Democrats '80 Transcript of Kennedy's Speech on Economic Issues at Democratic Convention; Recalls Roosevelt Rejoinder Fairness and Compassion Health Insurance in a Fair Society Pride in the Democratic Heritage Looking Back on 1980 Campaign
Recalls Roosevelt Rejoinder
We heard the orators at their convention all trying to talk like Democrats. They proved that even Republican nominees can quote Franklin Roosevelt to their own purpose. The Grand Old Party thinks it has found a great new trick. But 40 years ago, an earlier generation of Republicans attempted the same trick. And Franklin Roosevelt himself replied: "Most Republican leaders have bitterly fought and blocked the forward surge of average men and women in their pursuit of happiness. Let us not be deluded that overnight those leaders have suddenly become the friends of average men and women.
You know," he continued, "very few of us are that gullible.' " And four years later, when the Republicans tried that trick again, Franklin Roosevelt asked: “Can the Old Guard pass itself off as the New Deal? I think not. We have all seen many marvelous stunts in the circus, but no performing elephant could turn a handspring without falling flat on its back.” The 1980 Republican convention was awash with crocodile tears for our economic distress, but it is by their long record and not their recent words that you shall know them.
The same Republicans who are talking about the crisis of unemployment have nominated a man who once said, and I quote, "Unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation plan for freeloaders." And that nominee is no friend of labor. The same Republicans who are talking about the problems of the inner cities have nominated a man who said, and I quote, "I have included in my morning and evening prayers every day the prayer that the Federal Government not bail out New York."
And that nominee is no friend of this city and our great urban centers across this nation. The same Republicans who are talking about security for the elderly have nominated a man who said just four years ago that participation in Social Security "should be made voluntary."
And that nominee is no friend of the senior citizen of this nation. The same Republicans who are talking about preserving the environment have nominated a man who last year made the preposterous statement, and I quote: "Eighty percent of air pollution comes from plants and trees."
And that nominee is no friend of the environment. And the same Republicans who are invoking Franklin Roosevelt have nominated a man who said in 1976, and these are his exact words: "Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal."
And that nominee, whose name is Ronald Reagan, has no right to quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The great adventure which our opponents offer is a voyage into the past. Progress is our heritage, not theirs. What is right for us as Democrats is also the right way for Democrats to win.
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