Mr. Mondale my friends, america has a future that each generation must enlarge. A door that generations must open. A promise that each generation must keep. Wanthe rest of my life, i to talk to young people about their future. ,nd whatever their race whatever their religion, whatever their sect, i want to hear some of them say what i say with joy and reference tonight. I want to be president of the United States. Thank you. ] pplause announcer Massachusetts GovernorMichael Dukakis was considered a longshot by many when he announced his presidency ahead of the 1988 election. He would end up winning the democratic election, beating out people like joe biden, al gore. Atlanta is just under one hour. Applause] music tha [applause] mr. Dukakis mr. Chairman applause] mr. Dukakis 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 said, [ok michael, she was not kidding. Are y and i [chanting] and 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 heart. Democrats, my fellow ago when i16 months announced my candidacy for the presidency of the United States, i said this campaign would be a marathon. Tonight, with the wind at our at our sides,ends in with courage in our hearts, the race to the finish line begins. [applause] and, we are going to win this race. Were going to win this race. We are going to win because we that to be leaves and the American Dream. Powerful that no existence of ground, no expanse of ocean, no barrier of language, no distinction of race, creed, or color will weaken its hold on the human heart. And i know, because my friends, i am a product of that dream and i am proud of it. [applause] a dream that like liker who brought the dream that brought my father to this country 42 years ago, the prop my mother here one year later, poor, unable to speak english, but with a burning desire to succeed in the land of opportunity and tonight, the presence of that marvelous woman who is my mother and who is my mother and two came here 75 years ago with a 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 and how i america wish he was here tonight. He would be very proud of his son. [applause] and, he would be very proud of his adopted country. I can assure you. The son of an tonight, the son of immigrants, with a lovely wife, and with four terrific children, is a proud Public Servant who is cherished every minute of the last 16 months on the campaign trail. I accept your nomination. I except her nomination for the presidency of the United States. [cheers and applause] mr. Dukakis my friends, the dream that carried me to this platform is alive and every part of our country and it is what the democratic dream is all about. [applause] dukakis Barbara Michalski of maryland. [applause] mr. Dukakis mario cuomo of new york. Applause] a florida. And jesse jackson. [applause] a man who has lifted so many and hopeth the dignity of his message throughout the campaign. Hasn whose very candidacy 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. And 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. [applause] mr. Dukakis you tell them that dereg an era is over and that you tell them that the reagan era is over into a new era is about to begin. Because it is time to raise our s, to look beyond the cramped ideals and limited ambitions of the past few years. To recapture the spirit of energy, confidence, and idealism that john kennedy and Lyndon Johnson inspired a generation ago. It is time to meet the challenge of the next american frontier, the challenge of building an Economic Future for our country and will create good jobs wages for every citizen in this land nomad or where they come from or the color of their skin. It is time to rekindle the american spirit of invention and daring. Voodoo economics for cando economics. [applause] to build the best america by bringing out the best in every american. It is time to wake up to the new challenges that face the american family. Time to see young families in this country are never again forced to choose between the jobs they need and the children they love. [applause] mr. Dukakis 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 cannot afford. [applause] it is time to ask, why is it we have run up more debt in this country in the last eight years than we did in the previous 200 and . And, to make sure it never happens again. [applause] it is time to understand that the greatest threat to our National Security is not theion sandinistas, it is the avalanche of drugs that is pouring into this country and poisoning our kids. Do not 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, it is about competence. It is not about overthrowing governments and Central America, it is about creating jobs in middle america. That is what this election is all about. It is not about Insider Trading on wall street, it is about creating opportunity on main street. And, it is not about meaningless labor, it is about american values. All values like accountability, responsibility, and respect for the truth. And, just as we democrats believe there are no limits to what each citizen can do, so we believe there are no limits to what america can do and guess, i know this fall we are going to be hearing a lot of republican regionsut how well some and neighborhoods in this country are doing, about how easy it is for some families to care orme or find child pay their doctor bills or send their children to college, but my friends, maintaining the status quo, running in place, standing still, is not good enough for america. [applause] mr. Dukakis opportunity for some is not to good enough for