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Guest Editorial
The Fundamental Choice in this Election
Sen. John Kerry
Written one week prior to the Republican convention
Friday, October 8, 2004; Page 20
I believe it’s time we had a truthful debate about the choices America faces in this election. That’s why I’m calling for an end to the tactics of fear and smear coming from the Bush campaign and its allies so that we can focus on the issues that matter most to the American people.
Next week, at the Republican convention, we’ll hear a lot of words, slogans, and personal attacks. But what we won’t hear is much talk about jobs, health care, energy independence and rebuilding our alliances. And that’s because they have no plans, no positive vision and no understanding that a stronger America begins at home.
John Edwards and I have been listening to the hopes and concerns of Americans all over this country. They know, as we do, that America can do better. And so the real choice in this election is this: four more years of an Administration that puts the narrow interests of the few ahead of the interests of most Americans, or new leadership that will serve as a champion for the middle-class and those struggling to join it.
It’s a choice between rewarding companies for shipping American jobs overseas and our plan to close those tax loopholes and provide incentives to create the good paying jobs of the future here in the United States of America.
It’s a choice between four more years of turning the largest surpluses in American history into the largest deficits and our plan to cut the deficit in half in the next four years.
It’s a choice between an Administration that says tax cuts for Halliburton and Enron and those who make over $200,000 a year are more important than tax cuts for everyone else, and the our plan to cut taxes for the middle class and working families.
It’s a choice between putting the interests of HMOs and big drug companies over the interests of patients, and our plan to make health care affordable and available to every American.
It is a choice between four more years of siding with big oil and living with high gas prices and our plan to make America independent of Mideast oil by relying on our own ingenuity and innovation, not the Saudi Royal family.
John Edwards and I believe Americans deserve a president who finds the truth and tells the truth instead of misleading the American people; hiding behind front groups; and saying anything and doing anything to avoid the real issues that matter like jobs, health care and the war in Iraq.
These are the issues John Edwards and I have been talking about throughout this campaign, and this is what I’ve fought for all my public life. As a prosecutor, I fought for victim’s rights. As a Senator, I was a leader in the fight to put 100,000 new police on our streets. I broke with many in my own party to support a balanced budget. I stood with John McCain to find out the truth about what happened to our POWs and MIAs in Vietnam.
And I’ve always stood up for our veterans who stood on the frontlines for us. I am proud that I wrote the legislation that finally provided help and health care to the victims of Agent Orange.
I am also proud of the role I played in the landmark law that provides health care to the children of working families.
So if people want to know the real choice in this election, just look at the record. For more than 20 years, I’ve fought for the middle class and those struggling to join it – and at every step, President Bush has sided with the narrow interests of the few.
Next week at Madison Square Garden, the Republican convention will focus on slogans, excuses, and attack politics. But the American people want truthful answers and real plans. They want leadership that will really put the middle class first. And that’s why this is the most important election of our lifetime.
America must do better and we will.
My fellow citizens, we’re the optimists. We’re the can do people. For us, this is a country of the future. And we believe that for America to be truly America, it must be a country of opportunity for all Americans.
So, it’s time for an honest debate about the choices we face. It’s time to reach for the next dream and look to the next horizon. For America, the hope is there. The sun is rising. Our best days are still to come.
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