    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [November 3, 1997]
    [Pages 1489-1491]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Rally for Gubernatorial Candidate Donald S. Beyer, Jr., in
    Alexandria, Virginia
    November 3, 1997

        The President. Thank you very much. This looks like a crowd of
    winners to me. Ladies and gentlemen, I am so honored to be here with
    Senator Robb and Mrs. Robb and Congressman Moran, Congressman Scott,
    your mayor, your Democratic State chair, with Bill Dolan and Susan
    Payne. And let me say, I thought Yvonne gave a great speech, didn't you?
    [Applause] And I am very, very proud to be here--very proud to be here
    with Don Beyer and his fine family.
        Now, let me say to you, I think the last two speeches were about as
    good as it gets. [Laughter] And I may have nothing to add, but let me
    speak to you as someone who will never be a candidate for public office
    again----
        Audience members. Awwww----
        The President. ----unless you let me run for the school board down
    here someday. [Laughter] But I was a Governor for 12 years, and I've
    been your President for 5 years, and I've seen most of the major
    political battles of the last 20 years unfold. Many times they were
    Democrats against Republicans in traditional ways, liberals against
    conservatives. That is not what this is. This is nothing more or less
    than what Don Beyer said: This is a vote for an easy hit today or doing
    the right thing for tomorrow.
        And I was a Governor for 12 years--nobody likes to fool with
    licensing their cars, with taxing their cars; it is a pain. This is a
    brilliant ploy because there is hardly anything in life more irritating.
    [Laughter] So let us give the opposition credit; they have found an
    irritant that we would all like removed. The question is, at what price?
    At what consequence? And what happens after it's done?
        This really is a question about whether Virginians will be selfish
    in the moment or selfless

    [[Page 1490]]

    for their children and their future, not because there is anything
    inherently wrong with getting rid of a pain in the neck, wherever it
    is--[laughter]--but because as we grow older and we assume
    responsibilities, we all do things in life because we can't think of a
    better way to do something even more important. And I say to you, that's
    what's at issue here.
        This reminds me back in 1993, when Senator Robb bravely stood by me,
    and we adopted that tough economic program. And the easy thing to do was
    to oppose it. And our Republican friends said, ``The President's
    economic program is going to raise your income taxes.'' It didn't, but
    they convinced a lot of people it did--unless you were in the same
    income group that Don Beyer and I are in. [Laughter] Ninety-nine percent
    of the people didn't have their income taxes raised. And they said it
    would bring a recession. Well, 5 years later, we have reduced the
    deficit by more than 90 percent before the balanced budget law kicks in,
    because we did the right thing. And we have 13 million new jobs and the
    lowest unemployment rate in a generation and the lowest inflation rate
    in over 30 years. But in 1994, some good Members of Congress lost their
    seats because they did the right thing for the long term and the people
    hadn't felt it yet.
        I was in New Jersey yesterday; you heard Don Beyer talking about
    that. Well, the Governor said, ``I'll cut income taxes by 30 percent,''
    and it sounded so good. And she did. But what she didn't say was, they'd
    have to run the State into huge debt to do it and, oh, by the way, local
    governments had the power to raise the property tax by every dollar that
    they cut the income tax, which was more regressive, more burdensome, and
    wound up being a bigger pain in the neck. And so, a race which we
    shouldn't even be having up there because the economy is good, with an
    incumbent Governor, turns out to be a real horse race, because people
    figured out 4 years later, ``I went for the quick hit, and maybe I got
    sold a bill of goods.''
        Now, you don't have 4 years, you just have 24 hours. But it's
    amazing how common sense can strike people in the flash of an eye. This
    is a great State. This is the State of our Founding Fathers. You have a
    tradition to uphold. You have a meaning that is special not only to you
    but to the rest of America. How could you knowingly damage the education
    of our children and the future of your State for something that will be
    immensely satisfying for about 30 seconds, maybe an hour, maybe a week
    at most, and then you'll be paying for it for the next 4 years?
        That is the issue. You have to get people to think not about the
    immediate frustration being relieved or the comfort of the moment but
    about what they really believe in.
        The other thing I want to say is, I know that a lot of people vote
    who don't have children in school. But if we hadn't learned anything in
    the last 2 years in America, surely we have learned they are all our
    children. I think it is amazing that all these former Republican
    Governors have come out against this plan. I also think it is amazing
    that it's the Democrat in this race, not the Republican, who is standing
    up for higher standards and accountability and moving our State--your
    schools forward, not just with more investment in education but with
    higher quality of education. I am proud of the fact that it is the
    Democratic Party in Virginia and in Washington, DC, standing for high
    standards, accountability, and excellence, as well as investment in
    education.
        So I say to you, this is really a race where you have to choose the
    moment over the lifetime--or today or tomorrow; or a mature, full, whole
    vision of the future, or what gratifies you personally but very briefly.
    This is going to be like one of those meals you order and you're hungry
    30 minutes later--[laughter]--or it's going to be like something you do
    and afterward you are so proud of yourself.
        Think how this State will feel on Wednesday morning when Don Beyer
    is Governor. Think how you'll feel. Think how you felt every time in
    your life when you did something you knew wasn't quite so, wasn't quite
    right, selfishly gratifying, and you felt lousy the next day. And think
    how you felt every time in your life you were tempted to do something
    that was selfish and you didn't do it, and the next day you felt
    wonderful. You felt more alive. You felt more human. You said, ``This is
    what I'm here on this Earth for.'' Every time you gave up something so
    you could do something else for your children; every time you gave up
    something so you could give a little more to your favorite charity;
    every time you didn't sit home and watch a ball game and instead went
    out and helped the Scouts or some other community group--think how good
    you felt. That's how this State is going to feel if you vote for Don
    Beyer,