america. Because, working together we are going to forge a new era of greatness to america. We are going to take americas genius out of cold storage and challenge our youngsters. Make ouring to schools, universities, and laboratories the finest in the world. Makewere going to teaching a valued and honored profession once again in this country. [chanting] [cheers and applause] mr. Dukakis we are going to light fires of innovation and enterprise coasttocoast and we are going to give those on welfare the chance to lift themselves out of poverty. To get the child care and training they need. Into thee to step out bright sunshine of opportunity, hope, and dignity. Ourre going to invest in urban neighborhoods and work to revitalize small town and rural america. [applause] give our farmo families a price they can live on. And, farm communities a future they can count on. We are going to build the kind of america that Lloyd Bentsen has been fighting for the last 40 years. Where hard america 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 plant shuts down. [applause] now, i know i have a reputation for being a somewhat frugal man and let me say or the record that thats noblower is still in good working order even as its its an hour garage. In nine years, i have balanced nine more budgets they in this administration has and i just balance [applause] mr. Dukakis in and i have worked with the citizens of my to createked hard hundreds of thousands of new good jobs. Mean jobs you can raise a family on. Jobs you can held a future on. Jobs you can count on. [applause] mr. Dukakis and i am very proud of our progress but i am even prouder of the way with made that progress, by working together. I excluding no one and including everyone. Business and labor. Educators, community leaders, citizens. Responsibility, exchanging ideas, Building Confidence about the future. And my friends, what we have done the complex, the future, the simple idea. And ideas compounded as any in history, the idea of community. The idea of community. The kind of community that defines us here tonight. It is the idea that we are in this together. That regardless of who we are or where we come from a or how much money we have, each of us counts. I 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. [applause] [chanting] mr. Dukakis the idea of community. An idea that was planted by the first governor of massachusetts. Ap hard,another with fervently. We must delight in each other. Make each others condition our own. Rejoice together. More and together. Suffer together. Net togetheraid, b as one. Knit together as one. Was not talking about material success. He was talking about a country where it jim is asks not only what is in it for some of us but what is good and right for all of us. When a young mother leaves seven years of welfare to become a personal specialist in a fortune 500 company in massachusetts, where all and reached and and noble. Enriched and and noble but. Catholic priest helps 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, were all and reached enriched and ennobled. Principal chool when a High School Principal and a dedicated staff of teachers and councils creates a program for learning at the George WashingtonPreparatory School in thatngeles, a high school 10 hispanicand and has 80 of its graduates accepted to college, where all we are allll enriched and ennobled. [applause] [chanting] mr. Dukakis when a dedicated Management Team and a fine union and milwaukee Work Together to around and davidson help it come back to life in to save 12 hundred good jobs, we are all enriched and and noble and ennobled. Willien a man named registered thousands of his voterscitizens as [speaking spanish] [applause] mr. Dukakis new ideas, new spanish] ing halls, my friends we are all enriched and and noble and ennobled. [speaking spanish] my friends, i am going to set goals. Not goals for our government. Orking alone i mean goals for our government and people working together. To businesses in this country to be wise enough and innovative enough to retrain their workers and we told her factories and to help rebuild their communities. Retool their factories in to help rebuild their communities. I want teachers to share the gift of literacy. I want those of you who are carpenters, housing advocates, to work with us to help create decent and Affordable Housing for every family and america. [applause] so that took weekend once and shame ofnd the 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 lucian and infant mortality and i want them to work with us to win the war aids, the greatest Public Health emergency you of our lifetime and a disease that must be conquered. I want a new attorney general. Applause] mr. Dukakis i want a new attorney general to work with me alllaw enforcement officers over the country to reclaim our streets from those who commit violent crime. And i want the members of the congress to work with me and i and going to work with them so that at long last we can make trumansarry commitment to basic Health Insurance for every family and america. [applause] mr. Dukakis my friends, the dream that began in philadelphia , and the spirit that it that terrible winter at valley forge and try them on the ages of normandy, the kurds that looked khrushchev in the eye during the cuban missile crisis, is as vibrant today as it has ever been. Are, and we will be militarily strong 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 decencyhat reflects the and the principles and the values of the American People. President reagan has set the stage for deep