Excerpts from Clinton’s Speech on the Economy Philadelphia, March 24, 2008 Excerpts from Obama’s Speech on Race Philadelphia, March 18, 2008 Vice President ? Excerpts from March 4, 2008 Candidate Speeches February Clinton Answers Reporters March 25, 2008

Democratic Debate
Philadelphia-April 16, 2008
Excerts from the transcript. (nytimes.com)

MR. GIBSON: "Talking to a closed-door fundraiser in San Francisco 10 days ago, you got talking in California about small-town Pennsylvanians who have had tough economic times in recent years. And you said they get bitter, and they cling to guns or they cling to their religion or they cling to antipathy toward people who are not like them.

Now, you've said you misspoke; you said you mangled what it was you wanted to say. But we've talked to a lot of voters. Do you understand that some people in this state find that patronizing and think that you said actually what you meant?"

SENATOR OBAMA: “Well, I think there's no doubt that I can see how people were offended. It's not the first time that I've made, you know, a statement that was mangled up. It's not going to be the last. But let me be very clear about what I meant, because it's something that I've said in public, it's something that I've said in television, which is that people are going through very difficult times right now and we are seeing it all across the country. And that was true even before the current economic hardships that are stemming from the housing crisis.

...And so the point I was making was that when people feel like Washington's not listening to them, when they're promised year after year, decade after decade, that their economic situation is going to change, and it doesn't, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion…”

MR. GIBSON: Senator Clinton?

SENATOR CLINTON: “…I don't believe that my grandfather or my father, or the many people whom I have had the privilege of knowing and meeting across Pennsylvania over many years, cling to religion when Washington is not listening to them. I think that is a fundamental, sort of, misunderstanding of the role of religion and faith in times that are good and times that are bad. And I similarly don't think that people cling to their traditions, like hunting and guns, either when they are frustrated with the government. I just don't believe that's how people live their lives. Now, that doesn't mean that people are not frustrated with the government. We have every reason to be frustrated, particularly with this administration.

SENATOR OBAMA: "Because the commander in chief sets the mission, Charlie. That's not the role of the generals. And one of the things that's been interesting about the president's approach lately has been to say, well, I'm just taking cues from General Petraeus. Well, the president sets the mission. The general and our troops carry out that mission. And unfortunately we have had a bad mission, set by our civilian leadership, which our military has performed brilliantly. But it is time for us to set a strategy that is going to make the American people safer.

MR. GIBSON:  “… Would you say, "No, I'm not going to raise capital gains taxes?"

SENATOR CLINTON: "I wouldn't raise it above the 20 percent if I raised it at all. I would not raise it above what it was during the Clinton administration."

MR. GIBSON: "Would you propose an increase in the capital gains tax?"

SENATOR CLINTON:" You know, Charlie, I'm going to have to look and see what the revenue situation is. You know, we now have the largest budget deficit we've ever had, $311 billion. We went from a $5.6 trillion projected surplus to what we have today, which is a $9 trillion debt.

I don't want to raise taxes on anybody. I'm certainly against one of Senator Obama's ideas, which is to lift the cap on the payroll tax, because that would impose additional taxes on people who are, you know, educators here in the Philadelphia area or in the suburbs, police officers, firefighters and the like.

So I think we have to be very careful about how we navigate this.
So the $250,000 mark is where I am sure we're going. But beyond that, we're going to have to look and see where we are.

Back to the top of the page.

MR. GIBSON: Very quickly, because I owe Senator Clinton time, but, yeah, you wanted to respond."

SENATOR OBAMA: "Well, Charlie, I just have to respond real quickly to Senator Clinton's last comment. What I have proposed is that we raise the cap on the payroll tax, because right now millionaires and billionaires don't have to pay beyond $97,000 a year. That's where it's kept. Now most firefighters, most teachers, you know, they're not making over $100,000 a year. In fact, only 6 percent of the population does. And I've also said that I'd be willing to look at exempting people who are making slightly above that.

But understand the alternative is that because we're going to have fewer workers to more retirees, if we don't do anything on Social Security, then those benefits will effectively be cut, because we'll be running out of money."

MR. GIBSON: "But Senator, that's a tax. That's a tax on people under $250,000."

SENATOR OBAMA: “…this is an option that I would strongly consider, because the alternatives, like raising the retirement age, or cutting benefits, or raising the payroll tax on everybody, including people who make less than $97,000 a year… those are not good policy options.”

