McAuliffe: "Bush has squandered our trust."

This is from the chair of the Dem party, so obviously it's partisan. It's also long. (If the admins want me to, I'll edit this post to include only the link. Just let me know.) But I think it's well worth the read. Acknowledging the partisan nature of the arguments here, I'd love to hear what some of my smart Republican friends have to say in response. And that's why I'm posting it here.

http://library.northernlight.com/FA20020810510000011.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc

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Remarks by Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe DNC Summer Meeting General Session Saturday, August 10, 2002 - Las Vegas, Nevada -- 'The Bush Presidency: An End Unto Itself'

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Story Filed: Saturday, August 10, 2002 6:02 AM EST

LAS VEGAS, Aug 10, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following are remarks by Terence R. McAuliffe, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, as prepared for delivery:

"Good morning Democrats! Are you ready to win big 87 days from now?

"Thank you, Yvonne, for that generous introduction. Thank you for the leadership you've brought to the DNC Black Caucus. And thank you for your outstanding service here in Las Vegas on the Clark County Commission. I wanted to bring the DNC to your hometown because this is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country. This is just the kind of city and state -- increasingly suburban, rapidly diversifying both economically and demographically -- that will be a key battleground in future elections. And this is also the home of our outstanding Assistant Majority Leader ... one of the most tenacious fighters our party has ... Senator Harry Reid.

"This has been a spectacular meeting, our best attended in DNC history. As I've met and talked with all of you over the last two days, I see an energy ... a hunger ... an optimism ... a readiness to fight ... that we haven't had in quite some time.

"It's become a cliche to say it ... but this is one of the most important elections of our lifetimes. Not just because of the magnitude of the issues ... but because of the tightness of the margins. With a one-seat edge in the Senate and a six-seat deficit in the House, this is the most closely divided government in half a century. The stakes couldn't possibly be higher.

"But all the pieces are now in place for historic Democratic victories. We have the superior candidates. We're right on the issues. The political tides have shifted dramatically in our favor. No Republican President in the history of their party has ever gained House seats in a midterm election, and that streak will continue this fall, when Dario Herrera and Shelley Berkley win here in Nevada ... when we take the six seats we need to put the Speaker's gavel in the hands of our friend Dick Gephardt.

"All of our Senate incumbents chose to run for re-election and are looking strong in the polls. Meanwhile, the Republicans are forced to defend four open seats and are struggling to hold on to vulnerable incumbents from New Hampshire to Arkansas to Colorado to Oregon. That's why I believe we will give Tom Daschle and Harry Reid the additional Democratic Senators they need to build an even stronger majority.

"And governorships offer perhaps the best prospects for Democratic gains. In Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania ... in New Mexico, Arizona, Wisconsin and Maine ... we are poised to win after being out of power for at least the last eight years. There's no doubt in my mind that we will take back a majority of the nation's governorships for the first time since 1994. And we know how important it is to have Democratic governors in key states as we prepare to wage a presidential campaign two years from now.

"We've got the candidates; we've got the message; and we've got the political trends. And now we have something that we didn't have before -- the institutional muscle ... the sophisticated technology ... the modern instruments necessary to compete and win in today's political campaigns.

"We're working with state parties to modernize their voter files, correcting millions of addresses and saving millions of dollars.

"We've dramatically increased our small donor base, so that our fundraising now derives its strength from the grass roots just as the rest of our Party does. And for the first time in the history of the Democratic Party, I'm proud to announce that we are finally debt-free.

"We invested in redistricting as never before, helping our local Democrats get good, fair maps at both the congressional and the state legislative level.

"We've pumped new life into our political programs, strengthening our relationships with key constituencies -- African-Americans, Latinos, women, seniors, organized labor, rural communities, ethnic Americans, Asian Pacific Islander Americans, gays and lesbians, Native Americans, youth, as well as Americans with disabilities, who lost perhaps their most powerful advocate when our friend Justin Dart passed away earlier this summer.

