[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 31 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Pages 1502-1503]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Democratic National Committee Brunch in Aspen

July 26, 1998

    Thank you, Fred. First I'd like to thank Fred and Lisa for welcoming 
us into their modest little home. [Laughter] I live in public housing, 
myself. [Laughter] I want to thank Roy Romer for the wonderful job he's 
done as the general chair of our party and also as the Governor of this 
magnificent State. I thank all the members of the Democratic Party's 
hierarchy here, Len Barrack and others who are here. But I want to 
especially thank all of you who have been part of this weekend.
    Most of you have already heard me give two talks and at least I've 
had a night's sleep now, but I don't want to make you go through it all 
again. I would like to make a couple of points very briefly.
    First of all, I want to make explicit what Fred said. You should all 
feel some sense of personal responsibility for the buoyant economy, for 
the lessening social problems of our country, for the role that the 
United States has been able to play in advancing the cause of peace and 
freedom and security in the world.
    So many of you said something nice to me yesterday about our trip to 
China, which would not have been possible had I not been

[[Page 1503]]

elected and reelected. And I think we have the right policy there, where 
we're trying to advance both our security partnership and our economic 
interests and still stick up for democracy and freedom that we all 
believe in. You are responsible for that.
    The second point I want to make, very briefly--it looks like the 
rain is coming again--is that in these elections, we're going to try to 
elect more Democrats to the House, to the Senate, and to the Governor's 
office. We're going to try to defend the incumbents that are up for 
reelection. I honestly believe, and any major national survey will show, 
that nearly two-thirds of the American people agree with us on virtually 
every significant question. And the attacks that Republicans have raised 
against Democrats--that we were weak on the economy; we couldn't be 
trusted on the deficit; we never met a tax we didn't like; we were weak 
on welfare and crime; we couldn't be trusted with foreign policy--all 
that has no salience anymore.
    So, if we can convince the American people that by electing more 
Members to the House and Senate, they can have more of the progress they 
like instead of the partisanship they deplore in Washington day-in and 
day-out, instead of letting them get carried away by the kind of 
emotional, negative, but unfortunately, very powerful tactics that our 
adversaries used in the last 2 or 3 weeks of every election, you can 
take pride that the next 2 years can produce even more progress than the 
last 6 have. That's what I want you to think about. That's what you've 
been here for. And I am profoundly grateful. Thank you very much.
    Now show everybody the Democrats have enough sense to get in out of 
the rain. [Laughter]

Note: The President spoke at 12:10 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to Fred and Lisa Baron, dinner hosts. A tape was 
not available for verification of the content of these remarks.