cuts in nuclear arms and i support him with that. He has said that we should judge the soviet union not by what it says but by what it does and i agree with that. But, we can do a lot more to stop the spread of chemical and nuclear 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. [cheers and applause as bracket applause] and john kennedy once said that america leads the world not just because we are the strongest were the biggest, but because we lead the challenge across the globe and because as in his words, were moving on the road to peace. Always be prepared to defend our freedom but we must always remember that our greatest strength comes not from what we possess but from what we believe. Not from what we have but from who we are. [applause] you know, i have been asked many times over the past 16 months if i have one very special goal for these next few years. Something that reflects everything i stand for and believe in as america and the answer to that question is, yes i do. Nowriends, four years from when our citizens walk along pennsylvania avenue. Or there is a picture of the white house on the 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. We are going to have a Justice Department that is not the laughingstock of the nation. We are going to have a Justice Department that understands what the word justice means. Were going to have nominees to the federal bench who are and women of intelligence at and integrity and to understand the constitution of the United States. [applause] we are going to have an Environmental Protection agency that is more interested in stopping pollution thing and in protecting the polluters. Applause] dukakis we are going to have a real war, not a phony war against drugs and my friends, we business withing drugrunning panamanian dictators anymore. We will not be doing business with drugrunning panamanian dictators anymore. Were going to have a Vice President who wont sit silently nationalomebody at the Security Council comes up with a cockamamie idea that we should trade arms with the ayatollah. [chanting] mr. Dukakis we are going to have a Vice President named lloyd ensign who will walk into the oval office and y, mr. President this is outrageous and it has got to stop. That is the kind of Vice President we are going to have. And my friends, in the dukakis dukakisuse is in the state house, if you except the privilege of Public Servants, you had better understand the responsibilities of Public Service the privilege of Public Service, you had better understand the responsibilities of Public Service. If you violate that trustee will be fired. Trust, you will be fired. If you violate the law, you will be prosecuted. And, if you sell arms to the ayatollah do not expect a pardon from the resident of the United States. Applause] mr. Dukakis monday night, like millions of americans, i laughed at and was moved by the wit and wisdom of and richards. Of an richards. J ann richards. And, tuesday night, i was moved and inspired by the words of jesse jackson. But what stirred me most on monday was a grandmother talking about her nearlyperfect granddaughter. And, what stirred me most on tuesday were those handsome and proud and articulate jackson children. [cheers and applause] mr. Dukakis those jackson children talking about their hopes for the future of their country. You know, young Jackie Jackson goes to school in my state. And, last month, she visited with me in the state house in boston. A remarkable young woman and i know her parents are very, very proud of her. My thoughts for tonight and my dreams for america are about in richards, granddaughter, lily, about young Jackie Jackson. And about the baby that is going to be born to our son john the into his wife lisa in january. As a matter of fact, the baby is due on or about january 20. Applause] dukakis gotwilling, our first grandchild will reach the age that Jackie Jackson is now at the beginning of a new century and we pray that he or she will reach that age was our eyes filled with the sparkle of life and of pride and optimism as that young woman that we watched together two nights ago. [cheers and applause]] ngos, my friends, it is a time for wonderful new beginnings. It little baby. A new administration. A new era of greatness for america. [applause] and when we leave here tonight we will leave to build that future together, to build that future so that when our children in grandchildren look back in their time on what sayid in our time they will we had the wisdom to carry on the dreams of those who came before us, the kurds to make our own dreams come true, antithe foresight to blaze a trail for generation jet to come four generations yet to come. And as i except your nomination tonight, i cannot help but remember the first marathon was run an ancient greece and on important occasions like this one, the people of athens would complete their ceremonies but taking a pledge. That pledge, that covenant, is as eloquent and as timely today as it was 2000 years ago. Disgrace tor bring this, our country. [cheers and applause] mr. Dukakis we will never bring disgrace to this our country by any act of dishonesty or cowardice. The ideals offor this, our country. We will revere and obey the law. [applause] mr. Dukakis we will strive to quicken our sense of civic duty. Thus, in all of these ways, we will transmit this country to a greater, stronger, powder, and more beautiful transmission then was to us. Us than itto was it to us. That is my pledge to you, my fellow democrats. To you, my my pledge fellow americans. Thank you all very, very much