Have come to this country with nothing, nothing but hope. Today, one of their sons stands before you with the opportunity to be president of the United States top ladies and gentlemen, it is with honor, pride, and with love that i give you michael f dukakis. [applause] america by neil diamond playing] [applause] [applause] [applause] [crowd chanting] gov. Dukakis mr. Chairman. A few months ago when Olympia Dukakis in front of about a billion and a half Television Viewers all over the world raised that oscar over her head and said, ok, michael, lets go, she wasnt kidding. [applause] kitty and i are kitty and i are grateful to her for that wonderful introduction and grateful to all of you for making this possible. This is a wonderful evening for us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. [applause] my fellow democrats. My fellow americans. Sixteen months ago, when i announced my candidacy for the presidency of the United States, i said this campaign would be a marathon. Tonight, with the wind at our backs, with friends at our sides and with courage in our hearts, the race to the finish line begins. [applause] and were going to win this race. [applause] were going to win because we are the party that believes in the American Dream. [applause] a dream so powerful that no distance of ground, no expanse of ocean, no barrier of language, no distinction of race or creed or color can weaken its hold on the human heart. And i know, because my friends, im a product of that dream and im proud of it. [applause] a dream that brought my father to this country 76 years ago, that brought my mother and her family here one year later poor, unable to speak english but with a burning desire to succeed in their new land of opportunity. And tonight in the presence of that marvelous woman who is my mother and who came here 75 years ago; with the memory in my heart of the young man who arrived at ellis island with only 25 in his pocket, but with a deep and abiding faith in the promise of america and how i wish he was here tonight; hed be very proud of his son, and [applause] and hed be very proud of his adopted country, i can assure you. Tonight, as a son of immigrants with a wonderful wife and now with lisa our lovely daughterinlaw, four terrific children and as a proud Public Servant who has cherished every minute of the last 16 months on the campaign trail, i accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. [applause] my friends, the dream that carried me to this platform is alive tonight in every part of the country and its what the Democratic Party is all about. Henry cisneros of texas, bob matsui of california, Barbara Mikulski of maryland, mario cuomo of new york, Claude Pepper of florida and Jesse Louis Jackson [applause] [cheering and applause] a man who has lifted so many hearts with the dignity and the hope of his message thoughout this campaign; a man whose very candidacy has said to every child, aim high; to every citizen, you count; to every voter, you can make a difference; to every american, you are a full shareholder in our dream. [applause] my friends, if anyone tells you that the American Dream belongs to the privileged few and not to all of us, you tell them that the reagan era is over, you tell them that the reagan era is over [applause] you tell them that the reagan era is over and that a new era is about to begin. [applause] because its time to raise our sights to look beyond the cramped ideals and the limited ambitions of the past eight years to recapture the spirit of energy and of confidence and of idealism that john kennedy and Lyndon Johnson inspired a generation ago. [applause] its time to meet the challenge of the next american frontier the challenge of building an Economic Future for our country that will create good jobs at good wages for every citizen in this land, no matter who they are or where they come from or what the color of their skin. [applause] its time to rekindle the american spirit of invention and of daring, to exchange voodoo economics for cando economics, [applause] to build the best america by bringing out the best in every american. [applause] its time to wake up to the new challenges that face the american family. Time to see that young families in this country are never again forced to choose between the jobs they need and the children they love. [applause] time to be sure that parents are never again told that no matter how long they work or how hard their child tries, a College Education is a right they cant afford. [applause] its time to ask why it is that we have run up more debt in this country in the last eight years than we did in the previous 200; and to make sure it never happens again. [applause] [crowd chanting] its time, its time to understand that the greatest threat to our National Security in this hemisphere is not the sandinistas its the avalanche of drugs that is pouring into this country and poisoning our kids. [applause] i dont think i have to tell any of you how much we americans expect of ourselves or how much we have a right to expect from those we elect to public office. Because this election is not about ideology. Its about competence. [applause] its not about overthrowing governments in Central America; its about creating jobs in middle america. Thats what this election is all about. [applause] its not about Insider Trading on wall street; its about creating opportunity on main street. [applause] about meaningless labels, its about american values. Oldfashioned values like accountability