Senator Bradley: Last February, I had the rare opportunity to meet with you in a very small group setting, before most people took your run for the presidency seriously. "What issue stands closest to your heart?" I asked you. Without any media present, you looked me in the eyes for five minutes, spilling out your deepest desires to improve the mediocre race relations this nation has come to accept. I had never heard such passionate rhetoric from any politician.
To you, this issue is not a political position; this is who you are. This is why you really want to be our president, Senator. From the day you were on the Senate floor in 1964 to hear the Civil Rights Act pass, to your days when you witnessed the racial injustices within the National Basketball Association, this issue has pushed you and pushed you. Now you are ready to spread your vision to the country.
I support you because of your character. You served in this country's Senate with integrity for eighteen years, never sacrificing your own sense of what was right for political points. Other Senators of both parties looked to you with the utmost respect. At a time when America needs a moral man in the White House, I know you are the best candidate. America's children will look to you as a role model.
The Vice President continues to accuse you of being a disloyal Democrat because you voted your own mind, and because you left the Senate in 1996 declaring that "politics are broken." I think Mr. Gore needs a new tactic. Many Americans support you for exactly the reasons that Mr. Gore criticizes. We want a president who feels bound only by his personal convictions and what is right for our nation, and one who recognizes the reasons why so many Americans look to Washington with distrust and disgust.
I support you because of your high ideals. You understand the American paradox of our time: we are experiencing an unparalleled era of economic prosperity, yet over forty million Americans have no health insurance and one in five children is ill-fed, ill-housed, and ill-educated. Such big problems demand big solutions. Your record and recent proposals prove that you are willing to tackle the critical issues of this time without the timidity that defines the agendas of other candidates.
I support you because of the emphasis you place on campaign finance reform. The corrupting influence of money in American politics is on dramatic display. Politicians are benefiting disproportionately from special-interest campaign contributions. You are determined to rid our country of such ills, and to emphasize your conviction, you only take money from individuals in amounts less than one thousand dollars and from the public treasury through federal matching funds. You wish to prohibit soft money contributions to national party committees, and believe in the public financing of general elections.
I support you because of your strong feelings about gun control and protecting the environment. Of all the presidential candidates, you have proposed the strongest gun control regulations, and, unlike Mr. Gore, you believe it is common sense for all handguns to be registered. In terms of the environment, you worked extremely hard in the Senate to clean and protect the New Jersey shoreline. Recently, the League of Conservation Voters overwhelmingly endorsed you, and gave your environmental record in the Senate a score of 84 out of 100. Al Gore received a score of 64 out of 100.
As a Democrat, I support you because I know that you are the only candidate who will defeat George W. Bush in a general election. Polls indicate that you fare better against the Texas Governor than does the Vice President. There are many Independents and Republicans who are enthusiastically supporting you because your vision resonates so well across a broad political spectrum.
I'd like to say thank you from the more than two hundred Dartmouth students who are actively involved in your campaign. You have finally given us a reason to be excited about politics in America. You offer a symbol of integrity to a generation that has grown up skeptical of politicians. I know you'll make us proud to be on your side tonight, Senator. And as President, I know you'll make this nation proud to have elected the most honest, intelligent leader it has been blessed with.
Welcome back to Dartmouth, Senator Bradley. My father '65 remembers seeing you outthink and outwork your opponents years ago at Alumni Gym. After tonight, we'll all remember seeing a man who had a vision, and found a way to outthink and outwork his opponents to take this country there.