MR. GIBSON: "Those are a heck of a lot of people between $97,000 and $200(,000) and $250,000. If you raise the payroll taxes, that's going to raise taxes on them."

SENATOR OBAMA: "And that's -- and that's -- and that's why I've said, Charlie, that I would look at potentially exempting those who are in between.

But the point is, we're going to have to capture some revenue in order to stabilize the Social Security system. You can't -- you can't get something for nothing. And if we care about Social Security, which I do, and if we are firm in our commitment to make sure that it's going to be there for the next generation, and not just for our generation, then we have an obligation to figure out how to stabilize the system…”

SENATOR CLINTON: "Well, in fact, I am totally committed to making sure Social Security is solvent. … when it comes to Social Security, fiscal responsibility is the first and most important step. You've got to begin to reign in the budget, pay as you go, to try to replenish our Social Security Trust Fund.

And with all due respect, the last time we had a crisis in Social Security was 1983. President Reagan and Speaker Tip O'Neill came up with a commission. That was the best and smartest way, because you've got to get Republicans and Democrats together.

That's what I will do. And I will say, number one, don't cut benefits on current beneficiaries; they're already having a hard enough time. And number two, do not impose additional tax burdens on middle-class families.
There are lots of ways we can fix Social Security that don't impose those burdens, and I will do that.”

SENATOR OBAMA: "That commission raised the retirement age, Charlie, and also raised the payroll tax. And so Senator Clinton, if she -- she can't have it both ways. You can't come at me for proposing a solution that will save Social Security without burdening middle- income Americans, and then suggest that somehow she's got a magic solution."

SENATOR CLINTON: "But there are more progressive ways of doing it than, you know, lifting the cap. And I think we'll work it out. I have every confidence we're going to work it out. I know that we can make this happen."

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS:" Senator Obama, …as president, how specifically would you recommend changing affirmative action policies so that affluent African Americans are not given advantages, and poor, less affluent whites are?"

SENATOR OBAMA: "Well, I think that the basic principle that should guide discussions not just on affirmative action but how we are admitting young people to college generally is, how do we make sure that we're providing ladders of opportunity for people? How do we make sure that every child in America has a decent shot in pursuing their dreams? And race is still a factor in our society. And I think that for universities and other institutions to say, you know, we're going to take into account the hardships that somebody has experienced because they're black or Latino or because they're women--"

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS:" Even if they're wealthy?"

SENATOR OBAMA: "I think that's something that they can take into account, but it can only be in the context of looking at the whole situation of the young person. So if they look at my child and they say, you know, Malia and Sasha, they've had a pretty good deal, then that shouldn't be factored in. On the other hand, if there's a young white person who has been working hard, struggling, and has overcome great odds, that's something that should be taken into account.

So I still believe in affirmative action as a means of overcoming both historic and potentially current discrimination, but I think that it can't be a quota system and it can't be something that is simply applied without looking at the whole person, whether that person is black or white or Hispanic, male or female…”

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: "Senator Clinton, would you agree to that kind of change?"

SENATOR CLINTON: "Well, here's the way I'd prefer to think about it.
I think we've got to have affirmative action generally to try to give more opportunities to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds -- whoever they are. That's why I'm a strong supporter of early childhood education and universal pre-kindergarten. That's why I'm against No Child Left Behind as it is currently operating. And I would end it, because we can do so much better to have an education system that really focuses in on kids who need extra help.

That's why I'm in favor of much more college aid, not these outrageous predatory student loan rates that are charging people I've met, across Pennsylvania, 20, 25, 28 percent interest rates. Let's make college affordable again.

See, I think we have to look at what we're trying to achieve here somewhat differently. We do have a real gap. We have a gap in achievement. We have a gap in income. But we don't have a potential gap.

I think our job should be to try to create the conditions that enable people to live up to their God-given potential. And that means health care for everyone -- no exceptions, nobody left out. And it means taking a hard look at what we need to do to compete and win in the global economy.

So that's how I prefer to think about it. You know, let's affirmatively invest in our young people and make it possible for them to have a good middle-class life in today's much more competitive economy.”

