[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[November 1, 2004]
[Pages 2930-2933]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks in Dallas, Texas
November 1, 2004
The President. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. I really
appreciate you being here. It's great to be back where it all started.
Tomorrow my fellow Texans are going to the polls to help us start the
next 4 years.
Ten years ago when I first ran for Governor, I had my last campaign
rally in Dallas, and we won. Tonight, after six other stops, I'm having
my last campaign rally in Dallas, and we're going to win.
I appreciate all your help and all your hard work. And I've got a
pretty good feeling that Texas is going to be a red State tomorrow.
You're going to start a trend.
I want to thank all our friends who are here tonight. You know,
we're blessed by having a lot of friends. I want to thank you from the
bottom of my heart for all you have done for us for so many years and
what you're going to do tomorrow and for the years ahead. With your
help, this will be the beginning of a new term to make America a safer
place, a stronger place, and a better place.
I've had a fantastic time traveling our country. I love to get out
amongst the people. I love America. I love its citizens. I've been
telling people what I intend to do for the next 4 years, but the most--
probably the most important reason to put me back in is so that
Laura will be the First Lady for 4 more years.
She has put her SMU degree to good work.
And I want to thank Gerald Turner and
the trustees of SMU and all the SMU students who are here today for
coming out to say hello. I'll try to keep my speech short so you can get
back and do your homework. [Laughter] Make sure you vote. Make sure you
go to the polls.
One of the greatest things about this campaign is I've had a chance
to campaign with Barbara and Jenna. I love them dearly. They are fantastic young women. No,
you can't have their phone number. [Laughter]
I'm proud of my nephew, George P. Bush,
and his wife, Mandi. Thanks for coming.
I've got a great runningmate in Dick Cheney.
He's done a great job as the Vice President. I'm looking forward to
working with him for the next 4 years.
I want to thank my friend Pete Sessions for introducing Laura. It is really important that you send Pete Sessions back
to the United States Congress.
I see a lot of friends from the statehouse days. I'm really proud
that the Governor of the great State of Texas is with us, Rick
Perry. Thanks for coming, Governor. And the
Lieutenant Governor, David Dewhurst, is with
us. Appreciate you coming. I want to thank all the other statehouse
officials. I know the speaker of the house is with us, Speaker Tom
Craddick and Nadine. They're from our old hometown of Midland.
I want to thank the really fine United States Senator from the State
of Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and the
other Senator, who is also a really fine United States Senator, John
Cornyn. I want to thank the Members of the
Congress who are here, Ralph Hall and Jeb
Hensarling, Kay Granger, and Michael Burgess. I'm
proud you all are here.
Three candidates for the United States Congress who are here who I
proudly support: Kenny Marchant, running
for the 24th District; Louis Gohmert,
running out of CD 1, Congressional District 1 in east Texas. I wish you
all the best, Louis. And I'm looking forward to having a new
Congressperson represent me in the Crawford area, and that person is
going to be Arlene Wohlgemuth.
I want to thank Toby Keith for being here. It
means a lot that he's here. It
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sounds like he ought to be running. [Laughter] I want to thank Tracy
Byrd. I want to thank the SMU Mighty Mustang
Band. Thanks for coming. I want to thank my friend Chuck Norris, who's here.
Most of all, thank you all for coming. It's been a fantastic day
traveling around our country. There's no better place to end it than
right here in big ``D''--Dallas, Texas.
I understand this about the Presidency: The American President must
lead with clarity and purpose. The role of the President is not to
follow the path of the latest polls. The President must not change
positions for the sake of political convenience. The President must lead
based on principle and conviction and conscience.
During these 4 years, I have learned that whatever your strengths
are, you're going to need them, and whatever your shortcomings are,
people are going to notice them. [Laughter] Sometimes I'm a little too
blunt. I get that from my mother. Sometimes I
mangle the English language. [Laughter] I get that from my father. [Laughter] But all times, whether you agree with
me or not, you know where I stand, what I believe, and where I'm going
to lead.
I have been letting the people know what I intend to do for the next
4 years. I'm running to make sure this economy stays strong by keeping
our taxes low and doing something about these lawsuits that are making
it hard on our small-business owners. I'm running to make sure every
child can learn and keep the high standards in our public schools so no
child is left behind in America.
I'm running to make sure health care is available and affordable,
and to reduce the cost of medicine and to keep good doctors in practice,
we've got to get rid of these junk lawsuits that are running up the cost
of medicine. In all we do to reform health care in Washington, we'll
make sure the decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by
officials in Washington, DC.
I believe the President's job is to confront problems, not to pass
them on to future Presidents and future generations. We've got a problem
with Social Security. Social Security is fine for those who are now on
Social Security, and we'll always keep the promise to our seniors.
Social Security is okay for baby boomers like me and like some others
out there I see. But we need to worry about our children and our
grandchildren when it comes to Social Security. I believe younger
workers ought to be able to take some of their own payroll taxes and set
up a personal savings account, an account they call their own.
