Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry delivered a speech, alongside his running mate John Edwards, in Ohio immediately following the close of the Republican convention.
EDWARDS: Hello, Ohio. We are so honored, John and I, to be with you tonight on this important, important night here in Springfield.
(APPLAUSE) You know, it's been an amazing thing to watch the Republican convention the past week, hasn't it?
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
I've come to the conclusion they'll say just about anything, won't they? The problem is, and we have seen over the last few nights, particularly Wednesday night and also some tonight, false -- I emphasize false -- negative, personal attacks against Senator John Kerry, a great American, a great patriot, somebody that we're all very, very proud of.
(APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry...
EDWARDS: I guess in his heroic service in Vietnam, he wasn't wounded quite often enough. Is that it? You know, the truth is, and we all know it, the reason we have seen these negative personal attacks, the reason we've seen them throughout the Republican convention, the reason we have seen them tonight is they don't have anything to say.
(APPLAUSE)
They can't talk about what has happened over the last four years.
And I want to remind the American people that this candidate four years ago, George Bush, stood at a Republican convention and also spoke to the American people. And I will never forget it. He said in criticizing the previous administration, he said, over and over, They have not led; we will.
Remember that?
Well, let me ask you: Have they led us to more jobs?
AUDIENCE: No.
EDWARDS: Have they led us to better health care for our people?
AUDIENCE: No.
EDWARDS: Have they led us to cleaner air, cleaner water?
AUDIENCE: No.
EDWARDS: Have they led us to better schools and better education for our kids?
AUDIENCE: No.
EDWARDS: Now, here's the truth, they led us from the edge of greatness to the edge of a cliff, and it's time to lead them out of town; that's the truth.
(APPLAUSE)
The facts -- the problem is -- the problem is, I heard the president say tonight, in my next term, this is what we're going to do. In my next term.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
They seem to have forgotten they already had a term.
Well, let's just look at the facts of what happened during the first term: 5 million Americans lost their health care coverage; 4 million Americans fell into poverty; almost 2 million Americans lost their private sector jobs.
A typical family in America lost $1,500 in income at the same time their health care costs were going through the roof, their child care costs were going through the roof, their college tuition costs were going through the roof.
(APPLAUSE)
And the president said -- these are just the facts -- the president said tonight that he's made this a safer world.
The cold hard facts are that we have a mess in Iraq. Our men and women have served courageously. We are so proud of our men and women in uniform.
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U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Ma) Delivers Remarks At A Campaign Rally
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(APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry...
EDWARDS: Ladies and gentlemen, John Kerry loves his country. He has served his country his entire life. He carries shrapnel in his body today from his service of his country 30-something years ago. The men who served on that boat with him in Vietnam, they stand with him today because they saw what he's made of.
I know what he's made of. I know him. I know what he's got inside: strength, courage, determination, integrity, the kind of leadership ability that the American people need and deserve in their commander in chief, a lifetime of accomplishment.
He went on to become a prosecutor protecting people from crime, protecting our neighborhoods from crime, standing up for women who were victims of domestic abuse -- a man who went to the United States Senate, and when others stood on the sideline, this man stood up. He stood up for 100,000 more cops on the street. He stood up to protect the quality of our air, the quality of our water.
(APPLAUSE)
He stood up for our proud veterans when they needed a champion in the United States Senate.
Ladies and gentlemen, the American people deserve a man who will fight for them, who will wake up every day in the White House, not fighting with other politicians, not poking fun and making fun of other politicians, but fighting for you, fighting for the American people.
I'm here to tell you this man is a fighter, he will fight for you, he will fight for the jobs that you so desperately need, he will fight for the health care that you need and you deserve. He is a fighter, and you are about to see it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the next president of the United States, John Kerry.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
Boy, what an incredible welcome.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Springfield. It is so...
AUDIENCE: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry...
KERRY: You guys are great. Thank you very, very much.
Did I pick a great vice president for the United States of America?