MR. GIBSON: “…What are you going to do about gas prices? It's getting to $4 a gallon. It is killing truckers…”

SENATOR CLINTON: "Well, I met with a group of truckers in Harrisburg about a week and a half ago, and here's what I told them. Number one, we are going to investigate these gas prices. The federal government has certain tools that this administration will not use, in the Federal Trade Commission and other ways, through the Justice Department, because I believe there is market manipulation going on, particularly among energy traders. We've seen this movie before, in Enron, and we've got to get to the bottom to make sure we're not being taken advantage of.

Number two, I would quit putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and I would release some to help drive the price down globally.

And thirdly, if there is any kind of gas tax moratorium, as some people are now proposing.”

MR. GIBSON: "Like John McCain."

SENATOR CLINTON: "-- like John McCain, and some Democrats, frankly -- I think Senator Menendez and others have said that we may have to do something, because when you get to $4-a-gallon gas, people are not going to be able to afford to drive to work. And what I would like to see us do is to say if we have that, then we should have a windfall profits tax on these outrageous profits of the oil companies, and put that money back into the highway trust fund, so that we don't lose out on repair and construction and rebuilding.

But ultimately, Charlie, we've got to have a long-term energy strategy. We are so much more dependent on foreign oil today than we were on 9/11, and that is a real indictment of our leadership. And I've laid out a comprehensive plan to move us toward energy independence that I hope I will have the opportunity to implement as president."

MR. GIBSON: "Very quickly, Senator Obama, I -- the same thing. But we've heard from politicians for a long time we're going to end dependence on foreign oil. I just have a quote: "The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now." That was Jimmy Carter in 1979. And it's gotten a whole lot worse since then."

SENATOR OBAMA: "Well, you're right. And that's why people are cynical, because decade after decade, we talk about energy policy or we talk about health care policy, and through Democratic and Republican administrations, nothing gets done.

Now, I think many of the steps that Senator Clinton outlined are similar to the plans that we talked about. It is absolutely true that we've got to investigate potential price gouging or market manipulation. I have strongly called for a windfall profits tax that can provide both consumers relief and also invest in renewable energies.

I think that long term, we're going to have to raise fuel efficiency standards on cars, because the only way that we're going to be able to reduce gas prices is if we reduce demand. You've still got a billion people in China, and maybe 700 million in India, who still want cars. And so the long-term trajectory is that we're going to have to get serious about increasing our fuel efficiency standards and investing in new technologies…”

MR. GIBSON:" Final question, …it is hard to see how either one of you win this nomination on the basis of pledged delegates in primaries. And it could well come down to superdelegates. …How are you going to make the case to them why you're the better candidate and more electable in November?…"

SENATOR CLINTON: "Well, I say to them what I've said to voters across America -- that we need a fighter back in the White House. We need someone who's going to take on the special interests.

And I have a plan to take away $55 billion of the giveaways and the subsidies that the president and Congress have lavished on the drug companies and the oil companies and the insurance companies and Wall Street. And I have a plan to give that money back -- give it back in tax cuts to the middle class -- people who deserve it, who have been struggling under this president, who feel invisible, who feel like, you know, they're not even seen anymore.
And we're going to make everybody feel like they're part of the American family again. And we're going to tackle the problems that have been waiting for a champion back in the White House.

Now, obviously, I can't do this alone. I can only do it if I get people who believe in me and support me and who look at my track record and know that, you know, I've spent a lifetime trying to empower people, trying to fight for them.

And I think it's going to be challenging, but it is absolutely what we must do in order to keep faith with our country and to give our children the future that they deserve. So I will tell everyone who listens that I'm ready to be the commander in chief. I've 35 generals and admirals, including two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Wesley Clark and others, who believe that I am the person to lead us out of Iraq, to take on al Qaeda, to rebuild our military.

And I will turn this economy around. We will get back to shared prosperity and we will see once again that we can do this the right way so it's not just a government of the few, by the few and for the few. And I need your help. I need the help of the voters here in Pennsylvania, first and foremost, in order to be able to get to those conversations.

And I hope that I have demonstrated not just over the last weeks or even over the last hour and half but over a lifetime that you can count on me. You know where I stand. You know that I will fight for you and that together we're going to take back our country."

MR. GIBSON: "Senator Obama."

SENATOR OBAMA: "Well, when we started this campaign 15 months ago, it was based on a couple of simple principles: number one, that we were in a defining moment in our history. Our nation's at war. Our planet's in peril. Our economy is in a shambles. And most importantly, the American people have lost trust in their government, not just Democrats but independents and Republicans who've been disillusioned about promises that have been made election after election, decade after decade.

