[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[November 2, 2000]
[Pages 2433-2435]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Reception for Representative Calvin M. Dooley in




Beverly Hills, California
November 2, 2000

    The President. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. I'm 
honored to be here tonight. What Cal Dooley told you is true. He 
represents a totally different district, lots of big farms. Some of the 
farms in Cal's district are almost as large as Haim's and Cheryl's backyard. 
[Laughter] Yes, Cal said he'll bring in a tractor next time he comes to 
see you here. [Laughter]
    I want to thank all of you for being here, and thank Governor 
Davis and Sharon. 
They've been with me all day today. We had a meeting with people who are 
working on the Coordinated Campaign, and then we went to an event for 
Gerrie Schipske. But before that, we went to 
a great rally in Watts today, and we had a really good time trying to 
stir the voters up.
    And I'm honored to be here tonight with Cal and Lou Dooley. And I thank the other Members of Congress who are 
here, Representatives Waxman, 
Berman, and Becerra, my friends and partners; and Hilda Solis, who will soon be with us in Congress; and Jim 
Costa, whom I've known for many years.

[[Page 2434]]

    I was supposed to do this before, and I had to go to the Middle 
East; we had to put this off. And I wanted to come back to answer 
Governor Davis' call, trying to make sure that we 
did as much as we could, not only to make sure that Al Gore and Joe Lieberman 
would get California's 54 electoral votes and not have to come back in 
the eleventh hour, but also to help the Members of Congress who are 
running here.
    We have a bona fide chance in five districts now held by 
Republicans. And we have a real contest in Cal Dooley's district, 
because it's a rural, agricultural district, and a lot of American 
voting is cultural. And a lot of the folks in Cal's district like him, 
but they're sort of not acculturated to voting for Democrats yet. 
[Laughter] You know, they still give Republicans the rhetorical credit--
even though they quadrupled the debt and we got rid of the deficit. You 
know, there is a disconnect there. But it's a real challenge for him, 
and he has a formidable opponent who's got a lot of money.
    You know, this is the first time in 26 years I've not been on the 
ballot. I'm not running for anything, for the first time since 1974. And 
it gives me a certain amount of freedom to say what I think, although 
I'm trying not to be so free that I imperil either my wife or the Vice President in the election--[laughter]--about saying what I think.
    But I want you to know, I really wanted to be here tonight. I'm 
crazy about Cal Dooley and about his wife. And I feel so grateful that we have people like him who 
can represent the Democratic Party to rural America, to people who are 
culturally far more conservative than most of the people in Los Angeles, 
but who have the same real long-term values and interests that the rest 
of us do.
    And I have always believed that to succeed over the long run, the 
Democratic Party would have to prove that we could be fiscally 
responsible and compassionate, that we could be pro-business and pro-
labor, that we could be pro-economic growth and pro-environmental 
preservation.
    We have to be a unifying force in the country. And Cal Dooley is all 
that. We've worked together for years on the Democratic Leadership 
Council. There is a reason the farm workers endorsed him: Because he 
cares about every poor kid in his district and believes every single one 
of them--every boy and girl--ought to have a chance to live their 
dreams. And there is a reason that the chairman of Commerce endorsed 
him: Because he's been an integral part of the new economy that we've 
worked so hard to build.
    People ask me all the time what we did to turn the economy around. 
We had just three simple ideas: One, get rid of the deficit--it's 
killing us on interest rates, and it's hurting the private economy; two, 
sell more American products and services around the world; and three, 
invest more in the capacity of the American people.
    And the one area--it's no secret to anybody that I have not yet 
succeeded in convincing a vast majority of my party in Congress I was 
right in was on the second area, the trade area. But Cal Dooley was with 
me because he could see the farmers that he represented needing those 
markets, and he could see the positive side of that. I will always be 
grateful to him for that, because I am convinced that we've done a lot 
in the last 8 years to build a modern economy.
    But I just want to make--I want to close with three quick points, 
because I know it's late, and a lot of you don't live in this district, 
but you may live in districts where some of these other people are 
running, where we've got a chance to win. And it's amazing how close all 
these races are. And in the Presidential race, there are probably a 
dozen States that are within two points.
    Now, if you look at where we were 8 years ago and where we are 
today, with the economy, with the declining crime rate and improving 
environment, improving schools, improving health care, it is not 
rational that----

[At this point, an audience member had a medical problem.]

    The President. Here, do you want to take him off? That's okay. I 
gave a speech once, and my father-in-law had a heart attack during it. 
[Laughter] He was rushed to the hospital and had a quadruple heart 
bypass, and when he woke up, I told him it wasn't that good a speech. 
[Laughter]
    But let me just say this. If you live in any of these places, I 
can't tell you how close these races are. And I just want you to go out 
and tell people that there are differences between the parties; they 
have grave consequences for

[[Page 2435]]

our future. And if you want to keep the prosperity going and the social 
progress going, you'd better vote for Al Gore and Joe Lieberman and Cal 
Dooley, or whoever else is your Representative in Congress, and Dianne 
Feinstein.
    Because, believe me, the great achievement of the last 8 years is 
that we have shown again we can all go forward together. We have more 
millionaires and more billionaires than we ever had before, but we also 
had, the first time in history, average income has topped $40,000 with 
15 percent increase in earnings. So we can do this.
    Thank you for your money. If you can give Cal Dooley any more money, 
you ought to give him some more money. [Laughter] But I'm telling you, 
this man is very, very important to the national Democratic Party. He 
helps us reach out to people who normally aren't for us. He forces all 
of our Members to think. He brings people together in unique and 
powerful ways, and he needs to be here. He is a very, very special 
person, and I'm grateful.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 8:35 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to reception hosts Haim and Cheryl Saban; Gov. Gray 
Davis of California and his wife, Sharon; Gerrie Schipske and Hilda 
Solis, candidates for California's 38th and 31st Congressional 
Districts, respectively; Representative Dooley's wife, Linda (Lou); 
California State Senator Jim Costa; and Rich Rodriguez, Republican 
candidate for California's 20th Congressional District. Representative 
Dooley was a candidate for reelection in California's 20th Congressional 
District.