PSF: In Their Own Words

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jon Delano <jon.delano () verizon net>
Date: September 6, 2004 10:20:58 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: PSF: In Their Own Words
Reply-To: Jon Delano <jon.delano () verizon net>

  
Dear Politically Savvy Friends,
 
No, I have not disappeared in the vortex of political rhetoric in 
Boston and New York City, but I have taken a few weeks off -- both to 
cover the conventions and to grab a short vacation in between.  Later 
this week, I will offer some analysis of the last six weeks, and where 
we are headed over the next eight weeks of this campaign.
 
But, first, I thought it might be helpful to review some of the words 
of George Bush and John Kerry from their acceptance speeches at their 
presidential conventions.  There are, of course, some similarities -- 
both see this election as defining -- but there are many more 
differences.  Obviously, both men had much more in their speeches, so 
this is just an arbitrary list of highlights.
 
And if any of you feel moved to share your thoughts on both 
conventions, just let me know.  In the meantime, I hope you are having 
(or have had) a terrific Labor Day weekend.
 
Yours,
Jon
 
Jon Delano
Political Analyst
H. John Heinz School of Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University
 
 
 
EXCERPTS FROM THE NOMINATION ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES OF JOHN KERRY (July 
29) AND GEORGE BUSH (September 2):
 
 
ON THIS ELECTION:
 
GB:  "Voters will make a choice based on the records we have built, the 
convictions we hold, and the vision that guides us forward.  A 
presidential election is a contest for the future."
 
JK:  "This is the most important election of our lifetime.  The stakes 
are high. . . . Elections are about choices.  And choices are about 
values. . . . Never has there been a more urgent moment for Americans 
to step forward and define ourselves.  I will work my heart out.  But, 
my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than mine."
 
 
ON VICE PRESIDENTS:
 
GB:  "I am fortunate to have a superb vice president.  I have counted 
on Dick Cheney's calm and steady judgment in difficult days, and I am 
honored to have him by my side."
 
JK:  "I am proud that at my side will be a running mate whose life is 
the story of the American dream and who's worked every day to make that 
dream real for all Americans. . . . This son of a mill worker is ready 
to lead -- and next January Americans will be proud to have a fighter 
for the middle class to succeed Dick Cheney. . . . I will have a vice 
president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to 
rewrite our environmental laws."
 
 
ON THE FUTURE:
 
GB:   "To everything we know there is a season -- a time for sadness, a 
time for struggle, a time for rebuilding.  And now we have reached a 
time for hope.  This young century will be liberty's century.  By 
promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world.  By encouraging 
liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America."
 
JK:   "John Kennedy called my generation into service.  It was the 
beginning of a great journey -- a time to march for civil rights, for 
voting rights, for the environment, for women, and for peace.  We 
believed we could change the world.  And you know what?  We did.  But 
we're not finished.  The journey isn't complete.  The march isn't 
over.  The promise isn't perfected.  Tonight, we're setting out again.  
And, together, we're going to write the next great chapter of America's 
story."
 
 
ON THE ECONOMY:
 
GB:  "Because we acted, our economy is growing again and creating jobs, 
and nothing will hold us back."
 
JK:  "Wages are falling, health care costs are rising, and our great 
middle class is shrinking.  People are working weekends;  they're 
working two jobs, three jobs, and they're still not getting ahead."
 
 
OUTSOURCING JOBS:
 
GB:   "We now compete in a global market that provides new buyers for 
our goods, but new competition for our workers.  To create more jobs in 
America, we must be the best place in the world to do business."
 
JK:   "We're told that outsourcing jobs is good for America . . . . 
They say this is the best economy we've ever had.  And they say that 
anuyone who thinks otherwise is a pessimist.  Well, here is our 
answer.  There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do 
better.  We can do better and we will.  We're the optimists."
 
GB:   "To create jobs, we will expand trade and level the playing field 
to sell American goods and services across the globe.  And we must 
protect small business owners and workers from the explosion of 
frivolous lawsuits that threaten jobs across America."
 
