Speech for campaign rally at City College, Fresno, CA, October 24, 1984.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_speeches_1984/1058/thumbnail.jp

Ferraro, Geraldine

English

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Fresno Rally Speech

Fordham University School of Law

Fordham Law SchoolFLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and HistorySpeeches 1984 Vice-Presidential Campaign10-24-1984Fresno Rally SpeechGeraldine FerraroFollow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_speeches_1984Part of the Law CommonsThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by the 1984 Vice-Presidential Campaign at FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship andHistory. It has been accepted for inclusion in Speeches by an authorized administrator of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship andHistory. For more information, please contact tmelnick@law.fordham.edu.Recommended CitationFerraro, Geraldine, "Fresno Rally Speech" (1984). Speeches. 59.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_speeches_1984/59rB.Hi~.NQ.J ...... (~J)J ... r~:.Q.B.N.J.fr ... :::· .. ·:~ .... .G..~.T.X .... i:;;.QJ~.X·!.r:.Q.f:. 9..G . .T.Q.f:.X~.B .... ?.J . .t ..... 1..().'.J:~~. Thank you, Rick~ for that terrific introduction. I'm deli9hted to be here with my two outstanding colleagues from the Houc.;.e, Rick Lehman and Tony Coelho. And to be here today with Mayor Dan Whitehurst, and your student body president, Denise B :::1 r t l E~ t t E·~ • It's an honor to be here at California's oldest community college. You can't deny it: Fresno City really is number one. Let me congratulate all of you on your school's diamond jubilee. But let me also warn you not to use up your whole supply of champa9ne in the next two weeks leave a few cases for November G, when we'll all celebrate a Democratic victory. It's 9reat to be here in Fresno~ and it's great to be here in the home state of the next ex-President of the United States. This is my fifth trip to California. And I'll be back. t () t h i s s t :,~ t e s ;:i o f t <:? n f o r t 1-.1 o · r (·? :,~ s o n s : first, I love it. second, we want to win. I want to tell you honestly, we need California to win. And we're 9oin9 to do it with California. But I didn't just came here ta drive up and down your magnificent coastline in a time capsule. I'm here for a much more serious purpose. Fresno? City College P.::;t..~7~!~~ ..... ~:~. Next week, your mid-terms are coming up, and I want to be here today to help prepare you with a little quiz of my own. Are we going to win the election in November? Are we going to send Walter Mondale to the White House and Ronald Reagan back here to the ranch? You know, George Bush doesn't agree with us. Th1'? oth(·?r d::,iy he said, 'We've just wrapped up four more years.• The .::ir r 09:::1ncf:~ of this Administration astounds me. Thjs election will be decided by the voters? not George Bush. Walter Mondale and I are 9oin9 to campaign across this country for the things we believe in. And I have news for George Bush, we're 9oin9 to win. After my debate with George Bush, one of his top aides explained their strategy for these debates by saying, quote, "You can say anyth1n9 you want during a debate, and 80 million people hear it.• endquote, If reporters document that a candidate spoke untruthfully, he said, quote, "so what? Maybe 20 people read it or 2,000 or 20,000." endquate Ronald Rea9an's performance last Sunday in his second debate with Walter Mondale was a tribute to that cynical theory. Fresno, City College f'._::i .. 9.~~ .. ... ~t You know, we all prepare for the s e deba t es. f.ind whilE· his aides didn't want to make the mistake of brutalizing him with facts a9ain, Ronald Reagan did prepare for his performance on Sunday. One thin9 he knew was that someone would ask him tn defend his statement that submarine launched nuclear missiles could be called back -- when we all know they cannot be. He knew he'd 9et that question, so he prepared a response. And when the question came he denied ever hav1n9 made that st::itt:!ment . He didn't e x plain it. He didn't apolo9ize for it. And he didn't take responsibility for it. H~? deni(·o•d it. But the record shows he did say it on May 13, 1982. President who not only gets his facts ri9ht about nuclear missiles, but also who doesn't use debates to hide the truth fron1 the American people. La s t Sunday, Ronald Reagan not only made a serious misstatement, he made several serious mistakes. He said the only alternative to Marcos is Communism -- when it's not. Hf:~ S-3id there's no connection betweeen deficits and ille9al immigration -- when there is. He denied saying that submarine launched missiles could ever be recalled. Wh~~n, in :f.3ct~ he did s.:~y :i.t.. Fresno, City Colle9e f3S~ .... 