"We've also built a 21st century technological infrastructure. So we're no longer stuck in the horse-and-buggy era while Republicans use space age technology to peddle their Stone Age ideas. Eighteen months ago, we didn't have enough e-mail addresses to fill a modern football stadium. Today, we can, with the push of a button, send information instantly to one million Democratic activists.

"So the investments have been made and the machinery is in place. Now it's time to crank it up. It's time to use these modern tools to let Americans know that Democrats are fighting for them on the important kitchen- table issues. Fighting to strengthen Social Security ... fighting to lower prescription drug costs ... fighting to improve their children's schools ... fighting to protect their pensions ... fighting to keep their air and water clean ... fighting to secure America's future for all our families.

"Two years ago, George W. Bush accepted his Party's presidential nomination by saying: "If you give me your trust, I will honor it. Grant me a mandate, and I will use it. Give me the opportunity to lead this nation, and I will lead."

"During one of the most challenging years in the nation's history, he had America's complete trust ... a unique mandate ... and an extraordinary opportunity. An opportunity to transcend partisanship ... to use his political capital to productive ends ... to become a leader who could rally Americans around shared values. Let's explore what George Bush did with the trust ... the mandate ... and the opportunity.


Trust
"First, let's talk about trust.

"Americans trusted George Bush to change the tone ... but less than two months after embracing Tom Daschle on the House floor, he directed Republicans to attack the Majority Leader directly and personally. And those attacks continue today, with some Republicans even comparing Senator Daschle to Saddam Hussein and John Walker Lindh.

"Americans trusted him when he promised to protect Medicare and Social Security ... but in his first eight months he squandered the surplus it took us eight years to build, drawing down the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds to pay for his misguided tax cut.

"Americans trusted that he would be straight with us about the state of the federal budget ... but he used the same accounting gimmicks that destroyed Enron to hide his descent into deficit-spending.

"Americans trusted that, like his predecessors, he would speak responsibly about economic conditions. But instead he tried to talk the markets up and down, in an effort to manipulate the economy to peak and crest at politically convenient times.

"And the people of Nevada specifically trusted George Bush to stay true to his word. But he broke his promise by ordering 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to be dumped in a mountain just a few miles down the road from here.

"All Americans trusted that President Bush would never exploit the national crisis that united us. But we watched as he used September's tragedy to explain away last August's deficits. And then he cynically made 9/11 the cornerstone of the Republican 2002 election strategy.

"We trusted George Bush to ensure that the disenfranchisement we saw in Florida in 2000 would never happen again. But a year and a half later, and just three months before an election, we're still waiting for election reform. Whether the President likes it or not, every vote really does count ... and every vote must be counted.

"You know, I can't believe that almost two years after the recount debacle, Katherine Harris is still stumbling her way into the headlines. Only someone who can conclude that George Bush actually won Florida can manage to make her resignation effective two weeks ago.


Mandate
"Now let's take a look at George Bush's mandate, a strong mandate for positive change -- on health care, for example. At a time when prescription drug prices are rising at three times the rate of inflation, he proposed a plan that would leave out 94 percent of seniors. Then he sided with House Republicans as they pushed their plan, which was ghostwritten by drug company lobbyists. And he stood on the sidelines as Tom Daschle and Democrats worked diligently to garner Republican support for a real solution.

"So I ask you, my friends: who are the real obstructionists?

"Time and time again, Senate Democrats tried to fill the leadership void left by the President ... to fulfill his mandate for him. But every step of the way, on issue after issue, they have been thwarted. To his credit, Tom Daschle hasn't let the special interests call the shots in the United States Senate. To his credit, he hasn't let George Bush pass an energy plan that lets oil companies ravage the Alaskan wilderness. To his credit, he hasn't let a man like Charles Pickering take a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"So Republicans can call that obstructionism if they like. But I call it conviction ... I call it principle ... I call it leadership.

"We also gave George Bush a mandate to create jobs and opportunity. In fact, we gave him more than a mandate ... we gave him one hell of a head start. We handed him the strongest economy in the nation's history and the first federal budget surplus in a generation. And since he's taken office, 1.6 million Americans have lost their jobs.