JK:   "We value jobs that pay you more, not less than you earned 
before.  We value jobs where, when you put in a week's work, you can 
actually pay your bills, provide for your children, and lift up the 
quality of your life.  We value an America where the middle class in 
not being squeezed, but doing better."
 
 
SEPTEMBER 11TH:
 
GB:   "Three days after September 11th, I stood where Americans had 
died in the ruins of the Twin Towers. . . . Since that day, I wake up 
every monring thinking about how to better protect our country.  I will 
never relent in defending America whatever it takes."
 
JK:   "Remember the hours after September 11th when we came together as 
one to answer the attack against our homeland. . . . It was the worst 
day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.  I am 
proud that after September 11th all our people rallied to President 
Bush's call for unity to meet the danger.  There were no Democrats.  
There were no Republicans.  There were only Americans.  How we wish it 
had stayed that way."
 
 
GOING TO WAR:
 
GB:    "September 11th requires our country to think differently.  We 
must, and will, confront threats to to America before it is too late."
 
JK:    "I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition:  The 
United States of American never goes to war because we want to, we only 
go to war because we have to."
 
JK:    "I know what kids go through when they are carrying an M-16 in a 
dangerous place. . . . I know what it's like to write letters home 
telling your family that everything's all right when you're not sure 
that's true.  As president I will wage this war with the lessons I 
learned in war. . . . And on my first day in office, I will send a 
message to every man and woman in our armed services:  You will never 
be asked to fight a war without a plan to win the peace."
 
GB:   "Our men and women in uniform are doing a superb job for America 
. . . .  Because of you, the world is more just and will be more 
peaceful.  We owe you our thanks, and we owe you something more.  We 
will give you the resources, all the tools, and all the support you 
need for victory."
 
 
ON WINNING IN IRAQ:
 
JK:    "I know what we have to do in Iraq.  We need a president who has 
the credibility to bring our allies to our side and the share the 
burden, reduce the cost to American taxpayers, and reduce the risk to 
American soldiers.  Here is the reality:  that won't happen until we 
have a president who restores America's respect and leadership, so we 
don't have to go it alone in the world."
 
GB:   "Our allies also know the historic importance of our work.  About 
40 nations stand beside us in Afghanistan, and some 30 in Iraq. . . . 
We have led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer."
 
 
ON USING FORCE:
 
GB:   "Do I forget the lessions of September 11th and take the word of 
a madman, or do I take action to defend our country. Faced with that 
choice, I will defend America every time."
 
JK:   "I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as 
president.  Let there be no mistake.  I will never hesitate to use 
force when it is required.  Any attack will be met with a swift and 
certain response.  I will never give any nation or international 
institution a veto over our national security."
 
 
ON FIGHTING TERRORISM:
 
GB:  "Our strategy is clear.  We have tripled funding for homeland 
security . . . We are transforming our military and reforming and 
strengthening our intelligence services.  We are staying on the 
offensive striking terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them 
here at home. . . .  You know where I stand."
 
JK:  "I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror.  We will 
deploy every tool in our arsenel:  our economic as well as our military 
might;  our principles as well as our firepower. . . . Strength is more 
than tough words.  After decades of experience in national security, I 
know the reach of our power and I know the power of our ideals. . . . 
We need a strong military and we need to lead strong alliances.  And 
then, with confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the 
terrorists:  You will lose and we will win.  The future doesn't belong 
to fear;  it belongs to freedom."
 
 
ON TELLING THE TRUTH:
 
JK:   "We have it in our power to change the world again.  But only if 
we're true to our ideals -- and that starts by telling the truth to the 
American people.  That is my first pledge to you tonight.  As 
president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House. . . 
. I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war."
 
GB:   "In Saddam Hussein, we saw a threat. . . .  We knew his long 
history of pursuing, even using, weapons of mass destruction. . . . 
Members of both political parties, including my opponent and his 
running mate, saw the threat, and voted to authorize the use of 
force." 
  
COMPLEXITIES V. FLIP-FLOPS:
 
JK:   "Now I know there are those who criticize me for seeing 
complexities -- and I do -- because some issues just aren't all that 
simple.  Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't 
make it so.  Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it 
so.  And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly doesn't make it 
so.  As president, I will ask hard questions and demand hard evidence."
 
