My feeling is we could go on for an hour or two or three more, but were not going to was we have to stop, and i want to thank you, kenneth walsh, for a wonderful presentation. Thank you. Very interesting to us, and is we will look forward to reading your book. Thanks for having me. [applause] thank you, everyone. Commonwealth is now now adjourned. And ill do some books now, right . [inaudible conversations] wed like to hear from you. Tweet us our feedback, twitter. Com booktv. Booktv attended a book party for democratic leadership counsel al from, author of the new democrats and the return to power. Mr. From talked to guests and made informal remarks. Its about an hour. Look at this crowd, okay. How are you . How are ya . I cant tell you any secrets. Yeah, basically. Thats all right. But you know what . [laughter] but we dont have any secrets, right . Yes. [inaudible] im doing my best. Youre doing great. Working out all the time. All right. So you will be very pleased. Tomorrow morning go to the brookings web site. Yeah . If it doesnt show up right on the front page go to [inaudible] because one of my fellows read your book and wrote an essay on it. Okay. Well, you know, youre a star in the book. Theres a whole chapter on [inaudible conversations] i mean, its basically, i just lifted most of the politics. Good. And i had this brother or sister in january of 1989, and that was one of the most important yeah. So youre coming friday for lunch, right . Yeah. Because were going to do a brookings lunch. Its me and [inaudible] and michael. Okay. Because thatll be the, itll be the pivot to talking about the republicans. Right. Which is what makes his book i had a piece, yeah, in the Politico Magazine today, and i think they called me and said they wanted to do some promotion of it, so i assume well do some of that tomorrow on the lessons republicans could oh, good. All right. Yeah. Well, i tweeted it youve got to follow me. I dont follow anybody. I just got on twitter. Barney, how are you . Good to see you. Great to see you. Congratulations. Thank you. This is great. Are you going to sign these things . Yeah. I think theyre, i think most of these are presigned, but oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [inaudible conversations] family okay . Everybodys fine. Should be around here somewhere. My daughter who just got married and her new husband, just got back from her honeymoon, are coming down. Oh, how neat. A lot of people waiting to see you. How are you . How are you . Im jolly. Wow. [inaudible] well, you know, i just decided about a year ago that i really had to do it. So i go to the gym every day yeah. Which is in my basement and do and [inaudible] my daughter got engaged over the weekend, she put me on a diet. I have to lose 20 pounds to walk her down the aisle. Hey, congratulations. I was going to buy book. Get on amazon and buy as many as you can. Already agreed to buy a dozen. El, thats good. Well, thats good. Buy more [inaudible] you know, one of the, you know, youre one of the i cant remember whether i kept this in the book, but your story about 2000 is one of the Great Stories of all times. Which one . About Election Night, 2000, when you lost three jobs. [laughter] so, i mean, the first line in my book is on Election Night. My year was 1980. Im sorry, on Election Night, 1980, i held a party and nobody came. Because by the time of the party, everybody had lost their job. You know, and then i i think about i did a big party in 2000 right. Over at [inaudible] right. And a whole bunch of people, and i thought it was just going to cost this much and we were going to leave when the election was over, and it cost 4,000 more. I was on the plane with lieberman, so we were for about an hour or an hour and a half i was going to be chief of staff of the transition for the vice president. So close, so close. That didnt quite make it. Yeah. Anyway i think of the old days in the 70s. Right. Well, you remember guy. How are you . You look thinner and younger and the whole thing. Youve really been working out. Working hard. Mr. Gibbs, how are you . Pleasure. Great to see you. Congratulations. Great book. Thank you. Were on cspan now, but got to talk to lanny about what he and i i talked about yesterday, our new plan. I love it. I like it. So it fits really well. I flipped through the week, and i read various the book, and i read various [inaudible] so interesting, all the personalities. Right. Im really glad you wrote this book. Its a story that had to be told. I mean, you know this because youre living down in north carolina. But the so easy to forget. Its so easy to forget. And, you know, the other thing that drives me crazy in todays politics, nobody cares about ideas, nobody cares about performs. Its all about posture. I love your thought of party unity is not the goal. Right, right. Well, you know what . You were a very important guy because you wrote all those speeches for [inaudible] well, you know, i cant tell you how many times i repeated the words responsibility, opportunity. Yeah. Its a really good book. Thank you. Im glad, im glad you like it. You know, it was so much fun to write. I bet. Well, you know, your lifes an experience, and good luck to you. Great. You know, im glad youre keeping this legacy alive, because ill tell you what, its so easy for people to forget. I think its alive, more than alive. I agree. You know, obamas speech today was interesting because its basically the message ive been trying to deliver when i go out and sell this book, that, you know, we believe in government. Yeah. In activist government. But because of that its incumbent on him and the administration to make this Health Care Bill work. Good bill. Thats the other thing, its a good bill. And theyve just got to make it work. Because [inaudible] i hope so. Im so pleased for you. Great. How you doing . Thank you very much. Of course. Great. Hey, how are you . Congratulations. You look fantastic. You look like youre in fantastic condition. Work out, try to work out every day. I mean, this is what youre going to learn, its a great life after politics. Yeah . You look very happy. I mean, this has been