[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[November 2, 1992]
[Pages 2137-2139]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Briarcliff Father and Son Athletic Association in 
Glenolden, Pennsylvania
November 2, 1992

    Thank you very, very much. Thanks for coming out in the rain. And 
let me just say this: I am very grateful to all of you, grateful to Tom 
Judge. I want to salute Congressmen Curt Weldon and Larry Coughlin, Bob 
Walker, with us. You know, you see a lot of signs saying ``Clean 
House!'' People are tired of the Congress the way it is. So send Larry 
Hollin and send Craig Snyder to Washington. May I send a special vote of 
thanks to the Oak Ridge Boys and urge that we send Arlen Specter back to 
the United States Senate. And let me thank so many people who are 
working hard to guarantee a Republican victory throughout Pennsylvania.
    You know, Governor Clinton has gotten a little premature. He's 
talking about his inaugural parade. My advice to him is: Put the parade 
on hold, Bill; you're not going to win this election.
    Tomorrow, you see, it's not the pollsters, and it's not the national 
press, it is the people that decide these elections. That's what we're 
going to show them tomorrow. The reason we're going to win is this: 
Because the choice the American people have is about a difference in 
experience, a difference in philosophy, and yes, a difference in 
character. Character matters. Parents are going to say, ``Who do I trust 
our kids with?'' And I believe the answer is George Bush.
    You know, Governor Clinton made a scary statement in one of the 
debates. He said, ``I want to do for this country what

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I've done for Arkansas.'' No way! We can't let that happen. They are 
near the bottom in education, on the environment, on the economy. We 
cannot let that happen to the United States of America.
    You've heard all this time about how things are not going. We are 
improving. The economy moved at 2.7. And the last thing we need is to go 
back to tax and spend the way the Democrats want to do it.
    Bill Clinton offers an economic disaster for this country. You know, 
in this campaign he said, ``I am a different kind of Democrat, 
especially on the economy.'' He says he doesn't want middle class tax 
cuts, he wants investment. But the American people, before they go to 
the polls, as you hear Governor Clinton talk about investment, ought to 
listen to this. Here's what he said in Newsweek magazine: ``There is a 
lot of evidence that you can sell people on tax increases if they think 
it's an investment.'' Those were his words, and that means he is out to 
tax the American people. Let's not let him do that.
    Governor Clinton says he is a candidate of change. You remember that 
last time we had a Democrat in the White House and this Congress 
controlled by the Democrats. You had interest rates at 21 percent. We 
had inflation at 15 percent. You had the ``misery index'' at 20. And we 
simply cannot go back to those days. Let's move this forward with less 
taxes and less spending.
    The way to do that is to stimulate small business. Give them a tax 
break for investment taxes. Give them a tax break for that first-time 
homebuyer to let that homebuyer live in the American dream. Let's do 
something about these crazy lawsuits that are killing this country.
    We've got the best agenda for education. You see, I think it's about 
time we let the parents choose, whether public, private, or religious 
schools, and give them a chance.
    Governor Clinton wants, like all these guys, to expand American 
Government. I want to expand the American dream.
    But let me tell you here, let me tell you what it really is all 
about. When you go into that booth, the reason we're going to win is it 
boils down to character and to trust. You know, Horace Greeley said, 
``Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing; only 
character endures.'' I think that is especially true as the President of 
the United States of America. If you make a mistake, tell the truth 
about it. But you cannot be on all sides of every issue. You can't do 
that. You cannot lie to the American people.
    Here's a man, Governor Clinton, whose own hometown newspaper says 
he's a politician utterly without principle, a guy whose supporters gave 
him that name ``Slick.'' We didn't invent that. It came out of the 
Democratic primary, out of Arkansas. I say ``slippery when wet,'' a 
little different but the same thing.
    But the pattern of deception is what is troubling the American 
people. They see it on term limits. They see it on North American free 
trade agreement. They see it on taxes. They see it on these 
environmental standards. I think we ought to think about the working man 
and the working woman and have good environment without going to the 
extreme like the Ozone Man wants. We've got it. Somebody better think of 
the families that are working for a living, and we're doing both, a good 
sound environmental record but not the extreme that's going to throw 
more Americans out of work.
    But you know, being on all sides of the issue, listen to this one 
about the Gulf war. Here's what he said, when Bob Walker and these other 
Congressmen here, Curt Weldon and Larry, were standing up and doing 
what's right, here's what Governor Clinton said. He said, ``I agree with 
the arguments the minority made, but I guess I would have voted with the 
majority.'' What kind of leadership is that for the Commander in Chief 
of the Armed Forces?
    You know there was a statement out of Baghdad the other day, said 
that Saddam Hussein was planning a big rally when Governor Clinton won. 
Well, Saddam ought to put it on hold. And today he backed away. He's 
probably listening to the national media, who see us moving now. And 
here's my point: Saddam Hussein is not going to rejoice, because we're 
going to win the election and we're going to make him live up to those 
international resolutions and

[[Page 2139]]

help the people over there.
    So what it boils down to is this, it boils down to character and 
trust. I ask you to just imagine reading about an upheaval now. We 
brought peace to the world and way and tremendous quantities. These 
young people here, even these characters, they go to bed at night 
without the same fear of nuclear war. That's something big. That is 
something important for the world, for mankind.
    But the world is not without threat. Imagine in a dangerous 
situation--the question is if a crisis arises, at home or abroad, who do 
you want to solve the crisis? Who do you want to do it? You cannot do it 
with a leader that has a pattern of deception. You cannot do it with a 
leader who went to a foreign country and demonstrated against his own 
country when his people were at war. Look, a lot of people disagreed on 
the war, but not many of them went to a foreign land and organized a 
demonstration when kids were being drafted out of the ghetto and 
Americans were held prisoner in Hanoi. I don't like that. I think that 
was wrong.
    So in the final analysis, what it boils down to is who has the 
experience and who has the character to lead the greatest, freest 
country on the face of the Earth.
    I'll give you another reason to reelect me. I think we've got a 
great First Lady in Barbara Bush, I'll tell you. When she holds those 
AIDS babies in her arms or when she reads to those children or when she 
lifts up these families, she's saying family values do matter. Don't let 
the liberals and the media tell you they don't. They do matter. God 
bless the American families.
    I see these signs saying here, ``Annoy the Media. Reelect Bush.'' 
Well, let me tell you something. We are going to show the pundits and 
the pollsters that they are wrong. We are going to win this election.
    So now it doesn't matter what they are telling us we think. Now it's 
up to what the American people think. We are going to pull off one of 
the biggest surprises in political history. Discard the pundits; discard 
the pollsters; discard the rhetoric out of Governor Clinton. Vote for 
me, and we will lead this country to new heights.
    Thank you, and God bless you. Thank you and bless you all.

                    Note: The President spoke at 11:06 a.m. at the 
                        association. In his remarks, he referred to Tom 
                        Judge, chairman, Delaware County Republican 
                        Party, and entertainers the Oak Ridge Boys.