Joe Biden Democratic Convention Speech Transcript (8-27-08)

Read the entire transcript of the speech given by Barack Obama's vice presidential pick, Joe Biden:

• Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring the pledge to uphold the law and honor the Constitution, no longer will you hear the eight most-dreaded words in the English language, “The vice president’s office is on the phone.”

  Barack and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware.

• Ladies and gentlemen, but today, today that American dream feels like it’s slowly slipping away. I don’t have to tell you that. You feel it every single day in your own lives. I’ve never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up.

  Almost every single night — almost every single night, I take the train home to Wilmington, Delaware, sometimes very late. As I sit there in my seat and I look out that window, I see those flickering lights of the homes that pass by, I can almost hear the conversation they’re having at their kitchen tables after they put their kids to bed.

  Like millions of Americans, they’re asking questions as — as ordinary as they are profound, questions they never, ever thought they’d have to ask themselves.

  Should Mom move in with us now that — now that Dad’s gone? Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars just to fill up the gas tank, how in God’s name, with winter coming, how are we going to heat the home? Another year, no raise. Did you hear — did you hear they may be cutting our health care at the company?

• And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200 billion in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

  Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history — a half trillion dollars in the last five years — he wants to give them another $4 billion in tax breaks. But he voted time and again against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, biofuels. That’s not change; that’s more of the same.

  Millions of jobs have left our shores, yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them there. That’s not change; that’s more of the same.

  He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

  And when he says he will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting on a surplus of nearly $80 billion, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

  The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change the change everybody knows we need.

Transcript: Bill Clinton Democratic Convention Speech (8-27-08)

Read the entire transcript of Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention being held in Denver:

• And here’s what I have to say about that. Everything I learned in my eight years as president, and in the work I have done since in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.

  Now, he has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. He has the intelligence and curiosity every successful president needs. His policies on the economy, on taxes, on health care, on energy are far superior to the Republican alternatives.

• And so, my fellow Democrats, I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world.

  Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

  Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.

• American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage.
  I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other serious conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their children for Medicaid unless they quit work and starved or got a divorce.

  Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of?

  What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by multiple, multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well-connected?

  And what about Katrina and cronyism?

  My fellow Democrats, America can do better than that.

• The choice is clear. The Republicans in a few days will nominate a good man who has served our country heroically and who suffered terribly in a Vietnamese prison camp. He loves his country every bit as much as we do. As a senator, he has shown his independence of right-wing orthodoxy on some very important issues.

  But on the two great questions of this election — how to rebuild the American dream and how to restore America’s leadership in the world — he still embraces the extreme philosophy that has defined his party for more than 25 years.

  And it is, to be fair to all the Americans who aren’t as hard- core Democrats as we, it’s a philosophy the American people never actually had a chance to see in action fully until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and the Congress.

  Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades actually were implemented. And look what happened.

  They took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families’ incomes to nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5.5 million driven into poverty; and millions more losing their health insurance.

  Now, in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same.

Could Bush Administration Arrogance Lead to War with Russia?

It isn't being discussed very much. We could be on the verge of military conflict with Russia. And there doesn't seem to be anyone suggesting that we should be trying to avoid confrontation with what was once the Soviet Union. Some have warned about a new "cold war." But the consensus is that we should force Russia to leave Georgia alone. What isn't discussed is that it is hypocritical to tell the Russians to stop invading a neighbor when our own government invaded Iraq similarly under false pretenses. You don't hear Putin demand that the U.S. military pull out of Baghdad. And what makes the Bush administration think that he could tell Russia how to behave when we don't have the military wherewithal to intimidate the Russians. We are bogged down fighting two wars already. War with Russia would be positively insane. The White House is contemplating sending military aid to the Georgian Republic. That is a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately Barack Obama isn't urging caution. What he should be saying is that the U.S. must attempt to put international pressure on Russia to leave but no demanding. He should also point out that Bush meddling in Eastern Europe has led to bitter feelings in Russia and precipitated the confrontation.

Transcript, Video: Hillary Clinton Convention Speech (8-26-08)

This is a very nifty presentation of the Hillary Clinton's speech last night from the NY Times. It shows the complete video of the speech with accompanying text.

Or read the transcript speech here. Excerpt below:

SEN. CLINTON: Thank you. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you all. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you all very, very much. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you. Thank you all very much. (Cheers, applause.)

I -- I am so honored to be here tonight. (Cheers, applause.) No, I -- I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat -- (cheers, applause) -- as a proud senator from New York -- (cheers, applause) -- a proud American -- (cheers, applause) -- and a proud supporter of Barack Obama. (Cheers, applause.)

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love. And whether you voted for me or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. (Cheers, applause.)

We are on the same team, and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future, and it's a fight we must win together. (Cheers, applause.)

I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care -- (cheers) -- helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights here at home and around the world -- (cheers, applause) -- to see another Republican in the White House squander our promise of a country that really fulfills the hopes of our people. And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months or endured the last eight years to suffer through more failed leadership. (Cheers, applause.)

No way, nohow, no McCain. (Cheers, applause.)

Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president. (Cheers, applause.)

Tonight I ask you to remember what a presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed and the ads are finally off the air -- (laughter) -- it comes down to you, the American people, and your lives and your children's futures. For me, it's been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces and your communities. You stories reminded me that every day America's greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people: your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles. You've taught me so much -- (cheers, applause) -- and you made me laugh, and -- yes -- you even made me cry. (Cheers, applause.) You allowed me to become part of your lives, and you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism. She didn't have any health insurance, and she discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care for her and her children. (Cheers, applause.)