And the bet I was making was a bet on the American people; that they were tired of a politics that was about tearing about each other down, but wanted a politics that was about lifting the country up; that they didn't want spin and PR out of their elected officials, they wanted an honest conversation.

And most importantly, I believe that change does not happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up. And that's why we decided we weren't going to take PAC money or money from federal registered lobbyists, that we were not going to be subject to special- interest influence, but instead were going to enlist the American people in a project of changing this country…

…And so my point to the super delegates would be that if we're going to deliver on health care for every American, improve our schools, deliver on jobs, then it's going to be absolutely vital we form a new political coalition in this country..."

Back to the top of the page.

QUESTION: Should Barack Obama have left his church after Jeremiah Wright made the comments that he did?

CLINTON: Well, I answered a question in an ed board today that was very specific about what I would have done. And, you know, I'm just speaking for myself. And I was answering a question that was posed to me. But I think, given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor.

I gave a speech at Rutgers, about a year ago, that was triggered by the Don Imus comments. And I said that it was time for standing up for what is right, for saying enough is enough, for urging that we turn a culture of degradation into a culture of empowerment, for saying that, while we, of course, must protect our right to freedom of expression, it should not be used as a license or an excuse to demean and humiliate our fellow citizens. Senator Obama spoke eloquently, at that time, as well. You know, we don't have a choice when it comes to our relatives. We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend. Everyone will have to decide these matters for themselves. They are obviously very personal matters. But I was asked what I would do if he were my pastor. And I said I think the choice would be clear for me.

QUESTION: Are you not satisfied with Senator Obama's explanation about his relationship with his pastor, in his speech, then?

CLINTON: I was asked what I would do.

QUESTION: Are you not satisfied with his response...

CLINTON: Well, that's a question that goes to him. I was asked what I would do. And I answered what I would do.

QUESTION: You misspoke regarding your trip to Bosnia, presumably about the sniper fire and running into the cars. After looking at the CBS video, that didn't -- exactly wasn't what happened. But on February 29th, when we were in Waco, you gave a similar account saying that there was sniper fire and that you were running into cars. Did you misspeak again, and what exactly -- how are Americans supposed to, sort of, take what happened here?

CLINTON: You know, I made a mistake in describing it. I have said many times, I've talked about this many times that we were, you know, very much told by the Secret Service and the military that we were going into a war zone and that we had to be conscious of that. I was the first first lady taken into a war zone since Eleanor Roosevelt. And, you know, I think that the military and the Secret Service did a terrific job. But we certainly did take precautions. There is no doubt about that, and I remember that very clearly. But I did make a mistake in talking about it the last time and recently. But, look, this is really about what policy experience we have and who's ready to be commander in chief. And I'm happy to put my experience up against Senator Obama's any day.

QUESTION: Republicans now saying that it's a pattern of exaggeration on Bosnia with the three events that they sent out with the same kind of story. How do you respond to that claim, that this is sort of a pattern that's developed?

CLINTON: Well, I just disagree with that. You know, look, I made a mistake. And, you know, I had a different memory. And, you know, my staff and others have, you know, all kind of come together trying to sort out. So I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I'm human, which, you know, for some people, is a revelation.

QUESTION: You know, there are some in Washington who are saying the race is over. And some in the media are saying the race is over. And you made to say that you're going on. Are you receiving pressure to get out of the race or are you feeling...

CLINTON: No, but I hear it in the atmosphere. But the most common thing that people say to me, it happened here, it happened last night, it happens everywhere now, is, "Don't give up, keep going. We're with you." And I feel really good about that because that's what I intend to do.

QUESTION: Questioning or discussing someone's relationship with their pastor is a very personal matter. And as you know, there are some Democrats who are concerned about the tone of the campaign being negative, being personal. Are those concerns justified?
And do your remarks which you carefully -- which you are careful to read... Do you think those concerns are justified?

CLINTON: Well, as I said, it is a very personal matter. And I was asked a personal question. And I responded as to what I would have done. And, you know, everybody has to answer that for themselves because it is a personal consideration. And obviously, you take into all -- into account all kinds of factors. But when asked a direct question, I gave a direct answer. And I feel very comfortable with that. I don't think that's negative. That's what I would have done. And other people can evaluate that for themselves and make their own conclusions as to what they would have done.

