For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 28, 2004
President's Remarks in Dayton, Ohio
Hara Complex
Dayton, Ohio
12:10 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming out today. (Applause.) You're lifting my spirits.
(Applause.) I'm honored you're here. I have come back to the great
city of Dayton, Ohio, to ask for your vote and ask for your help.
(Applause.) We have a duty in our country to vote. I'm asking for you
to remind your friends and neighbors of that duty. We have an
obligation in a free society to show up to the polls.
I've come today to ask you to get our fellow Republicans to vote,
to find independents to go to the polls, and don't overlook discerning
Democrats like Mayor McKelvey, from the great city of Youngstown,
Ohio. (Applause.) And when you get them headed to the polls remind
them, if they want a safer America, a stronger America, and a better
America for all of us, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
(Applause.)
My regret is that Laura is not with me today.
AUDIENCE: Awww --
THE PRESIDENT: It's obviously your regret, as well. (Laughter.)
So we were in the 7th grade together at San Jacinto Junior High in
Midland, Texas. And then we became reacquainted when she was a public
school librarian. And I asked her to marry me, and she said, fine, but
make me a promise. I said, okay, what is it? She said, promise me
I'll never have to give a political speech. (Laughter.) I said, okay,
you got a deal. Fortunately, she is not holding me to that promise.
She is giving a lot of speeches, and when she does, the American people
see a strong, a warm, a compassionate First Lady. (Applause.) I love
her dearly, and as a matter of fact, just as we pulled into the parking
lot I got a phone call from three other members of my family -- Barbara
and Jenna, our twins -- (applause) -- are out campaigning. And guess
who they're with. They're with old Number 41. That would be former
President Bush. (Applause.) And they send their best to the good
people of Dayton, Ohio. (Applause.)
And they send their best to my buddy, the Senator from Ohio, George
Voinovich. I tell you, you're lucky to have a man of this caliber
serving you in the United States Senate. What a fine American, and I
hope you put him back in office with a resounding vote. (Applause.)
Plus he married well.
I want to thank my friend, George McKelvey, the -- from Youngstown,
Ohio. We had a rally there yesterday. A lot of people showed up to
see the Mayor. (Laughter.) They wanted to see their leader. I'm
proud that George has stood by me -- by side -- side-by-side with me.
There's a lot of Democrats that are for my candidacy. There's a lot of
people around this country who know that the Democrat Party has left
them. (Applause.) And I welcome every Democrat's support. You are
welcome on our team. (Applause.)
I want to thank the other United States Senator from Ohio for
joining us today. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran, are with us.
Thanks, Mike, for coming. (Applause.) I know you're proud of
Congressman Mike Turner. Mike, you're doing a great job. (Applause.)
And my friend, John Boehner, is with us -- Congressman John Boehner and
his wife, Debbie -- (applause) -- the author of the No Child Left
Behind Act in the House of Representatives. I want to thank Chief
Justice Tom Moyer for joining us today. Mr. Judge, thanks for being
here. I want to thank your Mayor, the Mayor of Trotwood, Ohio, for
joining us today. (Applause.) Thanks for coming, Don. I'm proud
you're here.
I want to thank all the local and state officials, all the
candidates. But most of all, I want to thank you all. I want to thank
the grassroots activists, the people putting up the signs, the people
making the phone calls, the people doing all the hard work. I want to
thank you for what you have done, and I want to thank you for what
you're going to do. (Applause.) With your help, with your hard work
in turning out that vote, there is no doubt in my mind we'll carry Ohio
again and win a great victory on November the 2nd. (Applause.)
Five days, five days from today, the people of America will go to
the polls. We're choosing the leader of our country at a time of great
consequence in our world. We're at war against a terrorist enemy
unlike any we have seen. We have much more to do to win a decisive
victory in the war on terror. The most solemn duty of the American
President is to protect the American people. If America shows
uncertainty or weakness in these troubled times, the world will drift
toward tragedy. This is not going to happen on my watch. (Applause.)
Our economy is in the midst of change and challenge. It can be a
time of great opportunity if we have the right policies to strengthen,
rather than stall our economic recovery. We have much more to do to
improve our children's education, to make health care more accessible
and affordable, to strengthen our Social Security for our children and
our grandchildren, and I'm ready for the job. (Applause.)
