Remarks in a discussion in Hudson, Wisconsin

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 23, 2004

August 18, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. Thank you all. That's what I'm here to tell you. I'm ready to go. There's more work to be done. I'm here asking for 4 more years.

Thank you all for coming. I think we've got a pretty interesting way to explain why I'm running for President again today. What I thought I would do is spend some time talking about some issues with some of your fellow citizens here, who will help explain why I make decisions the way I do. Then if we've got time, I'd like to answer some questions from you. Then I've got to go across the river--

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. They vote too. [Laughter] I want to thank you all for coming. I really am out asking for the vote. I think it's really important to travel the States that are key States and ask people--and tell people why you're running. And that's what I'm doing today in your great State. You know, we came close last time in Wisconsin. This time we're going to win it.

I want to thank you all for your help. Listen, I know there's some people here who volunteer for the campaign, and I want--let me tell you what that means. It means signs. It means making phone calls. It means encouraging people to register to vote.

You know, I like to tell people an interesting story about Afghanistan, and I'll talk about that a little more later on, but there was some doubt in people's minds as to whether or not, once free, the Afghan people would participate in democracy, particularly after the Taliban drug some people off one of the buses--women--off the buses and executed them because they happened to be holding voter registration cards. Today in that country, 3 1/2 years after being brutalized by the Taliban, over 9 million people have registered to vote. See, they are--it's a great statistic, isn't it?

We have a duty in this country to vote. So I hope you register your friends and neighbors. Tell them they have a duty to vote. And when you head them--get them headed toward the polls, tell them if they want the country safer, stronger, and better, put old George Bush and Dick Cheney back in.

I'm sorry Laura is not here. Gosh, she would love this beautiful part of the world. She is in Colorado campaigning, and then she's headed to Texas. And after my speech tonight, I'm heading down to Crawford as well. But the reason I bring her up is she is--I'm a lucky man. She is a great mom. She's really a wonderful wife, and she's doing a great job as the First Lady. She has come to realize what I have realized, that simple gestures of kindness to people really can affect their lives in positive ways, that when we've been given this awesome responsibility and a high honor of serving our country, it really doesn't take much to help lift somebody's spirits. And Laura goes around the country talking to teachers and thanking them for teaching, and talking to people who are involved with literacy programs and thanking them for their literacy programs.

I remember when she did the radio address and spoke to the women of Afghanistan. The feedback on that was fantastic. People were just so grateful that somebody in a high position in America would speak to their hopes and aspirations. Her job satisfaction level is high. I hope there's a lot of reasons you want to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one is so that Laura will be the First Lady for 4 more years.

A couple of things. I want to thank my friend Mark Green, Congressman Mark Green, for traveling today. He's a good fellow. Thank you, Congressman. He's a good, smart, honest guy with whom I've got a great working relationship.

I've also been traveling with Dale Schultz. He's going to make a fine United States Congressman. I appreciate him. He's working hard. He's knocking on a lot of doors, which is what you have to do if you're going to--if you intend on winning. I think he'll be a great Congressman.

Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming. I'm proud you're here. Where are you? There he is. Mr. Mayor, thank you. Thanks for coming.

You know, I said I want the country to be stronger and safer and better. Let me start with what it means to be a better country. A better country is a country that makes sure every child is educated. One of the reasons I'm running again is because there's more work to do to make sure that the philosophy behind No Child Left Behind is fully implemented. What that philosophy said was--is that we're going to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. See, if you have a system that doesn't expect the best, it's a system that tends to quit on kids too early and just shuffles them through, grade to grade. And guess who gets shuffled through? These so-called hard-to-educate. And that's not good enough for America. And so what we did in Washington is we said, "We'll spend more Federal dollars, and, in return for Federal dollars, we'll finally start asking the question, have you achieved the goals?" See, we'll start to measure. And the reason you measure is not to punish. The reason you measure is to correct problems early, before it's too late.