(APPLAUSE)
Let me tell you -- let me tell you something about John Edwards. He says he knows me; I know him. I've watched him. I've watched this man fight. I saw him put forward some of the best ideas in the whole campaign.
And I'll tell you something -- let me tell you something about him. This guy understand's what's happening in Ohio. He understands what's happening in Michigan, in Iowa, and Wisconsin, and Minnesota. He understands what's happening with real people in our country that you didn't hear so much about in the last few days.
You're heard -- because John Edwards in the son of a mill worker. Saw his dad go to work every single day so he could do better. Saw his mom go to that furniture store and work so that he could do better. And he, himself, went to that mill and worked his way through college, and he became the first person in his family to graduate from college. And now he's going to be the next vice president of the United States. And you're going to be proud...
(APPLAUSE)
And you're going to be proud of a man who represents working people in America, and he's going to replace a vice president who represents Halliburton and corporate America.
(APPLAUSE)
I want to thank -- will you all join me in thanking the Graham High School Marching Band for playing tonight and keeping everybody...
(APPLAUSE)
And I also want to thank the Greater Grace Temple Praise Team for performing here tonight.
I've got to tell you, I'm going to talk about a lot of positions tonight and I'm going to take important positions, and you're going to love them. But one thing I'm not going to do, I am not going to pick between the North Panthers and the South Wildcats.
(APPLAUSE)
I just thought I'd let you know that so that you could see that I've got something going on up here.
(APPLAUSE)
I want you to know that tonight in America something very important in the fabric of our life took place -- very, very important -- the Red Sox pulled to two and a half games out of the Yankees. Now, I think that that's important.
(APPLAUSE)
Now ladies and gentlemen, now that the conventions are over and now that the president has finally finished his speech, I have five words for America: This is your wake-up call.
KERRY: And I want to sum up -- let me sum up my response to the president's speech in four words: All hat, no cattle.
But I don't know how many of you watched that. After reading their speeches -- I actually didn't get to see any television, because I was in an airplane or flying or going somewhere...
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. But, finally, after reading the speeches, I finally understand what RNC stands for: Really not compassionate. No question.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me just tell you, this is the moment that we've all been waiting for. The conventions are over. We're into September. Labor Day weekend is coming up. And real people are looking for real jobs; real people are looking for health care; real people are looking for lives.
And John Edwards and I believe this election comes down to a very simple choice: If you believe that this country is going in the right direction and if you believe that you're doing better than you were four years ago, then you go vote for George Bush.
But if you believe, as John and I do, that we're headed in the wrong direction and that we can do better and that we can do better for the lives of Americans, then we ask you in this effort to change the direction of our country.
KERRY: For four days in New York, instead of talking about the real issues that matter to the American people instead of talking about how we're really going to create jobs, and talking about how we really strengthen our economy, how we're really going to expand health care, bring down gas prices, change the lives of Americans.
You know what? They did everything except talk about that. We've had insults, we've had anger from Republicans. And I'll tell you why. It's exactly what John just said. Because they can't come to you and talk to you about having created jobs since they've lost them.
They can't come to you and talk to you about creating health care since 5 million Americans have lost it. They can't talk to you about standing up and fighting for the American workers. Their own labor secretary talks about exporting jobs overseas. They can't talk about their record because it is a record of failure. And so all they do is attack.
(APPLAUSE)
Tonight, the president told you that he has a plan for our economy. That's exactly what he told you four years ago. But most Americans that I've been meeting and John's been meeting around this country don't believe after four years that they've seen that -- two months before an election, all of a sudden they don't come to you and say, Look at how we've been fighting. Look at how far along we are in health care. Look at how many jobs we've been able to create.
Because this is the first president in 11 presidents, the first president since the Great Depression, since Herbert Hoover, who has lost jobs. And this president in fact is quite proud of the fact that not even failure is going to force him to change course.
KERRY: Letting 45 million Americans go without health care for four years makes you unfit to lead this country.
(APPLAUSE)
Letting the Saudi royal family control the price of oil for Americans makes you unfit to lead this country.
