[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[October 27, 1998]
[Pages 1886-1887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1886]]


Remarks at a Unity '98 Reception
October 27, 1998

    Thank you very much. Just while he was speaking, Senator 
Rockefeller's trust fund earned enough interest to guarantee us five 
more congressional seats. [Laughter]
    Let me say first, I want to thank Jay and Sharon for having us all 
here. I thank Steve Grossman and Bob Torricelli and Nancy Pelosi, all of 
whom are here, for their leadership in this Unity campaign. Senator 
Kerrey, thank you for your leadership on the Senate Campaign Committee. 
And my good friend and neighbor Congressman Bill Jefferson from New 
Orleans back there, where we hope we will get another Member of Congress 
from Louisiana in this election. I hope we can do that.
    I want to say to Jay Rockefeller, we've been friends a long, long 
time. I used to say, Bob Kerrey and Jay Rockefeller and I were Governors 
together back when we had a life, before we all moved to Washington. And 
Jay Rockefeller could have done a lot of things with his life. His 
daughter is up there teaching in that school in New York because of the 
example that her father set and the example her mother set. And this is 
a better country because of you. And Hillary and I both love and admire 
you very much, and we thank you.
    I want to say to all of you, you cannot imagine how important your 
contributions are in this, the 11th hour of this campaign. I think there 
is beginning to be a sense out there that this is not an ordinary 
election because it's not an ordinary time. What we have going for us 
are a lot of great candidates and the right message.
    The American people want us not to spend this surplus until we save 
the Social Security system for the 21st century. They want us to put the 
education of our children first. And they understand that having smaller 
classes in the early grades, with the biggest group of students in 
history, is a laudable goal, and it's a great thing. We won the 100,000 
teachers fight, but they know the majority in Congress kept us from 
passing an initiative to build or repair 5,000 schools. So if they have 
no place to sit, it will be hard for the teachers to teach the children.
    They want us to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights, not because they're 
against managed care, but because they don't want the management to 
overcome the medical quality of care people get. They want us to do the 
things, in short, that we are trying to do in this election.
    And I can tell you, I'm now spending a fair amount of time getting 
briefed every day. Hillary was in New York for Chuck Schumer today, and 
he has moved clearly ahead in the surveys up there. We have a remarkable 
young man running for the United States Senate in North Carolina, 
against an incumbent Republican, who moved decisively ahead today in the 
published opinion surveys.
    We are doing the work of America's future. We have two things to 
contend with. One is an enormous disparity in financial resources. And 
the other is 150 years of history of midterm elections where it's 
normally a disadvantage for the party of the President, particularly in 
the sixth year. And the other is the natural advantage Republicans have 
when the voter turnout goes down because their electorate tends to be 
older and wealthier and more reliable even in off-year elections.
    We are striving to overcome those disadvantages. You are helping us 
to do that. We do not have to have as much money as they do. But we have 
to have enough. We have a heroic Senate candidate in Kentucky, Scotty 
Baesler, a Congressman who is being outspent, I think, at least three to 
one there. It's unbelievable what's going on there. And today, again, he 
was 4 points ahead in the survey. And Senator Ford, who he's trying to 
replace, and the Governor assured me that they have all our forces out 
on the ground. They're going to do the best they can to win.
    So I think it's very important that you understand that, in my view, 
this whole election still hangs in the balance, and it depends on 
whether the American people decide it's worth voting and whether they 
have some stake in the future. And that depends upon our ability to get 
the message out in all these individual races and across the country.
    I feel good about it because I think we have a fighting chance. 
We're fighting history, money, and midterms, but we've got message; 
we've got candidates; and you've helped to propel

[[Page 1887]]

them toward the finish line. I'm very proud of that, and I hope you are, 
too. And I hope Tuesday night we'll have a great celebration.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 7:35 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to dinner hosts Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, and 
his wife, Sharon, and their daughter, Valerie; Steve Grossman, national 
chair, Democratic National Committee; John Edwards, Democratic 
senatorial candidate for North Carolina; and Gov. Paul E. Patton of 
Kentucky.