Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406050090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Thank you very much for that warm welcome. Before we go any further, I want to ask you something: Are you ready to take back our government? Are you ready to send Washington a message even it can understand? Are you ready to win?
My friends, like you, I believe that Virginia is ready for that change.
And today - today your voice will be heard far beyond the walls of this arena, past the city limits of Richmond and all the way up Interstate 95 to those corridors of power in Washington.
For today we serve notice that it's the beginning of the end for the arrogant and self-serving brand of politics that has done nothing but sacrifice our children's futures on the altar of some politician's re-election.
Today we send the Clintons and their cronies a simple but unmistakable message: This is our government. You stole it, and we are going to take it back.
What we begin today is more than just another political campaign. For we seek nothing less than a fundamental shift in the balance of power in Washington and around this nation. A shift away from politics as a career and back to politics as public service. A shift from special interests to the public interest as the centerpiece of our government. A shift that puts power in the hands of the everyday people, not in the palms of politicians.
My friends, it's time for a new generation of leadership.
And like those brave and dedicated Americans who, 50 years ago this week, began an historic liberation of Europe on the beaches of Normandy, today we launch a battle to free our government from the tyranny of professional politicians.
That is our message, my fellow Republicans. And it is one I will carry into battle as I proudly accept your nomination to be our party's next United States senator.
. . . But as we acknowledge old friends, let us also pay tribute to those who have been our political adversaries, those who have fought the good fight for causes important to them, those dedicated men and women who stood tall for their candidate, Jim Miller.
. . . We are a family, a family which cannot be torn apart. A family which stands together in common purpose to make life better for every other family in Virginia and across the nation.
But isn't it odd? The Washington power brokers sling all the mud - hurl vicious charges against us - and then say we're dividing this party!
It's the Washington crowd that has stepped over the line in this campaign. And now it's time for those outside this hall to show how serious they are about party unity.
. . . Look around us. We are besieged by a liberal government that is up to its caboose in the peccadilloes and personal distractions of its president, and a Congress that is hell-bent on an explosion of federal programs that place a millstone around our children's necks as they drown in a rising tide of red ink.
More than ever before, America is a nation at risk. Crime rages. The deficit soars. And a new wave of Bill Clinton's crippling taxation and regulation saps our strength and endangers the American dream, for us and our children.
You see, something is terribly wrong with a government that worries more about the plight of some fish than it does about working middle-class families.
Something is terribly wrong with a government which says it values equal opportunity, but relies instead on cruel quotas which pit black against white and man against woman.
. . . In our hearts, we know it's just this simple: Our government is being held hostage, a captive of the potentates of pork who live high on the hog off of big government.
Well, I know something about liberating hostages. And I'm here to tell you, right here and now, that success is within our grasp if we do not lose our resolve.
. . . Those who wield the power in Washington will say and do almost anything to keep us from achieving our goals. Why? Because they want a senator who'll join their club, pay the dues of compromise and take the perks of privilege.
Well, I've got news for them: They will never see Ollie North crawling up the steps of Capitol Hill to kiss their big [pause] fat [pause] rings.
. . . Our goal is to make American government as good as its people. Strong, honest, hard-working and, yes, God-fearing.
That was the goal of those brave Virginians who forged a new nation out of a wilderness, who on this day 207 years ago gathered together in a hot convention hall to create a nation that would become a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.
Our challenge today is to forge a new trail through a new wilderness. To carry the torch of our forefathers into the next century with the courage and determination of a new generation of leadership.
With your help, we will give government back to the people. We will keep our nation safe and strong. And by so doing, we will fulfill that most sacred of duties: to provide our children with an even better future than the one left to us.
Thank you, God bless you, and onward to victory in November!
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB