    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 15, 2000]
    [Pages 938-940]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Senator Charles S. Robb
    May 15, 2000

        Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank Ron and Beth for having all
    of us here and for being so generous with their time and their home.
    However, now that I--you know, I thought I knew them pretty well. I
    never knew they met at a Chuck Robb fundraiser. [Laughter] We ought to
    put that out. We can raise millions of dollars on this. [Laughter] All
    the lovelorn who can write a check or show up at your fundraisers--this
    is wonderful. So I want to thank them.
        And I want to thank all of you for coming and for supporting Chuck,
    and in just a minute, I'm going to tell you why. Let me say to all of
    you, you went through the line and had your picture taken. I appreciate
    the many nice things you said and especially those of you who expressed
    your support for my wife, whom I hope
    will be helping to swell the Democratic majority in the Senate after
    November.
        I want to thank Lynda Robb for being our
    friend for probably 20 years now. We've watched our children grow up
    together. Chuck and I were Governors together in the early eighties. Out
    at Camp David I've got this beautiful picture of a carriage from
    colonial Williamsburg, from the Southern Governors' Association meeting
    in 1984, that Chuck Robb gave me. So we go back a long way.
        And I want to tell you, quite briefly, why I'm here tonight, besides
    the fact that, yes, I'd show up if Ron
    and Beth asked me to come, and yes, I'd show
    up if Chuck and Lynda asked me to come. But I passionately believe,
    number one, that Chuck Robb ought to be reelected, and number two, I
    believe he will be reelected. And I thought he would be reelected a year
    ago.
        But there is a great question before the American people in this
    election, very different from the one we faced in 1992, but in some
    ways, maybe even more important and perhaps even more difficult to
    answer properly.
        In 1992 the American people gave Al Gore and me a chance, but the
    country was mired in difficulty, and everyone knew that the way that
    things were being done in Washington was not working. You remember how
    it was then; you just took a position on an issue, and there was a
    position you had to take. If you were a Democrat, you had to take one
    position. If you were Republican, you had to take the other. And then
    you just stood off from one another and screamed as loud as you could
    and hoped you'd get your 10 seconds on the evening news, which might
    have been good politics but didn't move America forward very much.
        So we set about turning the ship of state around. And without being
    self-serving, I think it's fair to say we did a pretty good job, and
    things are going in the right direction now. And I think it's one reason
    to vote for Chuck Robb and for Al Gore, because it wasn't because I was
    President; it was because we were all doing the right things. And I
    think that's very important.
        I get tickled. You know, some of my adversaries, now that they want
    to win the election before us, they spent 7 years telling everybody how
    bad I was; now they say I'm the only guy that jumps higher than Michael
    Jordan--let's

    [[Page 939]]

    throw the other Democrats out. That has nothing to do with it. We did
    the right things, and it's very, very important.
        So now the question is not, how are we going to turn the ship of
    state around; how are we going to build our bridge to the 21st century?
    The question is, what are we going to do with these good times? We never
    had such good times before. We never had at one time so much economic
    progress, social progress with the absence of severe domestic distress
    or external threat. So what are we going to do? That is the issue. And
    it's a very hard issue for a democracy to answer.
        It's easy to get people together when they're under the gun. It's
    hard to get people together when things are fun. It's easy to be
    distracted when things seem to be going well. And what I would like to
    say to you is that I'm old enough to know that nothing lasts forever and
    that these moments come along once in a generation if you're lucky, and
    you've got to make the most of them.
        I'm also experienced enough in politics to know that our
    adversaries, both in the Virginia Senate race and the White House,
    they'll be very adroit at speaking in reassuring terms and helping to
    blur the lines of the election. But the truth is, as Senator Robb just
    said, there are huge consequences to the choices the American people
    will make. And you have to come to terms with that, as well.
        If you want to change the economic policy of the country and go back
    to the way they did it, you can do it. If you like the way things are
    going, you've got to vote for Chuck Robb and for the Vice
    President. If you want someone to do
    something serious about gun violence, to keep building on the record of
    the last 7\1/2\ years, to keep crime coming down, you can have it. If
    you want someone who won't touch this issue with a 10-foot pole and
    won't do anything the NRA doesn't want them to do, you can have that,
    too. But you've got to make up your mind. And you can't pretend that
    there are no consequences to this election. There are.
        You know, one of the things I really respect about Chuck Robb is, he
    is a fiscal conservative; he voted with me on that budget, knowing it
    could beat him in the '94 election. He did not blink; he got up there
    and voted in '93 for the budget. And if he hadn't voted for it, it would
    have never passed. You know? But also, after his distinguished career in
    the United States Marine Corps, he has supported me on every human
    rights initiative, including gay rights, I have ever advanced. And I
    respect that more than I can say.
        And he has supported sensible efforts to keep guns out of the hands
    of criminals and children. Yesterday Hillary and I had--and I like it,
    because Al Gore and I need some Southern cover, you know. [Laughter] I
    don't know if you saw it, but there was a picture in the paper that
    said, ``gunnery sergeant for responsible gun control''--it was a great
    sign, yesterday at this thing.
        You know, I just want to take a minute. This is a big choice you've
    got in the election. You've got to decide. But don't let anybody you
    know pretend that they're voting--the Senate race or the President's
    race isn't about what our policy is with regard to safety, public
    safety, or pretend that it's not about our policy with regard to human
    rights or pretend that it's not about our policy with regard to
    economics and whether you like having this surplus and you want to get
    America out of debt and keep investing in education or you'd rather go
    back and try it the way it was.
        Now, there will be a great attempt to blur all this. I'm telling
    you, those are three inescapable consequences of this election and your
    choice. Will we change economic policy? Will we continue to try to make
    America a safer country and have responsible measures to promote gun
    safety? Will we continue to advance the cause of human rights? And the
    fourth inescapable consequence is, will we continue to grow the economy
    and improve the environment at the same time or let the old way prevail,
    and say the heck with that?
        Now, there is no doubt about that. But you've got to decide. But
    don't let--if somebody asks you why you came here tonight, tell them
    because Chuck Robb played an inextricable role in the progress of the
    last 7 years, because you think there are choices that matter in this
    election, because you want to stand up for somebody that had as much
    courage in the United States Senate as he did in the toughest battles in
    Vietnam.
        And I told him a year ago, when he was way behind in the polls, he
    was going to be reelected. And I believe it more strongly today. But we
    need your help. And you watch now--I've been watching this a long time.
    If you take this position, you will find all these people that will try
    to turn this election into Jell-O. And

    [[Page 940]]

    you will think you're punching a little sort of a pillow bag there. And
    everybody will say, ``Oh, there aren't really significant differences,
    and I think I'll give the other guys a chance.'' That's not true. And
    you cannot afford to let people decide too late that there are great
    consequences here.
        So I thank you for coming. You will rarely in your life get a chance
    to support anybody who has taken more chances to do what he thought was
    right, sometimes when he agreed with me and sometimes when he didn't,
    but always had his heart and mind and spirit in the same place as this
    man. He's a good man. His wife is a magnificent
    woman, and they deserve this reaffirmation, and our country needs it.
    That's the most important thing.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9 p.m. at a private residence. In his
    remarks, he referred to reception hosts Ronald I. Dozoretz and Beth
    Dozoretz; and Senator Robb's wife, Lynda.