Remarks in Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 13, 2004

September 6, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. I'm glad to be here celebrating Labor Day with you. It's good to be in a part of the world where the cowboy hats outnumber the ties. Thanks for coming. You know, you might have heard I got an interesting invitation to come here to Poplar Bluff. Missouri. I get a lot of invitations. I've never gotten one with 10,000 signatures on it But I was somewhat surprised when we choppered over here, because it looks like there's a lot more people than 10,000 that have come today.

Thanks for coming. Thanks for having me. It's a beautiful part of the world. People are good people here. I'm proud to be here to ask for your vote. You sure know how to make a President feel welcome.

And I know you will join me in wishing President Clinton the very best wishes in the recovery from his surgery. His surgery, went well, which is good news. And we just pray for a speedy recovery for the former President.

My one regret today is I wish Laura were here to see the size of this crowd. You know, she was a public school librarian when I asked her to marry me. She was working at an elementary school, and she said, "Fine, I'll marry you, so long as I never have to give a political speech." [Laughter] I said, "Okay." [Laughter] Fortunately, it's not a promise she held me to. She gave a fantastic speech. She's a great mom. She is a wonderful wife. She is a great First Lady. I'm going to give you some reasons to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one of all is so that Laura is First Lady for 4 more years.

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

The President. I'm proud to be running for a second term with my friend Dick Cheney. He doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] I didn't pick him for his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because he has good judgment, great experience, and he can get the job done.

I appreciate my friend Jo Ann Emerson, the fine Congresswoman from this district. She's a pleasure to work with. Every time I see her, she says, "Remember Missouri." And so does your Senator, Kit Bond. I'm proud to be here with Kit. I'm asking you to put me back in there, but make sure, as you do, put him in too. He's a great United States Senator. Give him 6 more years.

And Jim Talent--Jim Talent is a fine Senator as well. As they say down in Crawford, he's making a good hand--[laughter]--smart guy, good, honest man. I appreciate being with him.

It's good to be here with your next Governor, Matt Blunt. I appreciate my friend Peter Kinder here. He's representing the State senate. It looks like his cousin came. [Laughter] House Speaker Catherine Hanaway is with us. I'm proud you're here.

I want to thank Mayor Lloyd Matthews. Mr. Mayor, thank you so very much for this very generous and kind introduction--invitation to be here. It means a lot. And I also want to thank Hardy Billington and David Hahn. These are local veterans. These boys sure know how to throw a party. I want to thank the Sho-Me marching band. Thank you all for coming. Poplar Bluff High School, I appreciate you all being here.

Most of all, I want to thank you all for coming on Labor Day. It means a lot. Audience member. [Inaudible]

The President. Well, I'm glad to be here. But I'm not only asking for the vote: I'm asking for your help. I think it's really important in our society to vote. I believe in a free society, we have an obligation to participate in our elections.

So I'm asking you to register your friends and neighbors. Don't overlook discerning Democrats, people like Zell Miller. Zell Miller knows. There's a lot of good Democrats in this part of the world that understand that Dick Cheney and I will make this world safer, stronger, and better for every single American, And if you're a Democrat for independent, you're welcome here. We're glad you're here.

And then when you get people heading to the polls, after you register them, get them leaning our wax,. Get them to come our way. I want to thank you for your help. I want to thank you for what you're going to do, coming down the stretch run. There's no doubt in my mind, with your help, we'll carry Missouri again and win the big election in November of '04.

I'm looking forward to this race. I am. I like to get out with the people. I'm looking forward to telling the people of this country where I stand, what I believe, and where I'll lead this country.

I believe every child can learn and that every school must teach. That's why we passed important reforms of our schools in Washington. See, we're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. I believe if you lower the bar, you're going to get lousy results. I believe if you believe in the best and worth of every child and raise that bar, you're going to get excellent results. I believe it's important to measure early, so you can solve problems early, before it's too late. We've got to stop this practice of just shuffling kids through school whether they can read and write and add and subtract or not. I believe in local control of schools. And I know we're making progress closing the achievement gap in America, and we're not turning back.