[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[May 8, 1996]
[Pages 713-715]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Saxophone Club
May 8, 1996

    The President. Thank you very much. I tell you, there's not much 
left for me to say. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Matt and all the leaders of the Saxophone Club, and 
all of you who have been with us all these years. It has always been a 
joy for me to come to the Saxophone Club and see all of your faces 
filled with hope and energy. And even when we have to be late coming 
here and it's midnight, you're still raring to go, and that'll take us 
to victory and that's good.
    I want to say to you how proud I am to be on this stage with Tipper 
Gore, and all that she's done, how profoundly grateful I am in ways, as 
I said earlier tonight, that will never be fully known until I write my 
memoirs, for the contributions that Al Gore has made to the United 
States of America.
    And I want to say that you couldn't have gladdened my heart any more 
with anything than you did when you gave such an intense and spontaneous 
and genuine cheer to the First Lady. [Applause] Thank you. I want you to 
know what I whispered to her when you were doing

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that the first time--[laughter]--I've had occasion to tell her on 
several occasions the last couple of years, as Senator whatever his name 
is, with the hyphenated name, got ginned up--I mean, with the apostrophe 
in his name--[laughter].
    She's taken a lot of grief just because she happened to be here and 
she was my spouse. And they didn't want to deal with the issues so they 
tried to go after her personally, and the rest of us, and because she 
had the temerity to say it seemed to her that every working family in 
the country ought to be able to give health care to their children, 
frankly, and because there are still some folks in this country who just 
don't think women ought to speak up and be heard and be seen and live 
their lives and do what they're supposed to do.
    But you know, where I grew up we had a saying when things were 
really tough and unfair. Our saying was, ``It's a long road that doesn't 
turn,'' and your cheer says this road has turned, and we're going to 
send them a message about that. This road has turned.
    Now, let me just say two points I want to make very briefly. The 
first is, I don't care what the polls say; this is going to be a hard, 
tough, close election.
    Audience member. You're going to win it!
    The President. That's right. We are if you don't change the 
feelings, the intensity, and the commitment you have tonight any time in 
the next 6 months. This election is 6 months from today--not today, not 
tomorrow, 6 months from today. And you have to bear down. That's the 
first point I want to make. You have got to bear down. Don't let up. 
Reach other people. Keep talking about it. Talk about what's at stake.
    The second point I want to make to you is that this is not just 
another election. This election will take this country into the 21st 
century. This is not an election like 1992, where the issue was change 
versus the status quo. There are two very different but very dynamic 
visions here. Both approaches would represent a dramatic departure from 
America's past--two visions of change.
    I believe that those of you who are in this audience who are 
younger, who represent the bulk of the Saxophone Club and the future of 
this country, will have the most exciting lives of any generation of 
Americans ever, in terms of not only economic opportunities but 
opportunities for genuine personal fulfillment. If we guarantee that 
opportunity to everybody without regard to their race, their gender, 
their station in life, if we decide that our diversity is a plus to be 
nurtured, that we should come together, instead of being used to divide 
us, and if we maintain our willingness to stay involved in the world as 
the world's strongest force for peace and freedom and prosperity and 
security--if we will do those three things I believe that your future 
will be the brightest future any generation of Americans ever had and 
that you will have the opportunity to bring peace and integrity to 
people in ways that have never been done before.
    But it depends on which road we decide to walk into the 21st 
century. And there is a genuine--the Vice President and I spent 50 hours 
in those budget negotiations with the Republican congressional leaders 
and the Democratic leaders. And I can say this in all respect--you know, 
they will say mean things about me between now and the election. Let me 
tell you something, the mean things are not what this election is about. 
It's about two honestly different views. I spent 50 hours with them. 
They honestly look at the world differently than we do. [Laughter] I say 
that--no, no--with all respect. Their view--let me give you--the most 
charitable view is--their view is, ``Hey, man, this is an exciting 
world. I mean, there's computers and new businesses and the world is 
unfolding, and it's not bureaucracy driven and it's not top down and 
heavy laden like it used to be. So what we need to do is give everybody 
a whole bunch of choices and demolish the Government, and everything 
will be great.''
    And that's what they really believe, that anything public--after 
national defense, national security, and paving roads--is an oppression 
of personal liberty. [Laughter] Now, what I believe is that we don't 
need the same old big Government we used to have. Al Gore has changed 
it. They cursed it. He changed it. We reduced the size of the 
Government. We did it.
    But I believe to say that you can leave this country and every 
person in this country and the spirit of community in this country and 
the quality of our environment and the quality of educational 
opportunity and the safety of our streets to the tender mercies of the 
global economy unattended by a common effort by Americans to help all of 
us make the most of our own lives is dead wrong. That's what I believe.

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    I'll never forget when I was in college and I first read the great 
French writer Anatole France, who said that in the France about which he 
wrote, ``The rich and poor are equally free to sleep under the bridge at 
night.'' Or today you might say everybody is free to go in and buy a 
Mercedes. What does that mean? Does that mean we should resent the rich? 
No, we want more people to make money. What it means is that we should 
work together to give everybody the chance to make the most of their own 
lives in their work life, as citizens, in their families, in their 
communities.
    That means a good economy, safe streets, a clean environment, good 
education. It means bringing people together instead of driving them 
apart. It means America still being willing to stand up for peace and 
freedom around the world. That's what that means. That's what that 
means.
    And I'm telling you, you don't have to guess--but remember, we're 
going through a time of huge, sweeping, breathtaking change in the way 
we work, in the way we live. And everybody is out there struggling to 
try to figure out what's going on and trying to get a hook on it. And a 
lot of people are vulnerable to simple wrong answers.
    So I say to you, this is a serious thing. We're having a great time 
tonight. You've made me happier than you'll ever know. I love to come to 
these things. I love your spirit. I love your enthusiasm. I love your 
optimism. I love your belief in yourselves and your country. But I'm 
telling you, this is going to be a hard, tough, close election, because 
it is a fight for the future. And it is not like 1992. Two dynamic 
visions, two very different. We're going to get on one road and walk 
right into the 21st century. You can make sure it's the right road, but 
you need to keep what you have tonight every day from now until 
November--every day--to everyone you can speak with.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at midnight in the Regency Ballroom at the 
Hyatt Regency Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Saxophone Club chair 
Matt Fruman. These remarks were released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on May 9.