My four years -- my four years as your President have confirmed
some lessons and have taught some new ones. A President must have a
vision in order to lead this country. You cannot lead if you don't
know where you're going. (Applause.) A President must set clear goals
and bring people together to achieve those goals. A President must
surround himself with smart and capable people who are willing to
express their opinion. I have surrounded myself with smart and capable
people. (Applause.) A President must make America's priorities
crystal-clear, especially in an uncertain world. I've learned to
expect the unexpected because history can deliver sudden horror from a
soft autumn sky. I have found you better know what you believe, or
risk being tossed to and fro by the flattery of friends or the chorus
of critics. I've been grateful for the lessons I've learned from my
parents: respect every person, do your best, live every day to its
fullest. And I've been strengthened by my faith and humbled by its
reminder that my life is part of a much bigger story. (Applause.)
I have learned firsthand how hard it is to send young men and women
into battle, even when the cause is right. I've been reminded that the
world looks to America for leadership and that it is crucial for the
American President to be consistent. (Applause.) I have learned that
America's President must base decisions on principle, core convictions
from which you will never waver. The issues vary, the challenges are
different every day in this job, tactics and strategy must be flexible,
but a President's convictions must be steady and true. (Applause.)
As Presidents from -- as Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to
Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan so clearly demonstrated, a
President cannot blow in the wind. A President has to make the tough
decisions, and stand by them. (Applause.) The President must not
follow the path of the latest polls. The President must lead based on
conviction and conscience. Especially at a time of war, mixed signals
only confuse our friends, embolden our enemies. Mixed signals are the
wrong signals for an American President to send. (Applause.)
When America chooses a President, you choose not just a set of
positions on issues of philosophy or record. You choose a human being
who comes with strengths and weaknesses. One of the things I've
learned about the presidency is, whatever your strengths are, you're
going to need them; and whatever your shortcomings are, people are
going to notice them. (Laughter.) Sometimes I'm a little too blunt.
I get that from my mother. (Applause.) Sometimes I mangle the English
language. (Laughter.) I get that from my dad. (Applause.) But
Americans have learned this: that even when you disagree with me, at
least you know what I believe and where I stand. (Applause.) And you
cannot say that about my opponent.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kerry has taken a lot of different
positions, but he rarely takes a stand. (Applause.) He has run a
campaign of contradictions. I think it's fair to say that consistency
has not been the Senator's long suit. (Laughter.) He was for the
Patriot Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, until he was against key
provisions of both of them. He voted to authorize the use of force in
Iraq, then said I was wrong to use that force. When I sent troops into
Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, he said it was the right
decision. Now he says it was the wrong war.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: During one of our debates, he said Saddam Hussein
was a threat. Then a couple of answers later, he said there was no
threat in Iraq. Just last year, American troops in Afghanistan and
Iraq needed $87 billion to help them complete their missions. This was
vital support. First, Senator Kerry said it would be irresponsible to
vote against the troops. He said that on national TV. Then he did
that irresponsible thing, and he voted against the funding for our
troops.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You might remember perhaps the most famous quote of
the 2004 campaign. When they asked him about his vote, he said, "I
actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." He's
given several explanations of that vote since then, but perhaps one of
the most interesting is he said the whole thing was a complicated
matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in
combat. (Applause.)
I will always stand with our troops. (Applause.) I want to thank
the military families who have joined us today. (Applause.) And I
want to thank the veterans who have set such a great example to those
who wear the uniform. (Applause.)
Now, you have to wonder why the Senator has taken such different
positions at different places and different times in this campaign.
Well, let me give you two reasons -- it's important for the people of
Ohio to understand this. Senator Kerry changes positions because he's
willing to say anything he thinks that will help him politically at the
time. And he does so to try to obscure a 20-year trail of
out-of-the-mainstream votes that leads to an inescapable conclusion:
Senator Kerry has been on the wrong side of defining national security
and domestic policy debates of the last two years. He can run, but he
cannot hide. (Applause.)