1 Perhaps the most astoundin9 thing he did was propose spe~din9 hundreds of billions of dollars on a Star Wars weapons system that he wants to hand over to the Soviet Union. makes a lot of sense. We won't sell the Russians ordinary commercial computers, but this President wants ta give them ou1· most important, sensitive military secrets. Walter Mondale knows more about our national security after being out of office for four years, than Ronald Reagan knows after bein9 in charge of the most impressive security establishment in the world. We need a President in command of the facts. We need a President who knows what he's doing. We need a President like Fritz Mondale who can take charge of this government. In one day, when Fritz Mondale offered ne the nomination he did more for equal opportunity than Ronald Reagan has done i~ four, long years. On that day, I felt a special surge of pride as an immigrant's daughter. But it wasn't just a personal victory for me. It was a victory for every womanr and today I know if we can do this we can do anything. This election is not a fight ov~r the past. It's a contest for the future. It's not a duel between personalities. It's a struggle between principles that will guide this nation for years to come. Fresno, City College f~s~ .... ~ Above all, the next Administration will be judged on how it defends four great American principles. E1rstv education. Americans have always known that education unlocks the doors to opportunity. We know that to get ahead, you have to 9et an education. But this Administration simply doesn't value education, and it doesn't care whether all of us -- not just a few -- enjoy a fair chance to succeed. Where we see a need to invest in the promise of our youth, Ronald Reagan has dramatically cut school aid and dramatically slashed public school funding. Ronald Rea9an wants to send a teacher into space~ but I say we have to help our students and teachers here on earth. Just telling children to study hard and behave won't put books on the library snelves, or instruments in the laboratories. Walter Mondale and I will launch a major new investment in educational excellence, to make this the best educated 9eneration in American history. Fresno, City College r:. :::1 .. ~·). ~! ... J?. Second, Americans have always believed that personal freedom is essential. But the extremists who control the Republican Party believe that the moral values of one group should be the law of thi:: J.:::ind. They would impose a religious test on federal judges, and put the 9overnment between you and your most personal choic(·?S. Walter Mondale and I will keep the Federal government in public buildings and out of our homes, our churches and our I want the Supreme Court chosen by Walter Mondale, not Jerry F::llWE~ll .. Third? We won't have any kind of future without this planet. We must keep our land, our children, and our lives free from toxic wastes. Too many Americans now must worry about the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the land they own. This Administration has turned its back on them. They haV(·?. sliamefully mismanaged the Superfund, slashed the EPA budget by half, opposed the Safe Water Drinking Act, and failed to help loca.I. school districts remove asbestos from same 33,000 public schools -- asbestos which causes deadly cancer and lung disease. Fresno, City College t§S~ ... I Rememberf this i~ the Administration that gave us James Watt once and Anne Burford twice. Things will be different under President Mond3le. He will enforce our environmental laws. He will rebuild the EPA. He will use a reauthorized and expanded Superfund to clean up the most dangerous toxic dumps, and he'll make the polluters pay for the clean up. I say we need an Administration that takes polluters to courtf and not to lunch. And fourth, there's no greater American principle than peace with other countries, and that requires endin9 the arms race. President Reagan is the first President since Hoover not to meet with the Soviet leader. He is the first President since the dawn of the nuclear age not to sign an arms control agreement. And he is the first President in history to support an arms race in space. I say we need a President who will talk with the Soviet leader on his first day in officer not on the first day of his re-election campaign. Fresno, City College !::'..-~1..~).