Hillary Clinton Speaks
Hillary Clinton won most of the Super Tuesday states. She gave an excellent speech but there are 35 more states to go.
Here is the text / transcript
You know all across our country today Democrats voted to break down barriers so we can all rise together. I am so delighted to be here with you in Florida. I congratulate Sen. Sanders on his strong showing and campaigning.
I’m grateful to all of you who voted for me, to the volunteers and organizers. I know you worked your hearts out. To all my friends, many of a lifetime who traveled to all the states to tell people about the candidate they knew, and the hundreds of thousands of people who went to HillaryClinton.com to give what they could – most less than $100 – now this campaign moves forward to the Crescent City, Motor City and beyond.
We’re going to work for every vote, and we will need all of you to keep volunteering, contributing, doing everything you can, talking to your friends and neighbors because this country belongs to all of us not just those at the top. Not just the people who look one way, worship one way or even think one way.
America is strong when we’re all strong. We know we’ve got work to do. That work, that work is not to make America great again. America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole. We have to fill in what’s been hallowed out.
We have to make strong the broken place, re-stitch the bonds of trust and respect across our country. Now, it might be unusual, as I’ve said before, for a presidential candidate to say this, but I’m going to keep saying it: I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness.
Trying to divide America between us and them is wrong, and we’re not going to let it work. Whether we like it or not, we’re all in this together my friends. We all have to do our part. Unfortunately, too many of those with the most wealth and the most power in this country today seem to have forgotten that basic truth about America.
Yesterday I was at the old south meeting house in Boston where nearly two and a half centuries ago American patriots organized the original Tea Party. I had to wonder what they would make of corporations that seem to have absolutely no loyalty to the country that gave them so much. What would they say about student loan companies that overcharge young people, struggling to get out of debt, even young men and women serving our country in the military or corporations that shift their headquarters overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Like Johnson Controls and Auto Parts from Wisconsin, that we taxpayers helped to bail out with the auto rescue back in 2008, now they’re turning their back on America.
I’m interested this making things right. Let there be no doubt, if you cheat your employees, exploit consumers, pollute our environment or rip off the taxpayers, we’re going to hold you accountable.
But if you do the right thing, if you invest in your workers and in America’s future, then we’ll stand with you. We all need to work together to break down the barriers holding back our families and our country. The middle class needs a raise.
Add more good jobs, jobs that pay enough for a family to live on. Even put a little away for retirement. Jobs that provide dignity and a bright future. We have to invest in manufacturing and business infrastructure, enough clean energy for every home in America. Don’t let anybody tell you we can’t make things this America anymore because we can, we are and we will.
Together we can break down the barriers that face working class families across network especially in struggling rust belt communities and small towns that have been hallowed out by lost jobs and lost hope. Families who for generations kept our lights on and our factories running.
We can break down barriers for families who have seen too many black children harassed, humiliated and even killed. We can break down barriers for voters in North Carolina who have been systemically disenfranchised. We can break down barriers for hard working immigrants who are too often exploited and intimidated. We have to defend all our rights, workers rights and women’s rights, civil rights and voting rights, LGBT rights and rights for people with disabilities.
It starts by standing with President Obama when he nominates a strong, progressive justice to the Supreme Court.
I know, I know too many Americans have lost faith in our future. We hear it in the voices of parents who don’t know how they’re going to give their kids the opportunities they deserve. We see it in the eyes of working men and women who don’t expect anything to come easy, but wonder why it has to be quite so hard.
Like many of you, I find strength and purpose from my family and my faith. They gave me simple words to live by: Do all the good you can for all the people you can for as long as you can.
That is why I believe, deeply, that if we resist the forces trying to drive us apart, we can come together to make this country work for every one. The struggling, the striving and the successful. If we all do our part we can restore our common faith in our common future. That’s the spirit powering this campaign. It comes from the young janitor in Arkansas who stopped buying junk food and put off getting a haircut so he could contribute to it. It comes from the disabled combat veteran from Nebraska who sent in $10. In 70 years of his life he never donated to a political campaign until now.
You can join us too. Go to hillaryclinton.com. Make a donation. Text, join to 47246.
Let me leave you with a story that’s inspired so many of us. By now we all know what happened in Flint, Michigan, don’t we? Our city’s children were poisoned by toxic water because the governor wanted to save a little money. There’s another story in Flint. It’s a story of a community that’s been knocked down, but refused to be knocked out. It is hundreds of union plumbers coming from across the country to help install new water fixtures. It’s students raising funds for water deliveries and showing up to distribute supplies. It’s the united auto workers and general motors donating millions of dollars to help.
When I visited Flint a few weeks ago, I went to the house of prayer missionary Baptist church. The congregation locked arms and sang. We’ve come too far from where we started from. They’re not about to quit now.
We know there are many other Flints out there. Communities that are hurting and need help. We’ve come too far in this country to let us turn back. We’re going to build on the progress that we’ve made. We save the auto industry thanks to President Obama. Now we’ve got to create new jobs and industries of the future.
We now insured 90 percent of Americans thanks to President Obama. Now we have to finish the job and get to 100 percent. We have come too far to stop now. We’ve got to keep going.
Keep working. Keep breaking down those barriers and imagine what we can build together when each and every American has the chance to live up to his or her own God given potential.
Thank you all so very much. Thank you.