Bill Clinton: “I'm telling you, I see it all over America. They're praying for amnesia on your part. [Laughter] Vice President…”

“I'm telling you, I see it all over America. They're praying for amnesia on your part. [Laughter] Vice President Gore--who incidentally is jealous that he's not here tonight and I am--he told a story today in Cleveland that we used to tell each other in Arkansas and I'd forgotten. But it's a good story, and you'll appreciate it in Iowa. He said there was a politician out on the country road running for office, and he came upon a farmer who was sitting up on his porch. There was an old dog laying out there in the yard. He said, ``Sir, I'd like to come ask you for your vote. Will your dog bite?'' He said, ``No.'' So the guy hiked over the fence, went up, shook hands with the farmer. And just as he was asking for the vote, the dog got up and ran up and bit him right in the rear. So he ran back and got in his car and rolled the window down and said, ``I thought you said your dog wouldn't bite.'' He said, ``That ain't my dog, son.'' [Laughter] Now, that's what they want you to think about that budget that I vetoed. But it is their dog. It is their dog. And I thought it was a mangy old dog, and that's why I vetoed it, because I did not want to see our country divided. And then they shut the Government down; not once but twice they shut it down and said, ``You will take these $270 billion in Medicare cuts and our attempt to split Medicare apart.'' You know, we have--American senior citizens have the lowest poverty rate ever recorded in history now and the highest life expectancy of any group of seniors in the world in part because of Medicare. We have to reform it, but I'm not going to wreck it. That's a high class problem, having people living longer and well. I'm proud of that achievement. Every American should be proud of it. And they said, ``We're going to make you take it, or we'll shut the Government down.'' And I looked around and I counted how many people were going to be on that field with me, because the President's veto is no good unless somebody will stand with him. And Tom Harkin was first in line. And what we told them was, ``Go on and shut the Government down. We'd rather see the American people hurt for 30 days than 30 years, and we will not go along. We will not go along. We will not go along.'' But the third thing I want to say to you is, notwithstanding their attempts to sort of distract and divert the American people and divide us here, this country is in better shape than it was 4 years ago, and we need to keep going until we build that bridge to the 21st century. This is a happy time. This is a great time for America. Of all the countries in the world, we've had the best growth for the last 4 years. We have the lowest deficit. If you take the big seven economies, we have created by far more jobs in America than all the other countries put together, 10.7 million more than we had 4 years ago. We're moving in the right direction. We need to bear down and go on. Farm exports at an all-time high; we've opened new markets for all kinds of things. And I'm telling you, we are moving in the right direction. And the most important thing is when you vote for President tomorrow, when you vote for Senator tomorrow, when you vote for Congress tomorrow, you have to ask yourself, ``We're going into this new century; things are changing. What do I want my country to look like, and what do those guys or those women have to do about it?'' Now for years, since I have been your President, I take a little time every day to ask and answer this question, what do I want my country to look like when we enter the 21st century? What do I want my country to look like when our daughter is our age? And for me it's pretty simple. I want the American dream to be alive and well for everybody responsible enough to work for it. I want America to lead the world indefinitely for peace and freedom and prosperity. And I want us to beat the odds when the rest of this old world is being torn apart by their differences; I want us to relish and respect our diversity and say, we share the same values and we're going forward together. That's what I want America to look like. Now, your vote will determine whether that happens in Iowa. Your vote will determine whether we keep on going and balance the budget with a targeted tax cut we can afford for education and childrearing and buying a first-time home and dealing with medical costs and not charging people taxes when they sell their home. We can pay for that one and still protect Medicare and Medicaid, invest in education and the environment and technology and the future of these young people; or their plan, which is a big old scheme, sounds great at election time: a bigger deficit, higher interest rates, bigger cuts than the ones I vetoed when they shut the Government down. And they're still trying to raise taxes, as Tom said, on those 8 million working families making modest incomes. Your vote will decide. I think you know which vote will build a bridge to the 21st century. Will you seize the opportunity tomorrow to help us do it? Your vote will decide. Your vote will decide---- Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!”