~~~ ... J!. And we need a President who will stop the arms race before it spins into space. It's time to say, the sky's the limit. Rather than extending the arms race into space, let's stop it h e r e o r1 !?. :;~ r t h • Io do that, we need a President who is informed and energetic, active and involved. President Carter showed in the Camp David accords that perseverence by a determined President can cut through centuries of bitter hatred. By comparison, Ronald Reagan has forfeited the leadership which only the President can give us. Name a region of the world, and our influence in the last four years has waned, not grown. Name a foreign policy mistakey and this President has blamed someone else. So far, he has blamed Congress, President Carter and a local military commander for the tragedies of Beirut. people want a President who admits his mistakes and learns from tht:·m. They want a President who cares more about protecting this nation, than about protecting his own image. Fresno, City College PAS§ .... ~ That's the kind of President Walter Mondale will be. He will press for human rights -- not only in the Soviet Union and Poland, but also in El Salvador, South Africa, and the Philippines. He will be committed to diplomacy as a first resort and force as a last resort. He will have the courage to stand up to the Soviet Union, but also the wisdom to sit down with them and negotiate an end to the arms race. Those are the four basic principles, but to build the future, we must do it together. Dividing us into haves and have nots is not the way to strengthen this country. Everytime we lower a barrier our nation is stronger. Every time we take advantage of talents that were previously excluded, our nation is richer. Walter Mondale and I are committed to an America which judges people, not by the color of thier skin, but by the content of their character. We believe that poor and avera9e income families should not thave to pay more in taxes, so the rich can pay less. We want an Administration that supports civil rights laws, not segregated academies. Fresno, City College t33§ .... l.Q We believe this country grows stranger through diversity. Many Californians come from other nations, including Latin America. I too am the daughter of an immigrant, and 1 can tell you that no one believes more firmly and more deeply in hard work, in their faith, and in our country than Hispanic and other ethnic Americans. I want a society that treasures its diversity, and respects all of its citizens. And I want a country that keeps faith with women. When I take my oath for my second term as vice president, I want ta swear to uphold a Constitution that includes the Equal Rights Amendment. The Democratic Party has always believed in these principles. But recently it seems like we may have another new convert. Ronald Reagan has been quoting John F. Kennedy, and riding Harry Truman's train. Two weeks ago he took Harry Truman's Pullman car out of a museum to try to recreate Truman's famous whistle-stop tour of 1948. What you didn't hear from Reagan is what Harry Truman had to say -- and I quote, "Any farmer who votes Republican should have his head examined." And I agree. Fresnay City College fASQ .... J.1. That train stunt didn't fool anyone. But think about it. What better symbol could Ronald Reagan give us of his Administration: There he was, facin9 backwards, without a clue about who was at the controls, or in what direction he was 9oing. The fact is, Ronald Rea9an has 9iven farmers the worst four years since the depression. Net farm income has dropped by half. Farm exports have collapsed. foreclosures have tripled, and 300,000 farm-related jobs have been last -- a good many of them here in Missouri. In response to that suffering, Ronald Rea9an says, let prosperity "trickle down.• Well, even someone from Queens knows that crops grow from the 9round up. Walter Mondale has been a friend of farmers for as long as Reagan has opposed them. Make no mistake about it: Walter Mondale will be the best President California farmers ever had. You know that. But what you may not know is that in 1982, the farmer's Union gave Geraldine Ferraro a 100 percent rating on her votin9 record. And in 1983, they gave me 91 percent. That ain't bad for a city kid. Fresno, City College f .. :~.3.~~ ... J.~;!, The challenges are great today, but the American people are f.:'Vf:!n greatr::!r. Eleanor Roosevelt stoked the ember of defiant hope in all of us, when she said, "Yau must do the thing you think you c::3nnot do .. • Let others say we cannot afford equal opportunity in I say we must pass the Equal Rights Amendment .. Let others say we cannot guarantee our personal freedoms in this country .. I do not want Ronald Reagan or any other President to make decisions about my personal life. I want to make those decisions for myself. Let others say we cannot clean up toxic waste dumps. we owe it to our children not to poison their world. Let others say we cannot keep our bond with senior c:i.ti~:~c:~ns. I say we must keep Social Security secure. And let others say there's no way to stop the nuclear arms I say our nation's security and our children's future depends on it. This country has never failed to meet a challenge, and we won't start now. Let others say this election cannot be wan. I ~:.:::1y it c.:in. It must. And with your help it will. T.f::l.r\W.< .... .Y.P.U .... v.i:~.RY .... i"l.P.C::.IJ" .. ...... END ........ 

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Fresno Rally Speech

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