"You know, you're only as effective as the people you surround yourself with. We know they're all "good men." But every time this economic team opens its mouth, markets shudder ... currencies collapse ... and Americans watch their 401(k)'s dwindle.

"And now, instead of a plan that will address Americans' economic vulnerabilities, we get a staged forum in Waco next week to address Republican political vulnerabilities. In order to get an invitation to this photo-op, you need to march in lockstep with this Administration ... and maybe even write a check to the RNC. But there's no seat at the table for average Americans. There's no seat at the table for Democrats. There's no seat at the table for members of Congress. Every seat at the table has a sign that says: "Reserved For Special Interests Only."

"We also gave George Bush a mandate to bring standards and accountability to our nation's public schools. And for once, it looked like he had done the right thing, working with Senator Kennedy to pass a bill with bipartisan support. But when it came time to live up to the commitment, he was more interested in giving Enron a $250 million tax break than in funding education.

"With this kind of record ... with this kind of leadership void ... with these kinds of missed opportunities ... I ask you, my friends: don't we need more Democrats fighting for us in Washington? Don't we need to take back the House? Don't we need a bigger Senate majority? Don't we need more Democratic governors setting the agenda in state capitals around the country?

"For the last nine months, we've watched as several giants of capitalism collapsed under the weight of their own dishonesty, tarnishing the reputations of the thousands of good companies and honest executives who do create jobs, who do generate growth, who do obey the law. And each time a company went under, not only did thousands of Americans see their jobs disappear ... but thousands more saw their retirement dreams shattered.

"These scandals represented a stunning betrayal. Here were honest, hard- working Americans, who diligently saved and invested their money, in the hope that they could retire with relative comfort and dignity. And virtually overnight, many of them were wiped out, while the folks who wronged them glide to a soft landing with their golden parachutes. My friends, that's not what America is supposed to be about.

"So if ever there were a mandate for change, here it was. But what did President Bush do?

"He played the blame game. He tried to convince us that "Kenny Boy" -- his greatest political patron -- was Ann Richards' problem. He called eight years of sustained growth and 22 million new jobs a "binge." Faced with unprecedented market anxiety, he resisted real reform that passed the Senate without a single dissenting vote. And even after the bill became law, before the ink was even dry on his signature, he was trying to undermine its whistleblower protections.

"President Bush was unwilling to spend political capital to make the necessary corporate reforms. But even worse, his own past leaves him unable to lead on this issue. How can he restore confidence to Wall Street when he has engaged in the same practices he condemns today ... when his own Vice President's former company is under investigation ... when he's appointed Harvey Pitt, a walking conflict of interest, to chair the SEC? When it comes to corporate accountability, it's not just that George Bush won't lead ... he can't lead.

"We're looking for some answers. But if you ask the President what happened with Harken Energy, first he says the SEC lost the paperwork ... then it was his lawyers who misplaced the file ... then he says he still hasn't quite figured it out yet. So much for the responsibility era.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President, but the American people do see this issue in black and white. If you have nothing to hide, then release the documents. Make sure the investigation of Dick Cheney is truly independent. To paraphrase a Republican hero ... Mr. President, tear down this stonewall!


Opportunity
"All this trust. All this support. What an opportunity to lead. But in the end to what end?

"A Republican Party that's $100 million richer. A White House that even Republicans have called the most political ever. An Administration adrift, with polling numbers as their only compass and high approval ratings as their only destination.

"George Bush squandered our trust; he ignored the mandate; and he wasted the opportunity. I guess that's what he meant when he said he hit the trifecta.

Ten summers ago, as Bill Clinton accepted your nomination, he said: "George Bush, if you won't use our power to help America, step aside. I will." A decade later, it's a different George Bush, but the same message: Mr. President, you haven't used your power to restore economic growth ... to enhance retirement security ... to improve health care ... to invest in education ... to protect our environment. So step aside. Because a Democratic Congress is coming in 2002 ... and they will!

"Thank you very much, my friends. I'll see you on the campaign trail this fall."