Tonight's the big night. In the whole span of his campaign, this will be John Kerry's best opportunity to speak directly and without interruption to the American people. With the world watching, he will lay out his vision for the future of our country.
The last four years have been tough. We've lived through September 11th and two wars, at least one of which is still under way. We've watched with horror and outrage as President Bush and his administration have manipulated these events for political ends, rolling back civil liberties, alienating our closest allies, racking up an enormous debt at home and causing great instability abroad.
For four years, we have been a nation governed by fear.
Today, we're not asking you to sign a petition or make a phone call or give money. We're asking you to do something that you may not have done in a long time. We're asking you to hope. Because, as John Edwards said last night, "Hope is on the way."
When you watch John Kerry tonight, allow yourself to imagine a better future. Imagine an America which is respected throughout the world, and which strives to do right by all of the citizens of the world. Imagine living in a country where the values of community, respect, and empathy are held highest. Imagine having a President who, like President Roosevelt, believes that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
We'll have a lot of work to do on November 3rd when Kerry is our new President. But we'll wake up that morning able to dream big dreams for a country and a world that are once again headed in the right direction.
John Edwards said it far better than we could last night:
Tonight -- tonight, as we celebrate in this hall, somewhere in America, a mother sits at her kitchen table. She can't sleep because she's worried. She can't pay her bills. She's working hard trying to pay her rent, trying to feed her kids but she just can't catch up. Didn't used to be that way in her house. Her husband was called up in the Guard. Now he's been in Iraq for over a year. They thought he was going to come home last month, but now he's got to stay longer. She thinks she's alone. But tonight in this hall and in your homes, you know what? She's got a lot of friends. We want her to know that we hear her. It is time to bring opportunity and an equal chance to her door.
We're here to make America stronger at home so that she can get ahead. And we're here to make America respected in the world again so that we can bring him home and American soldiers don't have to fight this war in Iraq or this war on terrorism alone.
So when you return home some night, you might pass a mother on her way to work the late-shift. You tell her: Hope is on the way.
When your brother calls -- when your brother calls and says that he's spending his entire life at the office and he still can't get ahead, you tell him: Hope is on the way.
When your parents call and tell you their medicine's going through the roof, they can't keep up, you tell them: Hope is on the way.
And when your neighbor calls you and says her daughter's worked hard and she wants to go to college, you tell her: Hope is on the way.
And when your son or daughter who's serving this country heroically in Iraq calls, you tell them: Hope is on the way.
Superstar Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama said it too, in his keynote speech Tuesday night:
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?
John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here-the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.
No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.
After the last four years, it's easy to feel cynical. It's easy to feel pessimistic and afraid for our country's future. But we will never make the country we want to make out of fear and anger alone. Hope is on the way, if we believe it so.
Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
MoveOn PAC
July 29th, 2004
P.S. If you'd like to experience the big speech with friends and neighbors, you can still sign up for a Kerry house party. To find one in your neighborhood, go to:
https://volunteer.johnkerry.com/event/search/?MilesFrom=25&Zip=94108&TimeSpan=WholeCampaign
PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC www.moveonpac.org
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
