Allegations of a extramarital affair, which led him to withdraw from the race. Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis won the nomination but lost decidedly to Vice President george h. W. Bush in the general election. Sen. Hart thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause] sen. Hart thank you very much. Our outoftown friends, welcome the colorado. If you dont like the weather, it will change in a few minutes. [laughter] sen. Hart i want to say thanks to my good friends tim wirth and Federico Pena and all the elected officials and leaders of our community and state here on this platform. I want to take this opportunity, if i may, to introduce the best daughter anyone ever had, andrea hart. [applause] i was tempted to introduce the next first lady of the United States, but i will simply say, the best wife any candidate ever had, leigh hart. [applause] sen. Hart we want to thank each and every one of you for coming out here today. You have been our friends. Many of you have been our friends, supporters, contributors, and boosters for many years. We are strengthened and heartened by your presence, and we thank you. I want to say a special word of thanks to a very large group of the best organizers that any candidate for any office has ever had. And say a personal word of thanks to all of them, who organized this rally, particularly mike stratton. Lets give them a hand. [applause] sen. Hart i intend to seek the presidency of the United States in 1988. [cheers] [applause] sen. Hart and i do so for one single reason. That is i love my country. This country is 250 million human beings united by a common history and heritage and set of beliefs. But america is and always has been an ideal. This land has stood for equality and justice and hope and opportunity for generations and generations of americans and millions of people around the world. And at our best, we have come close to that ideal, but i think all of us know deep down in recent years that this country has fallen short of the ideal of america. We have seen personal greed replace a sense of social justice and equity and the national good. We have seen right wing ideology skew this nations basic priorities. We have seen narrow, single interests increasingly finance our campaigns and control our political process. And we have seen high standards for Public Officials and public ethics be eroded. Most of all, this nation has lost the sense of the national interest, and we are in serious danger today of letting our future pass us by. I believe this nation can do better. And i believe thats what the issue in 1988 is all about. We must rebuild this nation in in the latter years of this century, using a blueprint of new directions and new ideas, based upon a foundation of the national interest. [applause] sen. Hart we must build the best Education System in the world. [cheers] [applause] sen. Hart we must renew and revitalize our national economy, modernize our factories, invent new technologies, and train our workers. [applause] sen. Hart we must make a moral commitment to our children that we will leave behind to them a Natural Heritage cleaner and better than today. [applause] sen. Hart we must reform our conventional defenses and drastically reduce our reliance on Nuclear Weapons for this nations security. [cheers] [applause] sen. Hart the stakes in 1988 could not be higher, and the choices could not be clearer. We can have a defense policy that takes School Lunches away from poor children to pay for mx missiles or b1 bombers, or we can have a defense policy that reforms our conventional defenses, saves the taxpayers dollars, and makes this country safer. One choice is in the national interest, and that choice could not be clearer. [applause] sen. Hart we can have an Agriculture Policy that turns over the productive farmland of this nation to a handful of giant corporations, or we can have millions of family farmers producing the food and fiber of this nation. One choice is in the national interest, and that choice could not clearer. [applause] sen. Hart we can have Public Officials who represent the ethics of donovan, deiver, and boesky, or we can demand the highest from our Public Officials and say to those in washington and wall street, you are out of business. One choice is in the national interest, and that choice is clear. And we can continue to have our political campaigns financed by special interests. Thosew those and have special interests control the flow of legislation and the quality of government. Or we can reform the Campaign Finance laws and restore dignity and honesty and integrity to this nations political process. One choices in the national interest, and that choice is clear. [applause] sen. Hart and finally, we can define patriotism. We can say that patriotism is only the symbols of this nation. And that the flag belongs to a handful of narrow, rightwing ideologues, or we can say that patriotism and the flag belongs to all of us who care about this nation and love this nation. One choice is in the national interest, and that choice is clear. [applause] sen. Hart people want to know what is the issue of 1988. I will state that issue to you very clearly. The issue in 1988 is who is best qualified to govern this country. The question is one of leadership. We can have leadership that unites us or leadership that divides us. We can have leadership that challenges us, or leadership that makes us feel good. We can have leadership in the national interest, or leadership in the narrow interest. We can have leadership that tells this country it must move forward or leadership that says we will go back and recapture our past. That is the issue in 1988, and that is why i make this race. I make this race, because i love my country, and i want america to do better and to move forward. I believe there is an untapped idealism in the american spirit. And there is a quality in the american character that is yet to be unlocked. At its best, that is what a National Campaign is and ought to be about, and i pledge to you that is what this campaign will be about. You give me 20 days in the next 20 months, and i will give you a presidency you can be proud of. [cheers] [applause] sen. Hart hank you. [applause] let us go forward from this day, committed to restoring this plan to all of its people and restore a sense of genuine, true patriotism to this country. If we do, we will have done the greatest thing we ever could do for this country. March on. [cheers] [applause] [sousa march playing] sen. Hart thank you all very much. Sen. Hart thanks very much. This land is your land this land is my land from california to New York Island from redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me road to the white house rewind continues with more from the 1988 campaign from gary hart. Just weeks after entering the president ial race, the former colorado senator faced allegations of an extramarital affair. Next, he addresses the night news and conference. This picks it up just after the News Conference gets underway. This is about 40 minutes. Sen. Hart i have made clear, i think everyone, i have nothing to hide. I made a serious mistake. I regret those very much, not just for myself, but for all those involved. The individuals who have been my own family, first of all