GB:   "When asked to explain his vote [for funding the war], the 
senator said, 'I actually did for for the 87 billion dollars before I 
voted against it.  Then he said he was 'proud' of that vote.  Then, 
when pressed, he said it was a 'complicated' matter.  There is nothing 
complicated about supporting our troops in combat."
 
 
ON VALUES:
 
GB:  "Some things do not change:  the values we try to live by, the 
institutions that give our lives meaning and purpose. . . . Because a 
caring society will value its weakest members, we must make a place for 
the unborn child. . . . Because the union of man and woman deserves an 
honored place in our society, I support the protection of marriage 
against activist judges."
 
JK:  "We've heard a lot of talk about values.  But values spoken 
without action are just slogans.  Values are not just words. . . . It's 
time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families."
 
 
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS:
 
GB:  "We have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors so I 
brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen Medicare.  Now 
seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine.  Soon every senior 
will be able to get prescription drug coverage."
 
JK:   "You don't value families by denying real prescription drugs 
coverage to seniors, so big drug companies can get another windfall. . 
. . We will make sure that senior citizens never have to cut their 
pills in half because they can't afford life-saving medicine."
 
 
SOCIAL SECURITY:
 
GB:  "We will always keep the promise of social security for our older 
workers. . . . We must strengthen social security by allowing younger 
workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account."
 
JK:  "As president, I will not privatize social security.  I will not 
cut benefits."
 
 
ON TAXES:
 
GB:   "My plan will encourage investment and expansion by restraining 
federal spending, reducing regulation, and making tax relief permanent. 
. . . I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the 
federal tax code."
 
JK:   "Let me tell you what we won't do:  we won't raise taxes on the 
middle class.  You've heard a lot of false charges about this in recent 
months.  So let me say straight out what I will do as president.  I 
will cut middle class taxes.  I will reduce the tax burden on small 
business.  And I will roll back the tax cuts for the wealthiest 
individuals who make over $200,000 a year, so we can invest in job 
creation, health care, and education."
 
 
ON HEALTH CARE:
 
GB:  "More than half of the uninsured are small business employees and 
their families. . . . We will offer a tax credit to encourage small 
businesses and their employees to set up health savings accounts and 
provide direct help for low-income Americans to purchase them."
 
JK:   "The story of people struggling for health care is the story of 
so many Americans. . . . When I'm president, American will stop being 
the only advanced nation in the world which fails to understand that 
health care is not a privilege for the wealthy, the connected, and the 
elected.  It's a right for all Americans."
 
 
ON PATRIOTISM:
 
JK:  "We have an important message for those who question the 
patriotism of Americans who offer a better direction for our country.  
Before wrapping thesmelves in the flag and shutting their eyes and ears 
to the truth, they should remember what America is really all about. . 
. . You see that flag up there.  We call her Old Glory.  I fought under 
that flag . . . . That flag doesn't belong to any president.  It 
doesn't belong to any ideology, and it doesn't belong to any political 
party.  It belongs to all the American people."
 
 
ON WINNING:
 
GB:  "I am running with a compassionate conservative philosophy:  that 
government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their 
lives.  I believe this nation wants steady, consistent, principled 
leadership and that is why, with your help, we will win this election."
 
 
ON GOD:
 
JK:   "In this cause and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith.  
America is not us and them. . . . Faith has given me values and hope to 
live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday.  I don't want 
to claim that God is on our side.  As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want 
to pray humbly that we are on God's side."
 
 
ON CONSERVATIVE VALUES:
 
GB:  "My opponent recently announced that he is the candidate of 
'conservative values,' which must have come as a surprise to a lot of 
his supporters. . . . If you say the heart and soul of America is found 
in Hollywood, I'm afraid you are not the candidate of conservative 
values."
 
 
TO PRESIDENT BUSH ON NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNS:
 
JK:  "In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, no just opponents.  Let's 
build unity in the American family, not angry division.  The high road 
may be harder, but it leads to a better place.  Republicans and 
Democrats must make this election a contest of big ideas, not 
small-minded attacks."

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