great for me because, i mean, writing the book was fun. It brought back all these memories. But it also convinced me that, you know, i dont want to really be in the Business World very much. I mean, i want to do what i yeah. Well, you did this awful well. Thank you. I started reading the book yesterday. Great. Tell all your friends to oh, dont worry. To buy it. Get their kindle i never realized, people get a better deal, for me, on kindle than you do buying the book. All right. I hope we sell a lot of these books, so good. You want to sign one for us . Oh, yeah. Ill catch you later. Sounds good. All right, thank you. [inaudible conversations] the great chris coons. And i will bring that back to him. [inaudible conversations] yeah. I think i probably owe you guys something. Wheres the rest of you . Well, ill bring it to brookings on friday. [laughter] i mean, both of you guys are big parts of the story, but ive got almost a whole chapter on you. Youre kidding . No, im not kidding. Youre crazy. I i did our breakfast in january of 1989 which was, you know a really famous breakfast. I remember that breakfast. You know, there are really fascinating dates. One is july 14, 1987. Nobody would ever know anything about it, but its the day that clinton decided not to run in 88. But that breakfast, those are two of the hidden days of movement. I understand. All right. Comrade, itll be a pleasure to see you on friday. Books already signed. But ill sign it, i want to really personalize it. I just wanted to pay my respects. I though youre not dead. [laughter] thats right. Almost. Not dead yet. Yeah, not yet. [inaudible conversations] or. Good evening. Thank you all, thank you all for coming. This is just [inaudible] thank you. Good evening, thank you for coming. Im bruce reed, im pinch hitting for, as host this evening for connie millstein, the hostess with the mostest and her wonderful husband j. C. Were incredible grateful to coppny for everything shes done connie for everything shes done there for this city,s country, for the new Democrat Movement. Shes a magnificent philanthropist and has the biggest heart and the biggest laugh that washington has seen in a long time. Its a shame that she couldnt be here tonight because out of all the remarkable projects that she has embraced over the years, al from may very well be her favorite. The moment she met al, she knew that he was the brightest political mind of our time. And when she bought this place, this hotel, it would not have surprised me to see her change its name from the jeff to the from if not for the uncontrollable rage that would have caused for that staunch virginian, will marshall. But thank you all for coming. So many people here helped make this event possible. All these years al from has made a name for himself as one of the alltime great troublemakers, and its wonderful tonight to see him surrounded by so many coconspirators. For decades, for two decades now ive made a living in this town off of one joke which tonight i get to tell one more time. [laughter] you see, i was born with the ultimate washington curse; i look like ralph reed, and i think like al from. [laughter] but it could be worse, it could have been the other way around. Now, i figure that by now, by now the shelf life on that joke would have run out in a place as trenchant as washington where most people cant remember any of the people involved. But just today i was walking back to my office in the white house, and a republican from across the street waved and said, hi, ralph. [laughter] til death do us part. [laughter] the truth is thinking like al from has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. And while luckily im the only one cursed to look like ralph reed, the world is a vastly better place because over the years so Many Democrats have come to think like al from. And the amazing story that al tells in this book brings it all back. We take it for granted now, but we shouldnt forget just how hard it was to try to breathe new life into an old party when al got started back in the 80s. And back then, as congresswoman Pat Schroeder used to tell audiences, democrats just need to do three things to win back the white house. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. [laughter] but al from knew. He understood that to lead a party out of the political wilderness would take a different kind of democrat, and today we have a different kind of Democratic Party as a result. And if youve forgotten what the political wilderness was like in those days, just take a look across the aisle at the sad, unreconstructed state of todays republican party. Weve been there, and thanks to bill clinton and Hillary Clinton and barack obama and joe biden and al from and a host of new democrats like jack or markell of who have worked their way up the ranks, we decided long ago to be done with all that. Theres a lot of people in this room who made als vision come true. He certainly wouldnt be here if it werent for the woman he met in the Civil Rights Movement and worked alongside on the war on poverty, the mother of jeannie and sarah and the love of his life, ginger from. [applause] all of us cosere to haves thank al for the lessons that he taught us. He showed us that ideas matter and obstacles dont. Hes a thinner man than he was when he started, but were stronger because of his thick skin. When our party had to wreak some china, al from was the donkey in the china shop he needed. [laughter] and i think what has meant the most to me over the years is hes just always reminded me that the fickle fashions of washington in the end dont matter. E never cared who was down. He woke up every morning determined to fight for the same principles that he fought for and believed in the night before. And it is a rare man who can stay true to his heart for a lifetime in this town. Ask were all forever grateful to him for that. Be so the mission of the Democratic Party has always been to enable every generation to build a better, Brighter Future for the next one. And in the end, that is really what al from has dope for all of of us done for all of us. Because of him were better off than we were three