(APPLAUSE)
Handing out billions of dollars in contracts without a bid to Halliburton while you're still on the payroll makes you unfit to lead this country.
That, my friends, is the record of George Bush and of Dick Cheney, and that only begins to scratch the surface. I think that you believe, as John and I do, that it's time for us to have a different kind of conversation in this nation of ours.
This president has misled American workers and misled the American people. And I think all of you out there -- you watched our convention -- four days. I want you to just think about what Barack Obama said to our country as he stood up and spoke about one nation and about the positive vision that we offered.
Four years ago George Bush offered America a plan for our economy, but once again, he misled America because he told you four years ago that if we had these great big tax cuts, he was going to create 5.6 million jobs. He told you that he was going to create 266,000 jobs right here in Ohio. Ohio lost 230,000 jobs.
My friends, it's too late two months before an election to come leaping into a convention and make a bunch of promises when you haven't even kept the promises that you made before.
(APPLAUSE)
And I'll tell you what John Edwards and I know. I've met workers out here in Ohio who've not only lost their jobs and watched them go overseas, but who've actually had to unbolt the equipment that they worked on and put it in a crate and send it to follow the job that went overseas.
You didn't hear anything about that tonight, but let me tell you something: When John Edwards and I get in there with your help, we're going to take that tax code that you're paying for and we're going to change what they're supporting and encouraging, which is asking you to actually reward those companies that take the jobs overseas.
When John Edwards and I are in there, we're not only not going to reward the companies that take the jobs overseas, we're going to close that loophole. No American worker will ever be asked to subsidize the loss of their own job.
(APPLAUSE)
And you know what else we're going to do?
And John and I are going to recommit America to the discovery and the creation of those new jobs that pay you more than the $9,000 less for the jobs that are going overseas.
We need a president who fights as hard for your jobs as he fights for his own job, and that's exactly what we're going to do over the course of these next years.
(APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry...
KERRY: We've gone four years -- you've gone four years, and all across America as John and I travel with Elizabeth and Teresa, we're meeting families who look us in the eye, and say, I can't afford it anymore. We can't get health care. There's no way to continue to pay the increasing premiums that have gone up 50 percent. Tuitions have gone up 35 percent. Gas prices up 31 percent. And wages -- wages have gone down.
I'll tell you this: When I'm president of the United States, that tax code that belongs to you that's 17,000 pages long today, and you don't have a page of it, we're going to put that back in the scrutiny of all Americans, and we are going to make America's workplace fair again so it works for the average American.
(APPLAUSE)
And George Bush talked about health care four years ago. He talked health care for the last four years -- talk, talk and talk.
But the fact is that in the last year, 1.4 million Americans lost their health care. In the last four years, 5 million Americans have lost their health care.
(APPLAUSE)
We've also seen George Bush make America more dependent, not less, on fuel oil that comes from other countries. God only gave us 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, folks. That didn't change during the time George Bush has been president. And we import 61 percent of our oil. Yet we're still not moving down the road of discovery, which could create millions of new jobs in this country.
We need to change the president and have a president who understands no young American in uniform should ever be held hostage to America's dependence on oil in the Middle East. We're going to liberate ourselves. We're going to make ourselves energy independent.
(APPLAUSE)
And finally, there is this issue of Iraq. We deserve a president -- this is the most serious issue we face right now. And this is not an issue. This is not an issue that ought to be the subject of Democrat, Republican -- this is not where it comes from.
This comes from the heart and the gut and from the head and the common sense of Americans. This president misled America into this war. This president told Americans that Iraq had reconstituted a nuclear plant, but they hadn't.
I pledge to you: I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
Our soldiers are doing an extraordinary job. These are the best and the brightest, the most remarkable people in the military that I've ever seen. I visited a hospital the other day, I met a couple of young soldiers who'd been wounded, I've never seen spirit like that. They're amazing.
