Hillary Clinton photo

Remarks Following the "Super Tuesday" Primaries and Caucuses

February 05, 2008

Thank you so much.

Tonight, we are hearing the voices of people across America.

People of all ages and of all colors, all faiths and all walks of life. People on the day shift, the night shift, the late shift with the crying baby. Moms and dads who want a better world for our children. Young people who deserve a world of opportunity. All those who aren't in the headlines, but have always written America's story.

After seven years of a President who listens only to the special interests, you're ready for a President who brings your voice, your values, and your dreams to your White House.

Tonight, in record numbers, you voted not just to make history - but to remake America. People in American Samoa, Arkansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee... and the great state of New York.

On just one really serious note, we want to keep the people of Arkansas and Tennessee in our prayers. They suffered horrible tornados tonight. We just talked to some of our folks there and people have died in both states, and our thoughts and prayers go out to them in this moment of their need.

Tonight thought is your - tonight is America's night.

It's not over yet, because polls are still open in California for a few more minutes.

I hope all of you will join our campaign at www.hillaryclinton.com because you know - you know that politics isn't a game. It's not about who's up or who's down. It's about your lives, your families, your futures.

It's about the people who have shared their problems with me, looking for solutions. The mother whose insurance company wouldn't pay for her child's treatment. The couple so determined to send their daughter to college, they're willing to mortgage their home with a sub-prime second mortgage. The man who asked me what to do after training the person who will take his job in another country, the veterans who come home only to find they don't have the healthcare, the compensation, and the services they need.

It's also about the people who want to seize America's opportunity. It's about the unions and businesses who are training people for green collar jobs. It's about the auto companies and auto workers who want higher gas mileage cars so we can compete with the rest of the world. It's about our scientist and researchers who want to be able to do stem cell research right here in the United States of America.

It's about our contractors and construction workers who want to get to work to rebuild America from the bridges in Minnesota to the levies in New Orleans.

For seven years, we have seen President Bush's answer. They don't know what's at stake in this election, but we do. We know what we need is someone ready on day one to solve our problems and restore our opportunities. Because when the bright lights are off and the cameras are gone, who can you count on to listen to you, to stand up for you, to deliver solutions for you?

Well, the Republicans want eight more years of the same. They see tax cuts for the wealthy - and they say, why not some more? They see nine trillion dollars in debt - and say, why not trillions more? They see five years in Iraq - and they say, why not a hundred more?

Well, they've got until January 20, 2009 - and not one day more.

Now we know the Republicans won't give up the White House without a fight, well let me be clear, I won't let anyone swift boat this country's future. Together we're going to take back America because I see an America where our economy works for everyone, not just those at the top, where prosperity is shared and we create good jobs that stay right here in America.

I see an America where we stand up to the oil companies and the oil producing countries, where we launch a clean energy revolution and finally confront the climate crisis.

I see an America where we don't just provide health care for some people, or most people, but for every single man, woman and child in this country - no one left out.

I see an America where when a young man or woman signs up to serve our country, we sign up to serve them too.

An America with a 21st century GI bill of rights to help veterans go to college, buy a home or start their own businesses.

I see an America respected around the world again, that reaches out to our allies and confronts our shared challenges - from global terrorism to global warming to global epidemics.

That's the America I see - that's the America we will build together.

I am so lucky to have the most extraordinary staff, volunteers, and supporters...

And I am so grateful for all those long hours and late nights that you've been putting in.

And I want to thank the most important people in my life, first Bill and Chelsea, for their incredible love.

They have done so much day in and day out and I want to thank all my friends and family, particularly my mother, who was born before women could vote, and is watching her daughter on this stage tonight.

I also want to congratulate Senator Obama for his victories tonight. And I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debate about how to lead this country better off in the next generation, because that is the work of my life - that is why I started my career fighting for abused and neglected children, children who have drawn the short straw in life, because this nation gave me every opportunity and we can do the same for every child.

We must continue to be a nation that strives always to give each of our children a better future, a nation of optimists who believe our best days are yet to come, a nation of idealists holding fast to our deepest values, that we are all created equal, that we all deserve to fulfill our God-given potential, that we are destined for progress together.

It is the ideal inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty in this great city, that has overlooked our harbors through wars and depressions and the dark days of September 11, the words we all know that give voice to America's embrace: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free" - a constant reminder that here in America, we face our challenges and we embrace all of our people.

So today we say with one voice, "Give us the child who wants to learn, give us the people in need of work, give us the veterans who need our care. We say give us the economy to rebuild and this war to end, give us this nation to heal, this world to lead, this moment to seize."

I know we're ready.

Thank you all and God bless you.

Hillary Clinton, Remarks Following the "Super Tuesday" Primaries and Caucuses Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/276505

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