○  1988 democratic national convention keynote address  ○

now i’m going to tell you i'm really glad that our young people missed the depression and missed the great big war.  but i do regret that they missed the leaders that i knew, leaders who told us when things were tough, and that we’d have to sacrifice, and that these difficulties might last for a while.  they didn’t tell us things were hard for us because we were different, or isolated, or special interests.  they brought us together and they gave us a sense of national purpose.  they gave us social security and they told us they were setting up a system where we could pay our own money in, and when the time came for our retirement we could take the money out.  people in the rural areas were told that we deserved to have electric lights, and they were gonna harness the energy that was necessary to give us electricity so my grandmama didn’t have to carry that old coal oil lamp around.

and they told us that they were going to guarantee when we put our money in the bank, that the money was going to be there, and it was going to be insured.  they did not lie to us.

and i think one of the saving graces of democrats is that we are candid.  we talk straight talk.  we tell people what we think.  and that tradition and those values live today in michael dukakis from massachusetts.

michael dukakis knows that this country is on the edge of a great new era, that we’re not afraid of change, that we’re for thoughtful, truthful, strong leadership.  behind his calm there’s an impatience to unify this country and to get on with the future.  his instincts are deeply american.  they’re tough and they’re generous.  and personally, i have to tell you that i have never met a man who had a more remarkable sense about what is really important in life.

and then there’s my friend and my teacher for many years, senator lloyd bentsen. and i couldn’t be prouder

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