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Excerpts from Clinton’s
Speech on the Economy
Philadelphia, March 24, 2008
(NYTimes.com)

“…In today's economy, trouble that starts on Wall Street often ends up on Main Street, sometimes within minutes, sometimes over the course of months or even years. When there's a run on mortgage-backed securities and the bottom falls out for investment banks, the bottom falls out for families who see the value of their homes -- their greatest source of wealth—decline…

…we continue to persist in brain dead energy policy, as confidence in our currency erodes, that means gas prices so high you feel like it costs more to commute to work than you make when you get there. It means rising food prices that strain household budgets. It means having less left over for savings or even dipping into savings to make ends meet…

…Ultimately, the true currency of today's American economy is confidence. When people lose confidence in the economy and our president's ability to manage it, problems become crises and crises lead to more crises. So, we need a president who can restore our confidence, a president who is ready to confront complex economic problems with comprehensive solutions, a president who will act at the first signs of trouble, working with experts to identify the problem with agencies to adapt regulations, with Congress to pass necessary legislation; working to prevent crises rather than just reacting too little too late. We need a president who is ready on day one to be commander in chief of our economy…

If you give me the chance, I will be that president. I will start by facing our economic situation as it is, not as we wish it would be. That means acknowledging that our economic crisis is, at its core, a housing crisis, a crisis caused in part by unscrupulous mortgage lenders and brokers and unregulated transactions in mortgage-backed securities, in part by speculators who were buying multiple houses to sell for a quick buck and other buyers who didn't act responsibly, and in part by a president and administration who failed to anticipate and continue to downplay the problems we face…”

…But this crisis isn't just about the more than two million households at risk of losing their homes….It's about the tens of millions of families who have lost value in their homes. When I talk about the home foreclosure crisis, sometimes people, I can tell, look at me a little skeptically because they, I can tell, are thinking to themselves, "I didn't buy one of those mortgages, I don't have an ARM. I'm not at risk." But, in fact, that is just not the case.
Home prices dropped almost 9 percent last quarter -- home prices for everyone. If you've paid off your home, if you have a fixed-rate mortgage with a manageable interest rate, you have suffered the steepest decline on record. That means families have lost at least $1.9 trillion in housing wealth so far, nearly two-thirds of the size of the entire United States government budget…”

…The housing crisis is also a crisis for our cities, our towns and our neighborhoods. At least 41 million homes will lose value because of foreclosures in their neighborhoods, including 1.7 million homes right here in Pennsylvania. Abandoned homes and boarded up neighborhoods mean higher crime rates, lower property values and plummeting tax receipts for cities and towns across America.

… a year ago in March 2007, I called for immediate action to address abuses in the subprime market and I laid out detailed concrete proposals for how to do so. I warned this administration that the problems in subprime mortgages would soon spill over into regular mortgages. The response from our president? Well, his treasury secretary told Congress that the problem was, quote, "contained." And president himself assured us there would be a, quote, "soft landing for the housing market."

The housing crisis soon spread from subprime to traditional mortgages. And in August of last year, I warned the administration that the housing mortgage crisis would soon ripple out through the entire economy. Again, I called for immediate action and laid out concrete proposals to prevent foreclosures and help states hard-hit by this crisis. I also called for tighter regulation of the housing market, starting with unscrupulous mortgage brokers who were taking advantage of our families. …I would work with states to develop strong, meaningful broker licensing standards to screen brokers and govern their conduct. And I would require all brokers to register with the federal government so that home buyers can do their own background checks to ensure they're dealing with someone who will deal fairly with them.

I also call for greater regulation of mortgage lenders. I would eliminate the prepayment penalties that lead to such high rates of default. I would require lenders to take into account the borrower's ability to pay property taxes and insurance fees when deciding whether to make a loan in the first place. Too many loan lenders haven't made that part of the calculation, and too many families don't know that they need to budget for these expenses.

In October I proposed legislation, the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act, that imposed new criminal penalties on lenders who are taking advantage of people, offering foreclosure rescue schemes that lure families in, take their money and do nothing to help them.