Several times -- several times during the course of the campaign,
the Senator has changed his positions for political convenience. The
Senator recognized Saddam Hussein was a threat and authorized force to
remove him, until his Democratic opponent, Howard Dean, began gaining
ground as an anti-war candidate. The Senator decided he had to appeal
to that wing of his party, so he voted against the troops, after voting
to put them in risk in the first place.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The Senator was all for removing Saddam Hussein
when we went into Baghdad, and he was very supportive when we captured
him. After all, the polls showed that he was -- that that was very
popular at the time. People liked that. When the going got tough, and
when we faced determined opposition and things weren't quite so
popular, the Senator suddenly wasn't quite so supportive. In fact, he
changed his mind entirely, saying that Iraq was the wrong war at the
wrong place at the wrong time.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: What does that lack of conviction say to our troops
who are risking their lives in this vital cause? (Applause.) Think
about what that says to our allies who have joined our cause. Think
about what that says, that lack of conviction, say to our enemies, that
if you make things uncomfortable, if you stir up trouble, John Kerry
will back off. And that's a very dangerous signal in the world in
which we live. (Applause.)
Just this week Senator Kerry showed his willingness to put politics
ahead of facts and the truth. He criticized our military handling of
explosives in Iraq, when his own advisors admitted he didn't know what
had happened. His spokesman has now had to acknowledge that the
explosives may have been moved before our troops arrived. (Applause.)
A President needs to get all the facts before jumping to
politically-motivated conclusions. (Applause.) The Senator's
willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clear
that John Kerry is the wrong man, for the wrong job at the wrong time.
(Applause.)
There's another reason the Senator changes positions; he doesn't
want you to know where he stands. He has a history. He doesn't want
you to know where he really stands on national security because he has
a record of weakness. When Ronald Reagan was confronting the Soviet
Union -- (applause) -- when Ronald Reagan was confronting the Soviet
Union at the height of the Cold War, Senator Kerry proposed
cancellation of critical defense weapons systems and said that
President Reagan's policy of peace through strength was making America
less safe.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and
President Ronald Reagan was right. (Applause.)
When former President Bush led a coalition against Saddam Hussein
in 1991, Senator Kerry voted against using force to liberate Kuwait.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and
former President Bush was right. (Applause.)
In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade
Center, Senator Kerry proposed massive cuts in America's intelligence
budget, cuts so extreme that even his Massachusetts colleague, Ted
Kennedy, opposed them. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong
-- and we've got to be fair -- Senator Kennedy was right. (Applause.)
When you are one senator among 100, you can be wrong without
consequence. But the President's opinion decides the security and the
fate of the American people. (Applause.)
We have a different point of view when it comes to your security.
Senator Kerry says September the 11th did not change him much. That's
what he said.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: And his policies make that clear. The Senator says
the war on terror is primarily a law enforcement and
intelligence-gathering operation.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: September the 11th changed me a lot. (Applause.)
In the days after the attack, I went to Ground Zero. On September the
14th, 2001, I stood where those buildings used to stand. I'll never
forget that day --workers in hard hats yelling at me at the top of
their lungs, "Whatever it takes." (Applause.) I remember the man -- I
remember one person, in particular, who grabbed me by the arm, his eyes
were bloodshot, and he looked me square in the eye, and he said, "Do
not let me down." Ever since that day, I've gotten up every morning
thinking about how to better protect our country. I will never relent
in defending America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)
There are other things -- there are other things about my
opponent's positions he doesn't want you to know. I don't know if you
remember the debate -- one of the debates, they were talking about
health care. And he looked square in the camera, and he said, my plan
-- the government doesn't have anything to do with it. (Laughter.) I
could barely contain myself. (Laughter.) The government has got a lot
to do with it. Eighty percent of the people in his plan end up on a
government plan. You see, if you make it easier for people to get on
Medicaid, small businesses will drop coverage for their employees
because the government will provide the insurance. That's moving
people from the private sector to the public sector. When the
government starts writing the checks, the government starts making the
rules. And when it comes to your health care when the government
starts making the rules, the government starts making your decisions,
and they start deciding for the docs. Federal control of health care
is the wrong prescription for American families. (Applause.)
I've got a better idea. We'll make sure health care is available
and affordable. We'll take care of the poor and the indigent by
expanding community health centers across this country. We'll help
make sure low-income children are signed up for the health programs
available for them. We're also going to help our families. We'll
expand health savings accounts so small businesses and families can
better afford insurance and manage their own account. (Applause.) We
will allow small businesses to come together so they can buy insurance
at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. (Applause.)
And to make sure health care is available and affordable, we're going
to do something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the
cost of medicine. (Applause.)
