[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,

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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.