But they deserve leadership that helps them to do the job right, that helps America to reduce the cost to the American taxpayer, that helps America to have allies at our side so we're not carrying 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost.
We need to get this war out of the pocket of the American taxpayer, and we need to get the target off of the front and back of the American soldier. And I will do that.
(APPLAUSE)
So I don't think the agenda has ever been as clear as it is today. And I think that's why so many of you have come out here tonight.
And wherever we've gone across this country, John and I have met people who just want simple things like the truth, that just want people to stand up and talk to them about real things that make a difference, like how we raise the wages of workers, how we make the workplace fair, how we don't go backwards on a 40-hour work week and continue to pay people overtime that they deserve...
KERRY: ... how we create the jobs of the future. People just want to know that health care isn't reserved for the wealthy and the connected and the elected. It's not a privilege in America; it's a right.
And when John Edwards and I are there, we'll make it a right that's available to every single American.
My friends, this is, quite simply -- and it's not because I'm saying it to you -- but this is the most important election of our lifetime. And the reason I dare to say that to you is because -- I understand what you're saying -- but the reason I say that to you is because all over this country, as John and I were traveling across the country by bus and by rail, you came out. You all stood out there at 12:30 at night in some place. You hold signs. You're hoping for the America that we know we can be when we live up to our values and our ideals.
And I'll tell you, as we crossed this great land of ours, John and I felt this incredible sense of responsibility and the spirit of our nation.
We went through communities at 12:30 at night, several thousand people. We were going through one little community, I was leaning over the side of the train, shaking hands, and people were cheering and saying, You got to talk to us.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm telling you folks, you never saw a train stop so fast. And I never knew I could stop a train so fast.
And then we went on from there. And we came to this wonderful little crossing out in the desert, beautiful rocks, and the sunset going down, and it just gives you this sense of the power of our country.
And there, standing by a railroad crossing as we went through clickety-clack at whatever miles per hour, there was one lone figure standing there at attention, holding the American flag, and saluting the train as we went by -- all by himself.
That's America. That's what this country wants...
(APPLAUSE)
... is a hope for the future.
(APPLAUSE)
And I'll tell you another. Two nights ago -- a few nights ago, I was in Philadelphia. And I got introduced to this tussle-haired little kid. The guy came -- he came up to about here on me. Tiny little kid. But he showed me this picture. And it was a picture of him sitting out in the street where he was during the summer, with a sign and a table. At the table, he had some bracelets. And the sign said Kerry for President.
And this little six-year-old kid had gotten his nine-year-old brother to make the bracelets for him, and he was selling the bracelets.
And this six-year-old kid came up to me with a Tupperware container, handed it to me with $680 to change America -- to change America.
KERRY: So, for all of you here tonight, we've got about 60 days in the most important election of a lifetime where everything that you care about is on the line: your job, your health care, education, the capacity of our kids to be able to afford to go to college and get the skills they need to open the doors of opportunity, the ability of children to be safe after school, the ability of teachers to have a class size where they're actually able to teach and not be punished by a system that is punitive.
We need to respect education. We need to respect science. We need to reinvest in America.
And when John Edwards and I are there, I'm telling you, we are going to fight every day, all day for the middle class of America to give a tax cut to the middle class of America to make the workplace work for the middle class of America, to put America back to work.
And John and I know this. We know this.
Every day of this campaign, if you'll do your part, because I'll tell you what: The outcome of this election is far more in your hands than it's in John's or mine. It's in your hands. If you can go out there and do what little Willy Field (ph), six years old, did, if each of you will pick the number of people to talk to, and just talk common sense, just tell them the truth, just tell them there's nothing conservative about running up the biggest deficits in American history and piling debt on top of our children...
(APPLAUSE)
... tell them that hope is there for America. Tell them that for the United States of America, because of who we are, the sun is rising if we get the right leadership that heads us in the right direction.
Tell them that America's best days are ahead of us and tell them that while some people may want to divide this country into red states and blue states, not John Edwards and John Kerry.
Thank you. And God bless you all.