I have met too many doctors, here in Ohio and elsewhere, too many
OB/GYNs that are getting run out of practice because these lawsuits are
causing their premiums to go up. And that hurts the people of Ohio
when that happens. I have met too many expectant moms who are worried
about the quality of the health care for their baby. See, these
lawsuits are making it hard for you to afford health care. You cannot
be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-personal injury trial lawyer at
the same time. (Applause.) You have to choose. My opponent made his
choice and he put a personal injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I have made my choice. I'm standing with the
patients of Ohio, I'm standing with the doctors of Ohio. I am for
medical liability reform now. (Applause.)
The Senator really doesn't want you to know where he stands on
taxes, because he's going to raise them. Listen, to be fair, raising
taxes is one of the few things that he has been consistent about. You
might say he's made a habit of it. He's been in the Senate for 20
years; he's voted to raise taxes 98 times.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That is five times for every year he's been in the
Senate. I would call that a predictable pattern, a leading indicator.
(Laughter.) During the campaign, he's promised a lot of new spending,
$2.2 trillion of new spending. That's trillion with a "T." That's a
lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts. They asked him how he's
going to pay for it, and he said that's simple, we'll just tax the
rich. Most small businesses in Ohio pay tax at the individual income
tax. One of the reasons why people are finding work here is because
the small business sector of your economy is strong and getting
stronger. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small
businesses. (Applause.) And by raising the top two brackets, my
opponent would be taxing the job creators of Ohio, and that's bad
economic policy.
The other thing is, is that by raising the top brackets, you only
raise between $600 billion and $800 billion. That is far short of $2.2
trillion. I would call that a tax gap. That would be the difference
between what he has promised to spend and what he can deliver. Guess
who usually gets to fill the tax gap. You do. But the good news is,
we're not going to let him tax you. We're going to carry Ohio and win
nationally on November the 2nd. (Applause.)
You know where I stand when it comes to taxes. When I campaigned
for the presidency in 2000, I said we're going to provide our families
tax relief. I kept my word. (Applause.) We increased the child tax
credit to help our families. We reduced the marriage penalty. We
believe the tax code should encourage marriage, not penalize marriage.
(Applause.) We provided help for our small businesses. This economy
of ours is strong and it is getting stronger. We're growing at rates
as fast as any in nearly 20 years. The number of jobs have been
increased by 1.9 million since August of 2003. The national
unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. Let me put that in perspective for
you. That's lower than the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and
the 1990s. (Applause.)
Ohio's farmers are making a living. The entrepreneurial spirit is
strong in the state of Ohio. Home ownership rate is at an all-time
high. More minority families own a home today than ever before in our
nation's history. (Applause.)
I understand times are tough here in Ohio in certain parts of your
state. I know that. That's why I've been coming to your state,
listening to your people, talking about how to make sure this economy
continues to grow. The unemployment rate went from 6.3 percent to 6
percent last month. Ohio added 5,500 new jobs last month. We're on
our way to recovery. And the question Ohio people have got to answer:
Who's got the plan to make sure this economy continues to grow? I do.
Low taxes, less regulation in tort reform. (Applause.)
When I ran for President four years ago, I promised to challenge
the soft bigotry of low expectations in our public schools. And I kept
my word. We passed the No Child Left Behind Act. We are spending more
money for Title I students, trying to help low-income students. But
now we're asking the question, can you read and write and add and
subtract. See, in return for excess money, we want to know whether or
not people are learning. We believe every child can learn. We believe
everybody has got potential. And we expect every child to learn in
America. (Applause.)
You cannot solve a problem until you diagnose the problem. And now
we're diagnosing and we're beginning to solve them. Math and reading
scores are going up. The achievement gap amongst minority students is
closing in America, and we're not going to go back to the old days of
low expectations and mediocrity in our schoolhouses. (Applause.)
When I ran for President four years ago, I promised to improve
Medicare by adding prescription drug coverage for our seniors. I kept
my word. (Applause.) You might remember the old debates of Medicare.
They called it, "Mediscare." (Laughter.) People weren't willing to
really take on the issue. I took on the issue. I was joined by
Senator Voinovich and Senator DeWine, Congressman Boehner, Congressman
Turner. We go to Washington to do things for the people. Medicare
needed to be strengthened, Medicare needed to be modernized. You see,
Medicare would pay thousands of dollars for a heart surgery, but not
one dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart
surgery from being needed in the first place. (Applause.) That wasn't
fair to our seniors. We got the job done, and beginning in 2006, all
seniors will be able to get prescription drug coverage in Medicare.
(Applause.)
