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I made this speech to the steering committee of the
Democratic National Committee in New Orleans right at a time when the Republican's
Contract with America was gaining notoriety with the American people. The Democrats had
been demoralized in the 1994 elections. So many of us knew that we had to hold to the
course of our ideals and let the Republican plan reveal itself for what it was, spoils for
the affluent and an enemy to working Americans. It was a time for Democrats to appeal to
the American people and speak from the heart -Mayor Marc H. Morial Speech to the Steering
Committee of the Thank you very much fellow Democrats, Chairman Fowler, to the distinguished members of the Democratic National Committee and Kathy - thank you for that kind introduction. To Jim Brady, the chairman of the state Democratic party here in Louisiana, David Bonior, Steny Hoyer, all the members of the Senate and the Congress who graced us; I once again want to take this opportunity to welcome you to this great city and let the record reflect once again that we intend to be the site of the Democratic National Convention in the year 2000. If you think last night was a party, you haven't seen anything yet. That was just a little tease. I am pleased that the Democrats have chosen this city and this state to meet this August. I'm pleased and proud because we are a state where the governor is a Democrat. The lieutenant governor is a Democrat, the attorney general is a Democrat, the commissioner of elections, the commissioner of insurance and the state treasurer are Democrats. I am a Democrat, five out of seven members of my City Council are Democrats. This is a Democratic state. But I want to tell you four years ago the governor was a Republican, the lieutenant governor was a Republican and the commissioner of insurance was a Republican. And all of the pundits, all of the experts, all of the pollsters said it was going to stay that way. Democrats in 1991 here got together and decided to not only get back to our roots, but to reach out to new voters; to talk about the things that unite us instead of the things that divide us; and prove the political pundits and pollsters wrong. We swept all but one Republican out of statewide office. Now in this state we have a challenge before us. I know that you have probably heard there's a hot gubernatorial race in Louisiana. And I am proud that we have several quality Democratic candidates competing for governor. We have two African-American candidates, and some people say it ought not be that way. I think we've made progress in this deep southern state when we have two African-Americans that can stand before the people and offer themselves to be governor. We have two women running for governor, and some people say that we ought to not have two women running for governor of this state. I'm proud that Louisiana, which prior to eight years ago had elected only one woman to statewide office, now has two quality women candidates offering themselves for governor. I think that reflects progress. And, all four of them happen to be members of the Democratic party. Our challenge in Louisiana is to insure that the governor's mansion stays in the hands of the Democratic party. Our challenge in the state of Louisiana is to insure that both houses of our Legislature, the seat of lieutenant governor, the seat of attorney general, the seat of commissioner of insurance and all of the statewide offices remain in the hands of Democrats. That is our challenge here in this state. As Democrats in 1995, we need to have long, elephantine memories, and we need to have loud, donkey-like voices. Because we need to remember why we are where we are, and we need to remember the twelve cold years that the Republicans dominated the politics of this nation. We need to remember that in those twelve long, hard, cold years a promise was made to cut the deficit, a promise that was broken. A promise was made to restore the economy of this nation by Ronald Reagan - and what fell in its wake was a savings and loans crisis, a banking crisis and two deep recessions. A promise was made to try get government off the backs of working Americans and allow them to progress - yet the gap between the rich and the poor increased for the first time since World War II. We need to have long memories as Democrats and loud voices. Long memories so that we don't forget and loud voices to remind the rest of the nation about those twelve hard, cold years - when the deficit quadrupled, when summer youth programs were cut, when homelessness exploded, when people were locked out and left out. We need to have long memories. Low and behold in 1991 and 1992 this party got its act together and fielded a candidate who spoke to the hopes and the dreams of the American people. And that candidate, Bill Clinton, also made some promises. He made a promise to bring down the federal deficit, and did he do it? You bet he did. He made a promise to restore the economy, and did he do it? You bet he did. He made a promise to give young people a better way to finance a college education, and did he do it? You bet he did. He promised to take an old Democratic idea like the Peace Corps., and give it a 90s twist by creating Americorp, and did he do it? You bet he did. Bill Clinton and this party made promises and commitments to the American people. And this party and our president have kept those commitments. Our president needs our help now. I know as Democrats we can be critical of ourselves and anyone else. But now in 1995, we need to have long memories and loud voices. We forget, and the American people forget, where this country was four years ago. We forget and the American people forget the principles upon which this great party was founded. We forget and we make a mistake if in 1995 this party decides to run away from Franklin Roosevelt, run away from Harry Truman, run away from John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter. We make a mistake if we run away from our roots in 1995 and 1996. This party must remember the principles upon which it was founded. But this party also has to be strong enough and resilient enough to reach out and expand itself; expand while staying with the most loyal Democratic voters. If we failed in 1994, we failed because loyal Democratic voters did not come to the polls. That's a sobering political message. Everyone makes mistakes. The fool repeats them. But the wise learn from them and do things differently. We know that to win in 1996 we have to appeal to the core base of the Democratic party. Yes, we must stand strong and say that we speak for the African-Americans, the Hispanic-Americans and the Asian-Americans of this nation. Yes, we must say we speak for them. But, we must also speak for the middle class American too. We speak for the American who is out there, who wants to work hard, who wants to educate his children; the American