks to them? we know that we’re the party forworking Americans desperate for a government that looks out for them?and we know that we’re the party for older Americans and veterans andmembers of the Armed Services expecting and deserving a government thathonors them.
And we know that no matter where you live or who you are, what you looklike or how you worship, ours is the diverse party that welcomes you.
But right now, as important as all of that is? it is not enough. Wehave to move forward. We cannot win if all we are is against thecurrent President.
Republicans wandered around in the political wilderness for 40 yearsbefore they took back Congress. But the reason we lost control is thatwe forgot why we were entrusted with control to begin with.
The American people can’t afford to wait for 40 years for us to put Washington back to work for them.
It can’t take us that long.
And it won’t take us that long? not if we stand up for what we believein? organize at the local level? and recognize that this Party’sstrength doesn’t come from the consultants down, it comes fromgrassroots up.
II. STANDING UP FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IN
The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in.
This week, the Republicans introduced a $2.5 trillion budget that deliberately conceals the cost of their fiscal recklessness.
Their budget doesn’t account for the cost of the war in Iraq, orprivatizing Social Security. It cuts education, children’s health,veterans benefits, and community policing.
As far as I’m concerned, this budget does only two things:
It brings Enron-style accounting to our nation’s capital.
And it demonstrates what Americans are beginning to see: Republicans cannot be trusted with your money.
The Republicans know the America they want? and they are not afraid to use any means to get there.
But there is something that this Administration and the RepublicanParty are very afraid of. It is that we may actually begin fighting forwhat we believe &8212; the fiscally responsible, sociallyprogressive values for which Democrats have always stood and fought.
Because we are what we believe.
We Democrats believe in fiscal responsibility and we’re the only ones who have delivered it.
The first time our nation balanced its budget, it was Andrew Jackson,father of the Democratic Party, who did it. The last time our nationbalanced its budget, it was Bill Clinton who did it. Democraticgovernors do it every single year.
Not one Republican President has balanced the budget in almost 40years. Borrow and spend. Borrow and spend. Borrow and spend. Americanscannot trust the Republicans with their money.
Americans want a strong and smart national security.
It was Democrats who pushed to create a Department of HomelandSecurity. It was Democrats who pushed to make our airlinessafer. It isDemocrats who are now working to make sure we close the remaining gapsin our security. It was Democrats who demanded reform of theintelligence community.
And it is Democrats who are pushing for a foreign policy that honestlydeals with the threats of today, and the threats of tomorrow ? likesecuring the nuclear materials around the world.
Republicans had to be dragged kicking and screaming to our side on allof these issues. There is no reason for Democrats to be defensive onnational defense.
We believe that a good job is the foundation of a strong family, astrong community, and a strong country. We’re going towork to creategood high-paying jobs here in America, and we’re going to keep goodhigh paying jobs here in America.
And there is no reason for us to apologize for being willing to standup for our belief that Americans who get up and go to work everydayhave the right to join a union.
We believe every American should have access to affordable health care.It is wrong that we remain the only industrialized nation in the worldthat does not assure health care for all of its citizens, particularlyour children
We believe the path to a better future goes directly through our public schools.
We believe that every single American has a voice and that it should beheard in the halls of power every day. And most importantly, it oughtto be heard by guaranteeing an open and fair vote on Election Day.
And finally, we believe that a lifetime of work earns you a retirementof dignity. We won’t let that be put at risk by leaders who continuallyinvent false crises to justify policies that don’t work? in this case,borrowing from our children and shredding our country’s social safetynet in the process.
The President’s plan for Social Security does nothing to guaranteeSocial Security’s future. But it will cut benefits andcost an estimated2 trillion dollars. According to the Center on Budget and PolicyPriorities, we will have to borrow 4.5 trillion dollars to finance theprivatization of Social Security in the first 20 years alone.
Let me give you a sense of how much money that is. There are 118million people under the age of 30 in America today. That meansborrowing nearly $45,000 in each of their names.
That’s a legacy of debt our children don’t deserve.
Social Security is one of the proudest achievements of the DemocraticParty, and we don’t intend to let it fall victim toa dishonest schemethat only serves to heap greater debt on America’s young people.
We need to set the agenda. And we’re going to work with Harry Reid andNancy Pelosi and our Democratic governors and local elected officialsto do just that.
I met with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid this past week, and we are looking forward to standing together in the battles ahead.
We’re all going to need to be united. And we’re going to need to be organized.
Really organized.
III. ORGANIZE
That means we frame the issues; Republicans will not tell America what our agenda is. We will do that.
Organizing means raising money not only from big donors but smallcontributors, not only through dinners and telephone solicitations anddirect mail, but also through the Internet and person-to-personoutreach.
Organizing means transforming us into a Party that can communicate with its supporters and with all Americans.
Politics is at its best when we create and inspire a sense ofcommunity. The tools that were in part pioneered in my campaign&8212; like blogs and Meetups and most importantly, communitybuilding &8212; are just a start.
We are going to use all of the power and potential of technology aspart of an aggressive outreach to meet and include voters, to work withyour state parties, and to get our message out.
We cannot run 18 state presidential campaigns and expect to win.
You all know we have a strategy for every state and territory. It’s very simple. Show up.
People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas, and Utah, and WestVirginia if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell themwhat we believe. That’s what organization allows us to do.
IV. GRASSROOTS
But all of the ideas and organization in the world won’t matter ifpeople don’t see our ideas as relevant to them, or thepolitical processas connected to them.
So, third, we are going to recognize that our strength lies at the grassroots.
If we are to take our country back for everyday working Americans,Democrats will have to match or exceed the Republicansability tomotivate voters.
You might find this hard to believe? but I’m not much of a zen person.But I’ve found that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust otherswith it. That means putting the power where the voters are.
That is something Republicans will never understand.
But we do.
V. CONCLUSION
Standing up for our beliefs? organizing? and transforming our partyinto a grassroots organization that can win in all 50 states: That’show we will rebuild the Democratic Party.
We will rebuild our Party because only we are the party of reform.Republicans can stop progress, but only Democrats can start it again.
And we will rebuild our Party because our greatest strength issomething the Republicans can and will never match ? the diversityrepresented in this room.
Look around ? we look like America. We are America. Republicans stop progress, but only Democrats start it.
It’s going to take a lot of work. And I’m going to be asking a lot of all of you. It is not my chairmanship; it is ours.
Election by election? State by state? Precinct by precinct? Door by door? Vote by vote?
We’re going to take this country back for the people who built it.
