Bill Clinton: “Thank you so much. Please be seated. Dr. Walker, Dr. Forbes, ``Reverend'' McCall--[laughter]--he was doing pretty good…”

“Thank you so much. Please be seated. Dr. Walker, Dr. Forbes, ``Reverend'' McCall--[laughter]--he was doing pretty good, wasn't he? Bishop Quick; Reverend Sharpton; my good friend Congressman Schumer and his wife, Iris, and their daughter, Jessica; I think Congressman Towns is here. President Fernando Ferrer, the Bronx Borough president; Virginia Fields, I think, may be here, the Manhattan Borough president; Judith Hope, our State chair. I'd like to thank the St. Paul Community Baptist Church Choir for singing Red Foley's old hymn for me. Thank you very much; it was quite wonderful. When I was a little boy, I used to listen to Mahalia Jackson sing that song. And when I was a young man and living in England, I went to the Royal Albert Hall in London to hear Mahalia Jackson sing, not long before she died. It was 29 years ago, and it was an amazing thing. She was singing ``Precious Lord.'' At the end of her concert, there were all these young people like me there--but most of them weren't like me, most of them were British; they didn't grow up listening to all this, you know. And these kids stormed the stage at the end, almost like she was a rock star. They were five and six deep, screaming for her to keep singing. And you reminded me of all that just a moment ago, and I thank you for that. Weren't they wonderful? [Applause] They were great. Thank you. Let me say to all of you, I thank Carl McCall for his leadership and for what he said.…”