who wants to afford a college education and all Americans who want to live in safe communities. Our president promised that he would find a way, that he would put the weight of the nation and the clout of the presidency behind local communities in their efforts to fight crime. Last Sunday, the New York Times reported the rate of violence is down in most major American cities. I don't need to remind you who was president when violence went up. It sure wasn't Jimmy Carter, it sure wasn't Lyndon Johnson. It was a fellow named Reagan and a fellow named George Bush. We need to have long memories to remind the American people that rhetoric about being against crime is one thing. It's another thing to have policies that help local communities fight crime. I think that we make a big mistake if we don't have long memories and loud voices. Long memories and loud voices. Remember the election of last year? Remember the contract on America, because that's all it is. Remember the promises, the 100-day strategy; remember the pep rally they had on the steps of the capital? We ought to go get the film and run all of those lofty promises once again and see how many of those have been kept. We must have long memories and loud voices. And, it's the people in the Democratic National Committee, it's the activists in this party who have to take that message home. This Republican revolution is not going to be televised. This Republican revolution is not going to be televised when senior citizens are shut in without health care. This revolution is not going to be televised when students can't attend school because they can't afford tuition. This revolution is not going to be televised when major American cities are out there without the resources to create a better infrastructure, to fight homelessness; when cities are out there without community development block grant funds; when young people are out there without Head-Start. This revolution is not going to be televised. We are going to have to be the loud voices to educate this nation; to bring a message to this nation about the real deal with this Contract with America and the truth about the Democratic Party. Sometimes we as Democrats work best as the underdogs. Right now we are the underdogs. The pundits are going to count us out. The pundits are going to say there's no way we can recapture the House or the Senate. The pundits are going to say that Bill Clinton and the poll numbers are wrong, and there is no way we can win again. I don't know about you, but when I hear that kind of talk, I'm ready to fight harder, I'm ready to work harder, I'm ready to dig deeper. I'm ready to fight the fight that has to be fought for the future of this nation. When I grew up as a child in the 1960s, and when this part of the nation was going through a revolution, and both my father and mother were active in the Civil Rights Movement, they sacrificed a whole lot. They fought hard like so many in that day to make this world better for all of us. They fought hard because they asked the question that John Kennedy asked, not what can this nation do for me, but what can I do for this nation. In 1995, we are at a similar crossroads in our nation's future. This nation is changing. This world is changing. There is a new global marketplace out there. The walls of totalitarianism, dictatorships and apartheid have fallen. This nation must change right along with it. When I see the Republican Party I see a party that looks to the past. I see a party that believes the ideal for America is Ozzie and Harriet of the 1950s; I see a party that speaks to only a handful of the American people. When I see the Democratic Party I see a party whose tradition is public service; I see a party that stands for the best in what America is. I see a party that is expansive, that practices the politics of multiplication and addition, not subtraction and division. I see a party that represents the only real hope for the future of this nation. As we leave New Orleans, as we leave and go back to the East, to the North, to the South; go back to the inner city, or go back to the suburbs; go back to the rural parts of this nation; as we leave we must have long memories of the hard, cold days - the twelve years when Reagan and Bush ran this nation. We must have long memories of what happened in that era. We must also remember the promises made just a year go. And we must have loud voices, because we must remember the commitments that our party made to the America people in 1992. We must talk about whether those promises have been kept. I'm here to tell you they have. Bill Clinton has kept his pact, and he deserves re-election. He deserves re-election. I want to encourage this party to do a couple of things in closing. Number one, as I look out I do not see enough young people in this audience. I think this party has a challenge in a year to aggressively reach out to the young people of this nation - to the young adults, to the college students, to the people not in school - to bring this message. Those are the people who historically do not vote in large numbers because no one pays attention to them. That's a challenge for this party. I challenge this party to get back to its roots, but at the same time to reach out to people who may not have considered themselves Democrats. It is not a contradiction for a party to be pro-business and pro-worker. It is not a contradiction for a party to be pro-black, pro-Hispanic, Asian and white if it's going to be pro-people. You want to raise your children in a safe environment, you want them to get a good education. I don't think that's black, I don't think it's white, I don't think it's Hispanic; I don't think it's Asian, I don't think it's Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative. And that's what this party must speak to. It has to speak to the things that unite us, the commonality that America ought to represent. I challenge all of us as we go back, not to be a timid party, not to be a bashful party, not to be a party that's afraid to be what it has always been. There's a challenge in front of us, but it's a challenge that we can meet. And it's a challenge that requires some choices. We must choose to work hard. We must choose to speak loudly and clearly and not be afraid to be Democrats. We must speak out and defend this president. We must work hard to take back the House and to take back the Senate. We must remember that the strength of this party is at the local level with mayors and councils and county council members. I thank you for coming to this city. I want to see us all back in the year 2000 for the great convention when we nominate another Democrat to take Bill Clinton's place. I simply leave you by saying long memories and loud voices; our work as Democrats must go on; our cause as Democrats must endure; and our dreams as Americans must live on. Thank you very much. |
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