My opponent voted against the Medicare bill.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: In a new term, I will defend the reforms we have
put in place and keep our promise to our America's seniors.
And speaking about our seniors, let me talk about Social Security,
now that you got me on a roll. (Laughter.) When you're out gathering
up the vote, remind your friends and neighbors that in the 2000
campaign, it was said that if George W. got elected, the seniors would
not get their checks. I don't know if you remember that. It may be
happening here in Ohio now. You remind them that George W. did get
elected and our seniors got their checks. (Applause.) And our seniors
will continue to get their checks. (Applause.)
And baby boomers like me, we'll probably get our checks.
(Applause.) But we need to worry about our children and our
grandchildren. We need to worry about whether or not Social Security
will be there for them when they retire. I believe younger workers
ought to be allowed -- be allowed to take some of their payroll taxes
and set up a personal savings account, an account they call their own,
an account the government cannot take away. (Applause.)
The job of a President is to confront problems, not to pass them on
to future Presidents and future generations. My opponent said he's
going to protect Social Security, but remind your friends and
neighbors, he voted eight times to tax Social Security benefits.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: And he's offered nothing for the younger
generation. In a new term, I'll bring Republicans and Democrats
together to strengthen Social Security for generations to come.
(Applause.)
Let me tell you what else we're going to do in a new term. We're
going to simplify the tax code. (Applause.) It is a complicated
mess. (Applause.) It's a million pages thick. We're going to make it
fair for our workers, fair for our business, and fair for America.
(Applause.)
Now, there's more to do. I'm asking for your vote because I know
where I want to lead this country. I see a more hopeful America. I
want to work with you to make sure our education system fulfills its
promise and to make sure health care is available and affordable
without the federal government taking it over. I want to make sure we
do our duty to younger generations of Americans, and I want to continue
to work to spread freedom and liberty so the world is more peaceful.
(Applause.)
I want you to understand what has taken place in a brief period of
time, particularly the youngsters who are here. The Taliban ran
Afghanistan, and young girls could not go to school, because they had a
dark vision of the world. And if their mothers did not toe their
ideological line of hatred, they would be pulled in the public square
and whipped and sometimes killed in a sports stadium. These people
were barbaric people. Because we acted to defend ourselves, because we
upheld doctrine that said, if you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as
guilty as the terrorist -- because we -- because we acted in our
self-interest to defend ourselves and eradicated those al Qaeda
training camps that were in Afghanistan, millions of people were able
to go to the polls and vote for a President of Afghanistan. And the
first voter was a 19-year-old woman. Think about that. (Applause.)
There will be elections in Iraq. Think how far Iraq has come from
the days of torture chambers and mass graves. Freedom is on the march,
and we're better off for it. (Applause.) We believe that people want
to be free. Freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is the
Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world. (Applause.)
Over the next four years, we've got work to do to make sure our
families are secure and prosperous, and our children are educated. And
we've also got work to do to defend the values that are important for
our country. I believe marriage is a sacred commitment. (Applause.)
I believe marriage and family are the foundations of our society.
(Applause.) I believe in a culture of life in America. I proudly
signed the ban on partial birth abortion. (Applause.) I will name
judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict
interpretation of the law. (Applause.)
My opponent has a different view. He voted against the Defense of
Marriage Act, and he voted against the ban on partial birth abortion.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The way I heard it, he says he's going to have a
litmus test for his judges. He also went on to say that, one time in
this campaign, that the heart and soul of America can be found in
Hollywood.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The heart and soul of America is found in caring
communities like Dayton, Ohio. (Applause.)
I'm optimistic about the future of this country. I know we can
overcome any problem that faces us, because I know the American people,
I know the strength and courage and compassion of the people who live
in this land. You know, one of my favorite quotes is written by a
fellow Texan named Tom Lea. He said, "Sarah and I live on the east
side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It
is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is
gone." You know, in the course of this campaign, my opponent has been
talking about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day that is
coming. (Applause.)
And I see a great day coming for America. (Applause.) I see a
hopeful day. And I see the fact that the hard work we've done is
paying off. I see peace coming, as well, peace for our children and
our grandchildren. (Applause.)
You know, when I campaigned across your state, I made this pledge
that if I won in 2000, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the
office to which I had been elected. With your help, with your hard
work, I will do so for four more years. God bless. Thank you for
coming. Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 12:54 P.M. EDT
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