I've also proposed that we amend the bankruptcy code to give judges the discretion to write down the value of struggling families' homes. Believe it or not, bankruptcy judges can write down the value of many other things to help families pay off their debt, but not their homes. They can write off the value or write down the value of second homes, which seems kind of ironic to me. Making this amendment to the code will help families in bankruptcy pay off their mortgages and stay in their homes.

…I went to New York City and I told Wall Street they needed to do their part to address this crisis. I put forward an aggressive plan for a 90-day moratorium on all subprime foreclosures and a voluntary fiveyear freeze on interest rates for all subprime mortgages. The response from this administration? A plan that let banks off the hook and left homeowners to fend for themselves. In the words of one expert, the president's plan was the bank lobby's dream.

This administration's top economic priority, it seems, has been to lavish roughly $400 billion in tax cuts on the wealthiest one percent of Americans while families have lost nearly five times that in the value of their homes. Last week, when it became clear Wall Street was on the brink of a financial meltdown,  the Fed and the administration sprang into action. The Fed extended a $30 billion lifeline to prevent Bear Stearns from imploding and took unprecedented action to provide tens of billions of dollars in credit for other struggling investment banks as well. Homeowners, on the other hand, have received next to no assistance…

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… I believe the Federal Housing Administration should also stand ready to be a temporary buyer, to purchase, restructure and resell underwater mortgages. Just as it has in the past, this kind of temporary measure by the government could give our economy the boost it needs and families the help they certainly need. It would not require a single
new federal bureaucracy. It would be designed to be self- financing over time, so would cost
taxpayers nothing in the long run. It's a sensible way for everyone -- lenders, investors, mortgage companies and borrowers – to share responsibility, keep families in their homes, stabilize communities and the economy.

…I'm calling on President Bush to appoint an emergency working group on foreclosures. That's the second part of my plan. We simply cannot wait until Congress passes legislation to find the best way to help millions of families. That's why I'm proposing this emergency working group on foreclosures. It could be led by a distinguished nonpartisan group of economic leaders, like Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, Paul Volcker. It's the kind of proactive step that would help reestablish confidence in our economy, by showing that the president and the administration is taking our economic crisis seriously.

…Just over a month ago, Congress passed and President Bush signed a $168 billion stimulus package. But this package did next to nothing to help homeowners and communities struggling with foreclosures…Well, if the Fed can extend $30 billion to help Bear Stearns address their financial crisis, the federal government should provide at least that much emergency assistance to help families and communities address theirs. That's why I'm calling for the creation of a one-time emergency $30 billion fund that would go
directly to cities and states to address the housing crisis. This money could be used to purchase foreclosed or distressed properties, which cities and states could then resell to low-income families or convert into affordable rental housing. It could be used to help neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates avoid increased crime and blight by investing in everything from police and fire support to graffiti removal and better lighting.
It could be used by local agencies to provide counseling and refinancing to help families avoid foreclosure in the first place….

We are now, through the Fed's change in policy, lending billions of dollars a day to help Wall Street banks that aren't regulated, that aren't transparent, that are not held accountable.

How can you tell a family about to lose their home that there is nothing we can do to help them? How can you tell them that if they had failed spectacularly, we would have helped them, but because they're failing quietly, desperately, we've turning our backs? How can you tell them that there's nothing we can do to rebuild the American dream? You know, I have been across our country for years. I know how much a home means to all of us.

…Each generation of Americans has faced threats to our ideals. Each generation has met them. We have fought wars, overcome a recession, weathered all kinds of problems, lived through the Great Depression. We've had market crises of all kinds. Through it all, as President Franklin Roosevelt once said, we have always to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world beyond the horizon. But we have to translate that hope into reality. We have to translate that conviction into solutions. And if we do, we will meet the current challenges with confidence and optimism. We will rebuild our economy stronger and more vibrant, more resilient than ever before…

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Excerpts from Obama’s Speech on Race
Philadelphia , March 18, 2008
(NYTimes.com)

 “…it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn. On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy.  For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed. But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

…I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way. But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man.

The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS…

…..As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love….

…We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students….

…But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years.

That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings. And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism. Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

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This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and
that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change. The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well. For we have a choice in this country.

We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies. We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election…”

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Vice President ?
Candidate Quotes:
Interview with Senator Clinton on CBS’s Early Show

Moderator:
"We talked to a lot of people in Ohio who said there is not really a significant difference between you two and they would like to see you both on the ticket."