decades ago, and we could easily say of al what ed killgore got sam nunn to say about bill clinton back in 1990. He was a rising star in at least three decades. [laughter] and the Democratic Party has seen a parade of rising stars because of als work and on als. Watch. And its now my privilege to introduce one of the most impressive of those rising star, governor jack markell. For the last three years as joe bidens chief of staff, ive been privileged to be an honorary citizen of the great state of delaware. And like my woz, i burst with pride every time the first state does something amazing from the basketball teams great run to this months grand opening just down the street of capriatis, the best sub shot in america. [laughter] but for the past five years, delaware has been blessed with one of the smartest, most innovative governors in the country. Jacks made tremendous progress with delawares schools, its finances, its economy. He just finished an incredibly successful run as chair of the National Governors association. Hes the kind of leader we look to all the time for ideas. Hes the kind of person who makes you proud to work in this business, and hes the kind of new democrat that al from had in mind all along. Jack . [applause] well, thank you, bruce. And id ask all of you to join me in expressing our appreciation to bruce for his Phenomenal Service in the Clinton White house, at the dlc, in the Obama Biden White house, and hes got about a week left before he heads out to the west coast. Were really excited to see all that he does and all that the grant he makes to the state of delaware. [laughter] so please join me in thanking bruce reed. [applause] i am, and by the way, theres more room up front. I know it looks very tight up there, so if people want to move up a bit, they can. I am thrilled to be here tonight with my wife, carla, to honor al who has made so many incredible contributions to this country over the last 5 years. 25 years. And im not going to go through the full list of all of the programs, whether its the earned income tax credit or National Service or welfare reform. Theres such a long list of ideas that he and will and bruise and the whole team at the dlc and the ppi championed for so long. I will never forget back in 99 or 2000 when president clinton spoke to a gathering of the dlc up in hyde park, new york. And i was so fortunate to be day, and i got to remember to president chinton speak for about clinton speak for about 45 minutes basically without a note. And he talked for 45 minutes straight. This was at the end of his administration. About all the accomplishments that they had achieved over their seven or eight years then. And the entire speech was tying it back to the work of the democratic leadership council. It was a stunning performance. And, of course, he concluded by talking all about al. And the fact is he said at the time theres not been anybody else who hasnt been in public life who has made a bigger contribution to the country during these last couple decades. And that is, thats al. But i really believe that als contributions go beyond that, because there are literally thousands of people like me, elected officials and now appointed officials across the country who owe in large part much of our own political success to al. In my case, or its literally true. I would not be governor without al because i learned from the best that ideas, thats what politics is all about. Politics is supposed to be about ideas s. And i decided to run for governor back in 2008, and i knew my only chance of winning a very competitive race would be to offer bold ideas for a changed state. And thats what i did. And it was because of those ideas and because of all that i learned from al and the dlc ppi team that i won. So in my case, i literally would not be governor without al. But there are thousands of others who may not necessarily owe our political victories to al, but we certainly owe our success at governing to al and all that we have learned. And youll find this all over the place. There is this group of us all over the country, just recently a couple weeks ago the brand new mayor of st. Pete, florida, somebody who we all got to know at dlc, the mayor of tampa, florida, somebody we all got to know at the dlc. There are u. S. Senators, there are congressmen, there are governors, there are a number of members of the cab net. I got to know Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano and tom vilsack through the dlc. And al and his team created this unbelievable community. And so here we are, you know, decades later, so many of us recognizing that what al said, that politics is supposed tonight tonight to be about ideas. And so much of the focus is about personality rather than the ideas. And we all have continuing work to do to put the focus where it ought to be, which is on the ideas. You know, at the beginning of als book, chapter one begins by him saying that he threw away party on Election Night of 1980, ask nobody showed up and nobody showed up. He went to work. For the next 25 or 30 years. And here we are tonight to celebrate the book that chronicles the rise of of the nw Democrat Movement, the movement that brought our party back a. And, al, tonight you threw a party, and a whole lot of people showed up. Lets hear it for al from. [cheers and applause] wow. Thank you very much, jack, and thanks to bruce. I always like to have bruce sort of warm up the crowd, because he gets you laughing, and then i can be serious. [laughter] but jack markell is one of those remarkable young politicians. I get asked all the time where are the new democrats, where are the great leaders because everybody focuses on all of the shenanigans in washington. And theyre in places like dover, delaware and annapolis and albany, new york, and denver, colorado, with governors, great democratic governors all over the country. And, you know, theyre this countrys future leadershipment i just look out over this room, and its a whole lifetime. Most everybody in this room a is part of the story, and i thank you for that. A lot of you are even in the book, and i hope i didnt embarrass you. [l