Ann Richards Campaign Schedule and Announcement -
Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Buenas noches, mis amigos! Tonight, I want to announce to this nation that in a little more than one year, the Reagan-Meese-Deaver-Nofziger-Poindexter-North-Weinberger-Watt-Gorsuch-Lavell-Stockman-Haig-Bork-Noriega-George Bush years will be over, and will usher in the administration of a REAL Texan and A REAL woman. Yes, I am running for President of the United States and I'm asking you to join me!
I'm running for President because there are Real People With Real Problems out there. Growing up, I came to understand the small truths and the hardships that bind neighbors together. Those were real people with real problems. And they had real dreams about getting out of the Depression. Folks talked about war and Washington and what this country needed - they talked straight talk, and it came from people who were living their lives as best they could. And that's what we're gonna do tonight. We're gonna talk about real people with real problems.
Hardworking, salt of the earth folks have been forgotten here in America. This Republican Administration treats us as if we were pieces of a puzzle that can't fit together. They've tried to put us into compartments and separate us from each other. Their political theory is ''divide and conquer.'' They've suggested time and time again that what is of interest to one group of Americans is not of interest to anyone else. We've been isolated, we've lumped into that sad phraseology called ''special interests.''
They've told farmers that they were selfish, that they would drive up food prices if they asked the Government to intervene on behalf of the family farm, and we watched farms go on the auction block while we bought food from foreign countries. Well, that's wrong.
They've told working mothers it's all their fault that families are falling apart because they had to go to work to keep their kids in jeans, tennis shoes and college. And they're wrong.
They've told American labor they were trying to ruin free enterprise by asking for 60 days' notice of plant closings, and that's wrong.
And they told the auto industry, and the steel industry, and the timber industry, and the oil industry, companies being threatened by foreign products flooding this country, that you're protectionist if you think the Government should enforce our trade laws. And that is wrong.
When they belittle us for demanding clean air and clean water, for trying to save the oceans and the ozone layer, that's wrong.
No wonder we feel isolated, and confused. We want answers, and their answer is that something is wrong with you. Well, nothing's wrong with you - nothing wrong with you that you can't fix in November.
We Democrats believe that America is still the country of fair play, that we can come out of a small town or a poor neighborhood and have the same chance as anyone else, and it doesn't matter whether we are black or Hispanic, or disabled or women.
We believe that America is a country where small-business owners must succeed because they are the bedrock, backbone, of our economy.
We believe that our kids deserve good day care and public schools. We believe our kids deserve public schools where students can learn and teachers can teach.
And we want to believe that our parents will have a good retirement - and that we will too.
We Democrats believe that Social Security is a pact that cannot be broken. We want to believe that we can live out our lives without the terrible fear that an illness is going to bankrupt us and our children.
We Democrats believe that America can overcome any problem, including the dreaded disease called AIDS. We believe that America is still a country where there is more to life than just a constant struggle for money. And we believe that America must have leaders who show us that our struggles amount to something and contribute to something larger, leaders who want us to be all that we can be.
I believe I am that kind of a leader, and I am asking for your help tonight.
This Administration has told us that employment rates are great and that they're for equal opportunity, but we know it takes two paychecks to make ends meet today, when it used to take one, and the opportunity they're so proud of is low-wage, dead-end jobs.
We know that there is no major city in America where you cannot see homeless men sitting in parking lots holding signs that say, ''I will work for food.''
Now my friends, we really are at a crucial point in American history. Under this Administration we have devoted our resources into making this country a military colossus, but we've let our economic lines of defense fall into disrepair.
The debt of this nation is greater than it has ever been in our history. We fought a world war on less debt that the Republicans have built up in the last eight years. It's kind of like that brother-in-law who drives a flashy new car but he's always borrowing money from you to make the payments.
We Democrats are committed to a strong America. But we don't say things are hard for us because we were different, or isolated, or special interests. We come together under us a sense of national purpose.
We have given America Social Security, electricity across America, guaranteed that when we put our money in the bank that the money was going to be there and it was going to be insured. We have protected the environment for ourselves and future generations. And we have worked every day for the average Americans, 'cause they are the backbone of this great Nation we call home.
When it comes right down to it, this election is a contest between those who are satisfied with what they have and those who know we can do better. That's what this election is really all about. It's about the American dream - those who want to keep it for the few, and those who know it must be nurtured and passed along.
I ask you to join me in this campaign as we fight for the American dream for all of our family and friends across this great Nation so that we can all do better. Please join me. Thank you.
Richards Campaign Schedule: August 1, 1991 - August 8, 1991 -
Moday, Aug 1: TEXASAustin - Governor's Mansion: Presidential Announcement
- Texas State University: TX Democratic Party Luncheon
Dallas - Rally on "The Deficit: A Shared Problem"
Sunday, Aug 2: IOWADes Moines - Rally on "A Domestic G.I. Bill"
Davenport - Barnstorming
Waterloo - Town Hall
Waterloo, IA
Monday, Aug 3: IOWASioux City - Sioux City Art Center: Speech on "Art and the Humanities in Work and Progress"
Spencer - Arnold Motor Supply: Rally on "Jobs, Unions, and Workers' Rights"
Ames - Barnstorming
Tuesday, Aug 4: IOWAIowa City - Set-up Iowa HQ
- Hamburg Inn No 2 Diner for "Pieshake"
Cedar Rapids - Veterans Memorial Building: Rally on "Ending the War in SE Asia"
Dubuque - Town Hall
Cedar Rapids, IA
Wednesday, Aug 5: NEW HAMPSHIREManchester - Veterans' Memorial Coliseum: Rally on "Restoring and Advancing Civil Rights"
Keene - Rally on "Workers' Rights and their Safety"
Dover - Town Hall
Thursday, Aug 6: NEW HAMPSHIREHanover - University of Dartmouth Law School: Lecture on "Rule of Law"
Salem - Barnstorming
Laconia - Town Hall on "Education, Learning For Our Next Generation"
Hanover, NH
Friday, Aug 7: NEW HAMPSHIREConcord - Set-up New Hampshire HQ
- Rally on "Supporting A Woman's Right to Choose"
Portsmouth - Town Hall
Saturday, Aug 8: NEW HAMPSHIRE, TEXASManchester - City Hall: Rally on "Jobs, Income, and Dignity"
Governor's Mansion - Gubernatorial Duties