Senator Clinton:
“That may, you know, be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who’s on the top of ticket. I think that the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me. And after all, no one in recent history has won the presidency who did not win their party's primary in Ohio.”
March 5, 2008

Senator Barack Obama:
“I just want everybody to be absolutely clear, OK? We are in a tough battle. I don’t presume that I have won this election,” Mr. Obama said. “Senator Clinton is fighting hard and she is tenacious. She has worked hard to win the nomination. I want everybody to be absolutely clear. I’m not running for vice president. I’m running for president of the United States of America.”
March 10, 2008

Senator Hillary Clinton: “For everyone here in Ohio and across America, who's ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out and for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you. You know what they say: As Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Well, this nation's coming back, and so is this campaign. The people of Ohio have said it loudly and clearly. We're going on, we're going strong, and we're going all the way. You know, they call Ohio a bellwether state. It's a battleground state. It's a state that knows how to pick a president. And no candidate in recent history, Democrat or Republican, has won the White House without winning the Ohio primary…

Senator Barack Obama: “…You know, decades ago, as a community organizer, I learned that the real work of democracy begins far from the closed doors and marbled halls of Washington. It begins on street corners and front porches; in living rooms and meeting halls with ordinary Americans who see the world as it is and realize that we have it within our power to remake the world as it should be. It is with that hope that we began this unlikely journey – the hope that if we could go block by block, city by city, state by state and build a movement that spanned race and region; party and gender; if we could give young people a reason to vote and the young at heart a reason to believe again; if we could inspire a nation to come together again, then we could turn the page on the politics that’s shut us out, let us down, and told us to settle. We could write a new chapter in the American story.

We were told this wasn’t possible. We were told the climb was too steep. We were told our country was too cynical – that we were just being naïve; that we couldn’t really change the world as it is.

But then a few people in Iowa stood up to say, “Yes we can.” And then a few more of you stood up from the hills of New Hampshire to the coast of South Carolina. And then a few million of you stood up from Savannah to Seattle; from Boise to Baton Rouge. And tonight, because of you – because of a movement you built that stretches from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the streets of San Antonio, we can stand up with confidence and clarity to say that we are turning the page, and we are ready to write the next great chapter in America’s story…”

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Describe the moment in your life when you were tested the most?
CNN Democratic Candidate Debate, January 21, 2008
(Transcribed from video.)

Answer:
Senator Hillary Clinton:

"Well I think everybody here knows I’ve lived through some crisis and some challenging moments in my life, and I am grateful for the support and the prayers of countless Americans. But, people often ask me how do you do it? How do you keep going  - and I just have to shake my head in wonderment, because with all of the challenges that I’ve had, they are nothing compared to what I see happening in the lives of Americans every single day.

You know a few months ago, I was honored to be asked along with Senator McCain, as the only two elected officials to speak at the opening of the Intrepid Center at Brook Medical Center in San Antonio. A center designed to take care of and provide rehabilitation for our brave young men and women who have been injured in war. And I remember sitting up there and watching them come in.

Those who could walk were walking; those who had lost limbs were trying with great courage to get themselves in without the help of others. Some were in wheel chairs and some were on gurneys. And the speaker representing these wounded warriors had most of his face disfigured by the results of fire from a roadside bomb.

You know, the hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country. And I resolved at a very young age, that I’ve been blessed, and that I was called, by my faith and by my upbringing, to do what I could to give others the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted. That’s what gets me up in the morning. That’s what motivates me in this campaign.

And you know, no matter what happens in this contest- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. And you know, what ever happens, we’re going to be fine. You know we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that’s what this election should be about."

February 20, 2008

Senator Hillary Clinton:
“It’s time to get real about how we actually win this election and get real about the challenges facing America. It’s time we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions… Americans have a choice to make in this election and that choice matters. It’s about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work, hard work, to get America back to work. We need to make a choice between speeches and solutions, because, while words matter greatly, the best words in the world aren’t enough unless you match them with action.”
February 2008

Senator Barack Obama:
“Today, Senator Clinton told us that there was a choice in this race and you know, I couldn’t agree with her more. But contrary to what she’s been saying, it’s not a choice between speeches and solutions, it’s a choice between a politics that offers more of the same divisions and distractions that didn’t work in South Carolina and didn’t work in Wisconsin and will not work in Texas.”
February 20, 2008

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