Over the next 4 years, I'll continue to stand for the values that
are important to our Nation. I stand for marriage and family, which are
the foundations of our society. I stand for a culture of life in which
every person matters and every being counts. And I stand for the
appointment of Federal judges who know the difference between personal
opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.
During the course of this campaign, after all the debates and all
the speeches, it is clear there are big differences between me and my
opponent. He's from Massachusetts, and I'm
from Texas. He is a committed liberal, and I am a compassionate
conservative. He's voted to cut our intelligence budget and major
weapons systems. I am for a strong national defense. He has promised to
raise taxes.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. And that is generally a promise most politicians
keep. I'm for keeping your taxes low.
And we've got a big difference when it comes to protecting the
American people. The most important job of the American President is to
protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty or weakness
during these troubling times, this world of ours will drift toward
tragedy. This is not going to happen on my watch. We are steadfast. We
are resolved. We will
[[Page 2932]]
chase the terrorists around the world so we do not have to face them
here at home.
There are big differences of opinion about how to protect America.
During one of our debates, my opponent said
that America must pass a ``global test'' before we commit troops.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I'm not making that up. [Laughter] I heard him say it. [Laughter] He was standing right about there.
As far as I can tell, that means this Nation of ours must go to other
nations to seek permission before we secure our defense.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. In a new term, I will work with our allies and I will
strengthen our alliances, but I will never turn over America's national
security decisions to leaders of other countries.
Now, we have big differences. I have told the families of our
military and those who wear the uniform they will have all they need.
The military will have all it needs to complete their missions in
Afghanistan and Iraq. That's why I went to the Congress and asked for
$87 billion for supplemental funding in September of 2003. It was
important funding. It was necessary funding for our troops. And we
received great bipartisan support. As a matter of fact, my
opponent first said that it would be
irresponsible to vote against funding for the troops--until his poll
numbers went down. [Laughter] And then he actually did the irresponsible
thing and he voted against funding for our troops.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. And then he entered the
flip-flop hall of fame. And as he entered that hall of fame, he said,
``I actually did vote for the 87 billion, before I voted against it.''
[Laughter] I have spent hours in the coffee shops of Texas. I have never
heard anybody in this great State talk that way.
He has given a lot of explanations about
that vote since then, but I think the most revealing explanation was
this. He said, ``The whole thing was a complicated matter.'' [Laughter]
There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
[Laughter]
We have a difference of--we have a different understanding about
this war on terror. My opponent says September
the 11th didn't change him much at all.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Well, September the 11th changed me, and it changed
my outlook about how to protect you, about how to do my duty to protect
the American people. I will never forget the day I went to the ruins of
the Twin Towers. It was September the 14th, 2001. There were workers
there in hardhats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever it
takes.'' I remember a man grabbed me by the arm, and he looked me in the
eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day, I wake up
every morning trying to figure out how to better protect our country. I
will never relent in our Nation's defense, whatever it takes.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. Fantastic way to win--way to end what has been a
great campaign. These are historic times. There's a lot at stake in this
election. The future safety and prosperity of America are on the ballot.
The truth of the matter is, this election comes down to who do you
trust? Who do you trust?
Audience member. You!
The President. The American people will trust the candidate who can
see a better day, who can clearly see that you can't lead this Nation
unless you know where you want to lead it. And I know exactly where I
want to take this Nation for the next 4 years.
One of my favorite sayings comes from a fellow Texan, Tom Lea. He
said, ``Sarah and I live on the east side of the mountain. It is the
sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is
coming, not to see the day that is gone.'' During
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much of this campaign, my opponent has been
talking about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day that's
coming. I'm talking about a better day for every American. I see a day
where prosperity reaches every corner of our country, a day where every
child is able to read and write. And I see a day, because we spread
freedom, that this world becomes more peaceful, and we achieve the peace
we want for our children and our grandchildren.
Now, I see a better day. And tomorrow the people of America have a
chance to bring that better day to all of us by voting for strong,
confident, optimistic leadership, by sending me and Dick Cheney back to Washington, DC.
Four years ago when I traveled our country asking for the vote, I
made a pledge that if I was elected, I would uphold the honor and the
dignity of the office. Because of your friendship, because of the hard
work of many people here, because of the votes tomorrow, I will continue
to uphold the honor and the integrity of the Presidency for 4 more
years.
Thank you for coming. God bless. On to victory. Thank you all.
Note: The President spoke at 10:57 p.m. in the Moody Coliseum at
Southern Methodist University. In his remarks, he referred to R. Gerald
Turner, president, Southern Methodist University; Gov. Rick Perry and
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst of Texas; Tom Craddick, speaker, Texas State
House of Representatives, and his wife, Nadine; entertainers Toby Keith
and Tracy Byrd; and actor Chuck Norris. The transcript released by the
Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of the First
Lady, who introduced the President.