Hillary Clinton: "You’re the foundation, the families, the communities and the country we love"

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Thu Feb-21-08 11:16 AM
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Hillary Clinton: "You’re the foundation, the families, the communities and the country we love"

Hillary Clinton's Speech at Hunter College in New York, February 20

{snip}

Both Senator Obama and I would make history and I am thrilled by that. I have spent my entire adult life working on behalf of civil rights and women’s rights and here we are at this moment in American history.

But maybe because I understand how difficult this job will be and how lonely it is in the Oval Office because when all the cameras are gone and the lights are out, when the advisors have all had their say, the president has to decide. We need a president who is ready to do that. Only one of us is ready on Day One.

This campaign is not about a campaign, this campaign is not about a personality, this campaign is about hundreds of millions of Americans who are yearning for leadership again. People who across this country do the hard work that makes America work. I’ve spent most of my life helping people who are trying to make it. I know who you are. You pour coffee in the corner restaurant, you fix people’s hair, you ring up the cash register, you deliver the mail, you put out fires and patrol our streets grade papers after your kids have gone to sleep.

You stand on the wall late at night defending our nation so the rest of us can sleep, you’re the nurses who tend to the sick, the caregivers who care and give. You’re the parents on the front lines of daily life, determined to achieve the American dream for your family. You’re the foundation, the families, the communities and the country we love. You truly are the miracle that makes America what it is.

Others might be joining a movement. I’m joining you on the night shift, on the day shift and I’m asking you to join me to shift America into high gear again. To ensure that we build a strong and prosperous middle class, that we do all in our poor into prosperity and opportunity, that we recognize that the divisions among us are nothing compared to the unity that America can have.

The results that I’ve been part of producing for the last 35 years are rooted in my dreams for a better future. We all carry dreams in our hearts and we need to keep dreaming. Dreaming keeps us hopeful, it lifts our spirits, it sets our sights high. Without dreams you can’t aspire to be great but without action, we cannot turn those dreams into reality. I want you to fulfill your dreams and I want America to fulfill ours. It will take hard work and resolve and determination but there isn’t anything we can’t do once we set our minds to it. I intend, as your president, to make sure that America does fulfill all of our dreams.

I judge the results of my public service on whether people are better off when I stop than when I started; whether our children will be able to live up to their God-given potential, whether America is making progress in moving toward that more perfect union that our founders promised. I’m ready to do this work and I’m ready to bring our country together. I know that if we once again start acting like Americans, we will see results. We will believe in ourselves. We will feel that pride that comes at the end of hard work that produces positive change.

There are big differences in this election between me and Senator Obama and between me and Senator McCain; whether we favor speeches or solutions to move our country forward, or more of the same old Republican policies. This is a debate that the voters deserve to have. We cannot achieve unity that lasts, unity that is real, unless we accept that sometimes people disagree, not just to be disagreeable or to play political games but because they have honest and principled differences. People are entitled to defend those strong opinions, but then we’ve got to come together to reach consensus, to honor our differences and to work through them. We won’t achieve unity or fulfill our dreams by running away from honest discussion and debate.

We cannot achieve the kind of changes we want by voting present on controversial issues or by meeting behind closed doors with corporate interests to water down legislation or by caving in when the pressure mounts. The American people deserve better than that.

So yes, let’s get real. Let’s get real about this election. Let’s get real about our future. Let’s get real about what it is we can do together. Let’s get real about whether or not our young people learn because teachers can teach and not just test. Let’s get real about whether our brave veterans are given the care and the respect they deserve. Let’s get real about not just talking family values but valuing families by strengthening the middle class, creating good jobs, proving universal health care, making college affordable, taking care of our senior citizens.

My campaign is about an America of shared opportunity, shared prosperity and shared responsibility. I do believe we are all in this together and we are going to demonstrate loudly and clearly that our country is worth fighting for; our country is worth standing up for. And this campaign goes on and this campaign moves forward. And this campaign, with your help, will take our country back.

full transcript: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/clintons_speech_at_hunter_coll.html