    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [October 29, 1996]
    [Pages 1974-1975]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Saxophone Club Presidential Victory Concert
    October 29, 1996

        Thank you. Let me say to all of you, you have honored me and our
    party by being here tonight. I can't thank you enough. I want to say a
    special word of thanks to the Saxophone Club, to the DC Chapter, and to
    Bennet Kelley, to all of you who had anything to do with putting this
    together.
        I thank Bruce Hornsby and his wonderful band for keeping us pumped
    up and playing so brilliantly. I thank Stevie Wonder for so brilliantly
    taking us back across the years and bringing us back today again. He was
    magnificent, let's give him a hand. [Applause]
        And thank you, Kevin Spacey, for being here and for showing your
    versatility, your patience, your talent. You know, from ``The Usual
    Suspects'' to ``Seven'' to ``A Time To Kill,'' to Johnny Carson, to
    killing time creatively--[laughter]--this man has a brilliant past and a
    more brilliant future. I am so honored that he was here tonight. We
    ought to give him a Purple Heart for how much time he had to stand up.
        You know, I felt so sorry for Kevin up here. It reminded me of some
    of the licks that I have taken in this campaign. And one day when I was
    kind of feeling sorry for myself, somebody reminded me of something Mark
    Twain said and I wish I could have whispered to Kevin. The fellow said,
    ``You know, you ought to consider yourself like the dog Mark Twain
    talked

    [[Page 1975]]

    about. He said, every dog needs a few fleas; it keeps him from worrying
    so much about being a dog.'' [Laughter] And so no matter whatever
    happens to Kevin in his performing life, he'll always remember it will
    never be as bad as when he had to stand in Constitution Hall and make up
    jokes for 20 minutes during acts. You were great. Thank you, and God
    bless you.
        You know, this election is in 7 days. It has always been about the
    future. The work that Al Gore and I have done for 4 years has been about
    building an America for the 21st century. Whatever else people say or
    talk about in the end, it's about the future of the young people in this
    grand old Constitution Hall tonight and all your counterparts all across
    our great country.
        And so I ask you to give 7 more days of effort and your voice, your
    passion, your commitment to making sure that we roar into that next
    century together; that we build a bridge we can all walk across; that we
    say no to division, no to going back, no to the short-sighted, negative
    forces that would tend to divide us and cloud our clear vision of the
    tomorrow we can make together. Our best days are still ahead.
        Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:27 p.m. in Constitution Hall. In his
    remarks, he referred to Bennet Kelley, national cochair, Saxophone Club;
    musicians Bruce Hornsby and Stevie Wonder; and actor Kevin Spacey.