and respect for the truth. [applause] and just as we democrats believe that there are no limits to what each citizen can do, so we believe that there are no limits to what america can do. And yes, i know, this fall were going to be hearing a lot of republican talk about how well some neighborhoods and some regions of this country are doing; about how easy it is for some families to buy a home or to find child care or to pay their doctors bills or to send their children to college. But my friends, maintaining the status quo running in place standing still isnt good enough for america. [applause] opportunity for some isnt good enough for america. [applause] because working together, were going to forge a new era of greatness for america. [applause] were going to take americas genius out of cold storage and challenge our youngsters; were going to make our schools and our universities and our laboratories the finest in the world. And were going to make teaching a valued and honored profession once again in this country. [applause] were going to light fires of innovation and enterprise from coast to coast; and were going to give those on welfare the chance to lift themselves out of poverty; to get the child care and the training they need; the chance to step out into the bright sunshine of opportunity and of hope and of dignity. Were going to invest in our urban neighborhoods; and were going to work to revitalize small town and rural america. Were going to give our farm families a price they can live on, and farm communities a future they can count on. [applause] and were going to build the kind of america that Lloyd Bentsen has been fighting for for the past 40 years; the kind of america, the kind of america where hard work is rewarded; where American Goods and american workmanship are the best in the world, the kind of america that provides American Workers and their families with at least 60 days notice when a factory or a plant shuts down. Now, i know, i know i have a reputation for being a somewhat frugal man. And let me state for the record that that snowblower is still in good working order, even if it sits in our garage. In nine years, ive balanced nine more budgets than this administration has and ive just balanced a tenth. And ive worked with the citizens of my state worked hard to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and i mean good jobs, jobs you can raise a family on, jobs you can build a future on, jobs you can count on. Progress through community and im very proud of our progress, but im even prouder and im very proud of our progress, but im even prouder of the way weve made that progress by working together; by excluding no one and including everyone business and labor; educators, Community Leaders and just plain citizens sharing responsibility; exchanging ideas; Building Confidence about the future. And my friends, what we have done reflects a simple but a very profound idea an idea as powerful as any in human history. It is the idea of community. It is the idea of community. The kind of community that binds us here tonight. It is the idea that we are in this together; that regardless of who we are or where we come from or how much money we have each of us counts. And that by working together to create opportunity and a good life for all all of us are enriched not just in economic terms, but as citizens and as human beings. [crowd chanting] the idea of community. An idea that was planted in the new world by the first governor of massachusetts. we must, said John Winthrop, love one another with a pure heart fervently. We must delight in each other, make each others condition our own, rejoice together, mourn together, and suffer together. We must, he said, be knit together as one, be knit together as one. now John Winthrop wasnt talking about material success. He was talking about a country where each of us asks not only whats in it for some of us, but whats good and whats right for all of us. When a young mother named dawn lawson leaves seven years of welfare to become a personnel specialist in a fortune 500 company in worcester, massachusetts we are all enriched and ennobled. When a Catholic Priest named bill kraus helps homeless families in denver not just by giving them shelter, but by helping them to find the jobs they need to get back on their feet, we are all enriched and ennobled. When a High School Principal named George Mckenna and a dedicated staff of teachers and counselors create an environment for learning at the George WashingtonPreparatory High School in los angeles; a high school, a high school in los angeles that is 90 percent black and 10 percent hispanic and has 80 percent of its graduates accepted to college; we are all enriched and ennobled. How we are all enriched when a dedicated new Management Team and a fine union in milwaukee Work Together to turn harleydavidson around and help it come back to life, and save 1,200 good jobs, we are all enriched and ennobled. And when a man named Willie Velazquez y cuando un Willie Velasquez can register thousands of his fellow citizens as voters, puede inscribir decena de miles de sus conciudadanos para votar and Willie Velazquez can Bring New Energy and new ideas and new people brindando asi nuevas energias, nueves ideas, nuevas personas into courthouses and city halls and state capitals of the southwest a Los Gobiernos municipales y estatales a del suroeste my friends, we are all enriched and ennobled todos nos enriquecem os y enoblecemos. My friends, as president , im going to be setting goals for our country; not goals for our government working alone; i mean goals for our people working together. I want businesses in this country to be wise enough and innovative enough to retrain their workers, and retool their factories, and to help rebuild their communities. I want students and Office Workers and retired teachers to share with a neighbor the precious gift of literacy. I want those of you who are bricklayers and carpenters and developers and housing advocates to work with us to help create decent and Affordable Housing for every family in america, so that we can once and for all end the shame of homelessness in the United States of america. I want our young scientists to dedicate their great gifts not to the destruction of life, but to its preservation; i want them to wage war on hunger and pollution and infant mortality; and i want them to work with us to win the war against aids, the greatest Public Health emergency of our lifetime, and a disease that must be conquered. I want a new attorney general i want a new attorney general to work with me and with lawenforcement officers all over america to reclaim our streets and our neighborhoods from those who commit violent crime. And i want the members of the congress to work with me and im going to work with them so that, at long last, we can make good on Harry Trumans commitment to basic Health Insurance for every family in america. My friends, the dream that began in philadelphia 200 years ago; the spirit that survived that terrible winter at valley forge and triumphed on the beaches at normandy; the courage that looked khrushchev in the eye during the cuban missile crisis is as strong and as vibrant today as it has ever been. We must be we are and we will be militarily strong. Policy based on principle but we must back that military strength with economic strength; we must give the men and women of our Armed Forces Weapons that work; we must have a secretary of defense who will manage and not be managed by the pentagon; and we must have a Foreign Policy that reflects the decency and the principles and the values of the american people. [applause] president reagan has set the stage for deep cuts in nuclear arms and i salute him for that. He has said that we should judge the soviet union not by what it says, but by what it does and i agree i agree with that. But we can do a lot more to stop the spread of nuclear and chemical arms in this world; we can do a lot more to bring peace to Central America and the middle east; and we can and we will do a lot more to end apartheid in south africa. [applause] john kennedy once said that america leads the world, not just because we are the richest or the strongest or the most powerful, but because we exert that leadership for the cause of freedom around the globe. And because, in his words, we are moving on the road to peace. yes, we must always be prepared to defend our freedom. But we must always remember that our greatest strength come not from what we possess, but from what we believe; not from what we have, but from who we are. You know, ive been asked many times over the past 16 months if i have one very special goal for these next four years something that reflects everything i stand for and believe in as an american. And for the and the answer to that question is yes, i do. My friends, four years from now, when our citizens walk along pennsylvania avenue in washington, d. C. , or when they see a picture of the white house on television, i want them to be proud of their government; i want them to be proud of a government that sets high standards not just for the american people, but high standards for itself. Were going to have a Justice Department that isnt the laughing stock of the nation. Were going to have a Justice Department that understands that the word justice means. Were going to have nominees to the federal bench who are men and women of integrity and intelligence and who understand the constitution of the United States. Were going to have an Environmental Protection agency that is more interested in stopping pollution than protecting the polluters. Were going to have a real war and not a phony war against drugs; and, my friends, we wont be doing business with drugrunning panamanian dictators anymore. [applause] were going to have a Vice President who wont sit silently by when somebody at the National Security council comes up with the cockamamie idea that we should trade arms to the ayatollah for hostages; were going to have a Vice President named Lloyd Bentsen who will walk who will walk into the oval office and say, mister president , this is outrageous and its got to stop. thats the kind of Vice President were going to have. My friends, in the dukakis white house, as in the dukakis state house; if you accept the privilege of public service, you had better understand the responsibilities of public service. If you violate that trust, youll be fired; if you violate the law, youll be prosecuted; and if you sell arms to the ayatollah, dont expect a pardon from the president of the United States. Monday night, monday night, like millions of americans, i laughed and was moved by the wit and wisdom of ann richards. And tuesday night, along with millions of other americans, i was inspired, as you were, by the powerful words of jesse jackson. But what stirred me most on monday was a grandmother talking about her nearly perfect granddaughter; and what stirred me most on tuesday were those handsome and proud and a