••• Advance Preview? •••
This Thursday Night • He Is Scheduled To Accept The
Democratic Nomination For President Of The United States
John F. Kerry
Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech
"By Their Deeds, You Shall Know Them
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I stand before you tonight, humbled by the honor you've
bestowed upon me, and proud to be your nominee for
President. I accept, with a full heart, and I stand ready to do
battle for democracy and for America.
Almost four decades ago, while I was serving in the jungles of
Vietnam, I told myself that if God saw fit to deliver me from
this trial, I would dedicate myself to serving my country and
my people. And so I chose a life in public service. I've served
as a prosecutor, as a lieutenant governor, and a senator--and
next January, I hope that you'll allow me to serve as your
President.
My opponent has chosen to make my career of service to our
country a target of his attacks. I've risked my life in battle, and
I've done battle for the people every day of every year that
I've served our country. I'm proud to stand by my record of
service, all four decades of it.
The real question, Mr. President, is why won't you?
It says in the Good Book, "By their deeds, not their words,
you shall know them." And so it is with the President and his
advisors - by their deeds, we will know them.
What are these deeds?
Four years ago, we were enjoying the greatest economic boom
in American history. We had added millions of jobs, the stock
market was climbing ever upward, we were enjoying the first
budget surplus in over thirty years, and we were well in our
way to being debt-free, as a nation, for the first time since
1835.
We were at peace with the world, and it seemed, at long last,
that we were on our way to bringing freedom and justice to all
the nations of the world. Through careful diplomacy, and the
judicious use of force, working with our allies in NATO and
across the world, we ended one genocide in Bosnia and kept
another one from happening in Kosovo. And we came closer
than anyone ever has to bringing peace to the Middle East, by
brokering a genuine understanding between Israel and the
Palestinians.
America's prestige had never been higher, and it could have
gone higher still. We were a brilliant palace, crowned high
upon a mount.
Four years later, how sadly things stand tonight. The palace in
ruins, and our reputation among the nations of the world in
tatters.
By their deeds, you shall know them.
Our national debt, far from being vanquished, now stands at
such a staggering level that a child born tonight has already
run up a $10,000 debt before drawing her first breath. All this,
thanks to a series of tax cuts, each greater than the one before,
and vastly benefiting only 13,000 Americans.
By their deeds, you shall know them.
We face deficits as far as the eye can see. In just four years, we
have gone from being $500 billion in the black, to being $3
trillion in the red. This, my friends, at a time when we need
every dollar we can get, so we can fight - and win - our war
against terrorism. So we can assure that the baby boomers are
taken care of when they retire. And so we can assure that
every American born tonight has the opportunity to live their
dreams, the freedom to enjoy their lives, and the security that
should the unthinkable happen, their lives won't be a disaster
By their deeds you shall know them.
But for many of you, that disaster has already happened. In
just four years, we have lost over two-and-a-half million jobs.
For the first time since the Great Depression, we will have a
President who has lost more jobs than he has created. And at
every turn, he chose not to help you, but to ignore your
troubles, and tell you how you could now enjoy a new career
as a spatula operator, or a fast-food engineer.
By their deeds, you shall know them.
Four years later, we are at war. We didn't choose war; it was
chosen for us. But instead of rising to the challenge, and
crushing our enemies when he had the chance, he allowed
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to escape to the mountains of
Pakistan and fight another day, where they continue to plan
and plot our demise as a bulwark of freedom and justice - for
it is freedom that they detest, and justice they abhor.
Then he misled us into a war against an enemy who had
nothing to do with the scum who had attacked us, and killed
so many of our friends and family. Having demolished
Saddam's brutal regime, he had no plan for what to do next,
and now, Iraq is on the brink of anarchy, and what could have
been a citadel of freedom and justice, in a place where none
was known before, is now a cauldron of chaos and terror.
And in the process of going to war, he wasted all the goodwill
we had as a result of September 11 and shredded our alliances
to the point where our military lies exhausted and over
extended, lacking the proper supplies, and unable to resort to
either partner or ally for comfort and aid. All the work of
years, dashed in matter of months, in a mad dash to vanquish
a foe who posed no imminent threat. And so now, we are
further than ever before from seeing peace in the Middle East.
By their deeds, you shall know them.
These are the President's deeds, and it's no surprise why he
doesn't want you to know them. Because if you did, you'd
realize that it is a record of such unmitigated failure and
misery, that to see it is to realize just how far and how fast
we've fallen, from the mount into the abyss.
And so he hides behind a cloud of smoke and mirrors, telling
you that it wasn't his fault, and passing the buck to everyone
but himself.
It's not my fault the economy is ruined, he says; it was already
ruined when I took office. How quickly he forgets that he said
we needed tax cuts to keep the economy going strong.
It's not my fault that America was attacked; we had no idea
that was going to happen. How quickly he forgets that his
advisors were told before taking office that the greatest
danger America faced was the mortal threat of al-Qaeda and
terrorism.
It's not my fault that jobs are gone, it's not my fault that
there's a deficit, it's not my fault that our reputation is
tattered, our alliances are frayed, and our military is broken.
It's not my fault.
And in all of this, we wonder when the leader of the party of
personal responsibility will take some for his actions.
Mr. President, tonight, I just have one question for you. If you
can't stand the heat, and you want to pass the buck, why don't
you toss it over to me?
I'll take the heat, I'll take the buck, and I'll be the President of
these United States.
And as President, I'll fight every day to restore our economy.
I'll fight to protect our jobs, and I'll work day and night so that
every American who wants a good job, with a living wage, can
get one.
As President, I'll fight every day to make sure that our
national deficit is eliminated, so every American born tonight
can have the freedom and the opportunity live their American
Dream, free of any obstacle to color, creed, gender, or
orientation, and secure in the knowledge that you can go only
as far as your dreams can take you.
As President, I'll fight every day and every night until the
shadow of terrorism has been forever demolished, not just
from America, but from the world. And I will use every
means necessary to crush al-Qaeda. I will not rest, I will not
falter, until those responsible for the atrocity that was
September 11 have seen the swift sword of justice - and I will
not fail.
These things I pledge to you tonight - and this more: that I will
restore honor, dignity and responsibility to the Oval Office.
God helping me, I will not tire in my task to serve you and to
serve America.
I ask only this: that you join me in this great journey. Rise with
me, and we will all rise together, not as Democrats or
Republicans, but as Americans, men and women of every
color, creed and orientation, to make this country once again
what it once was - a brilliant palace, crowned high upon a
mount.
And by our deeds - by our magnificent deeds - you shall
know us. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless
America."
First Draft • Of SUGGESTED Kerry Acceptance Speech •
Written By U.S. Colorado Springs Soldier Raf Noboa • Born In
USA Territory Puerto Rico • Now Stationed With USA 4th
Infantry In Iraq
Written On March 18 2004 • In Response To Unofficial Speech
Writing Contest • By Big Left Outside Web Blogger Al
Giordano
With His Draft Raf Sez:
"Al,
I wrote this up quickly, while I'm deployed out here in Iraq.
As a veteran, John Kerry has always appealed to me in ways
the other contenders haven't, and the more I hear about him,
the more excited I get.
I don't know how good this is. I haven't had a chance to really
hear John Kerry speak, and I think having an idea of the
speaking cadences of the man you're writing speeches for
always helps. I look forward to hearing whatever advice you
can give me. You can reach me at the email address I gave"
3:20:03 AM
