Remarks at President Ford Committee Headquarters in Indianapolis

Thank you very, very much, Bill, Governor Bowen, other distinguished guests, and, particularly my old and very good friend, Bill Bray, here--it is awful nice to see you, Bill.

You can't imagine what a thrill it was to come to Indianapolis and have that wonderfully warm welcome that was accorded me last night at Butler University Fieldhouse.

I can't imagine anybody having a warmer spot for a city or the people than to have that kind of an expression. So, I thank you if you were there, I thank you if you weren't, because it was a great night--just thanks very, very much.

Now, let me also express my deepest appreciation to your wonderful Governor-didn't I just see Bob Orr ¹ come in--and all of the other people in the President Ford Committee here in Indianapolis and elsewhere in Indiana for the superb job that all of you are doing to make certain that we carry Indiana on May 4.

I can see here in this room that you are not only great in quantity but, goodness me, you have got the best quality I can imagine.

Let me give you a quick analysis of where we are. As we get more or less to the halfway mark, we are well above the 50 percent of the delegates that we need to win in Kansas City in August of this year. And when we keep going down the road with the momentum that we have gotten from the various primaries and from the various convention States, that momentum is real, and we are going to Kansas City and win, and win in November thereafter.

And let me tell you why I think we will win. We have got great organizations and outstanding leadership in every State of the Union, and you here in Indiana are typical. You have got the top people at the head, and we have got tremendous volunteer support.

I think also we have the right programs. And what are those programs? Those programs are aimed at having a strong economy that is going to provide jobs in the private sector, and those jobs have come because we have got the right programs.

As you will recall, when I became President we were on the brink of a very serious recession--the worst in 40 years in this country. We didn't panic. We took the right course of action. We decided that the best place to get jobs for people was not in government, loading up the Federal payroll, but getting jobs in the private sector, and it has paid off because right now we are moving up. Everything is going up that ought to be going up and everything is going down that ought to be going down, so keep the faith. We are going to win on this. It is the best program of any for any candidate to have this kind of a move, this kind of a trend that we have right today.

But let's talk about our other big assets. I think the old traditional programs are still sound. If you have got prosperity at home and peace around the world, those are the programs that are successful. And right now, for the first time in a good many years, there isn't a single U.S. military officer-man in combat around the world. We have got peace, and we are going to keep it that way.

Now let me just make one or two other comments. A lot of politicians-and I exclude Bill and I exclude the great Governor and your fine, outstanding Lieutenant Governor and any other Republicans who are here--[laughter]you promise only what you can produce, and you produce everything that you promise.

This administration is going to be frank and candid and honest with the American people. We have been, and as a result of that we have their faith and their trust.

So, I say to you, we have got the right organization with the right leadership. We have got not only quality but quantity in the volunteers. We have got the right programs both at home and abroad. We have got the enthusiasm, we have got the momentum and, believe me, we are going to win in Indiana on May 4. And we are going to the convention in August and we are going to win there, and we are going to win in November.

Thank you very, very much.