    [[Page 1491]]

    because you'll know you did it for the future, for your children, for
    your noblest instincts. That's why you will do it.
        Now, I've seen all these polls. Let me tell you something I know
    about them. I've been on both sides of them--[laughter]--always more fun
    to be ahead than behind. The remarkable thing about these surveys is
    they all agree on one thing: There is still an enormous undecided vote.
        Now, that means two things. Number one, it means if everybody who is
    willing to make the mature, long-term, noble choice here on this issue
    shows up to vote, that counts about 1\1/2\ times as much as it would in
    a race where there's not a big undecided vote. So before you go pat
    yourselves on the back too much for being here, just remember, if you
    and everybody else you know who is for Don Beyer don't show up, then
    your good intentions don't amount to a hill of beans. So you have to be
    there.
        The second thing is, with all these undecided votes, that's telling
    you something. That's telling you that the electorate of Virginia is
    just like all of us are whenever we're confronted with this kind of
    choice: Yes, I want the pie after the meal. [Laughter] No, I want to
    feel good tomorrow. [Laughter] I think I'll spend this money. No, I had
    better put it in my child's college savings account.
        That's what's going on; that's what this undecided vote's about.
    There's a scale in the mind and psyche of the voters, and the scale can
    still be shifted. So you need to think about it. You've got 24 hours and
    then all day when the polls are open tomorrow. And if the polls are
    right and there are all these undecided votes, you could practically
    just start walking up and down the street here today talking to people
    and find a bunch of them. And so I want you to do it.
        I'm telling you, once in a great while an election like this comes
    along where a murmur starts in the people, and it spreads like wildfire,
    and people really get caught up in it--and it doesn't happen till the
    last minute. That is what is happening now. You have a chance to win
    this election if you go--if everybody you know who is for Don and L.F.
    and Bill goes, and if you go out there and say, ``I am not going to
    treat this election like it's over. There are too many undecided people.
    There must be 10 or 20 people I can call. I can go out into the mall and
    walk up to strangers and ask them to think about this.''
        Remember, this is about how the State is going to feel the next day.
    It's about where the State is going to be 4 years from now. And it's
    about where your children are going to be in the 21st century. Do the
    right thing, and you'll love it.
        God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:43 p.m. at Market Square. In his
    remarks, he referred to Lynda Robb, wife of Senator Charles S. Robb;
    Mayor Kerry J. Donley of Alexandria; Sue Wrenn, State Democratic chair;
    William D. Dolan III, candidate for State attorney general; Susan Payne,
    wife of L.F. Payne, Jr., candidate for Lieutenant Governor; Yvonne
    Jukes, president, Fairfax Education Association; and Gov. Christine Todd
    Whitman of New Jersey.