Thank you.
I want to thank my colleagues at the campaign for the great job they’re doing. I want to thank my colleagues at the Attorney General’s office for the work they do everyday on behalf of our state. And I want to say “thank you” to my fellow Democrats and Missourians who’ve honored me with your nomination for governor.
Tonight’s victory begins our general election campaign. We move beyond a discussion between Democrats…and begin a new discussion that welcomes all Missourians…including Independents and Republicans to this table.
For months, we’ve watched it unfold…the most disturbing political campaign in fifty years. Candidates shooting machine guns and doing sit ups for the cameras. Candidates mocking the disabled and even questioning the grief of a Gold Star Mother.
It all seems beneath us…It is beneath the greatness of our country and beneath the greatness of Missouri.
If you feel the way I do. If you find it disappointing, and you are looking for careful, thoughtful leadership, a place where people are listened to and respected, where problems get fixed and not just talked about… then I want to tell you there is new Democratic Party in Missouri reaching out its hand to you.
Everywhere I travel, Missourians want the same things. They want government that is small and fiscally responsible, with laser attention to protecting our AAA bond rating. They want their individual rights protected. They want peace in their neighborhoods, and dignity and respect in their daily lives.
But they also want something we haven’t seen in Jefferson City in a long time. Missourians want progress. Progress that makes a difference in the towns where they live.
Conservative farmers in the Bootheel are bewildered why this Republican legislature refuses to fund our public schools. Since when did fiscal conservatism mean underfunded schools? To these farm families I say this, I will fully fund your local school and keep the promise to children Republican’s have been breaking for 15 years.
Missourians everywhere are realizing our General Assembly has done nothing as one rural hospital after another has shut its doors for good. Osceola, Mt. Vernon, Farmington, Reynolds County…all rural hospitals that have closed in the last three years as Republican legislators sat on their hands…and there will be more closings in the months to come…each closing making life in rural Missouri harder.
For those families frustrated by declining local healthcare, I’m going to make new investments in Missouri’s hospital system. Together, we’ll create 40,000 new health care jobs…jobs that will be created in the towns where you live. New jobs that will give your children a place to come home to and work, and we’ll accomplish it without raising income taxes.
And across our state, Missourians are frustrated by the condition of our roads and bridges. Potholes don’t seem like partisan issues. The potholes destroy Republican and Democratic tires at exactly the same rate. But most Republicans in Jefferson City are so terrified to take a vote on road funding, they’d rather pass MoDOT’s costs onto their children.
Let me remind my Republican friends: conservatives pay our own debts…we don’t pass debts on to future generations.
To the farmers of Missouri who drive twice as far because the bridge to market is closed, let me say this. If you want ten more years of inaction, vote Republican. If you want MoDOT fixed, follow me.
As all of you know, nine years ago, I was the leader of the Republicans in the Missouri Senate. I changed parties to become a conservative Democrat because I saw the Republican Party heading down a dark alley with no escape.
Tomorrow morning, you will see the ads against me begin, telling you what a horrible person I am. The ads will be paid for by the very same conservative politicians who once chose me as their leader.
But let me tell you why I’m happy to be here, in this room, with you tonight.
In this room, we don’t play politics with women’s health, we protect it.
In this room, we don’t oppose equal pay for equal work, we demand it.
In this room, we don’t discriminate against gay people, we fight against it.
In this room, we don’t tear down collective bargaining, we always, always defend it.
And in this room, we are committed to two truths:
We thank, respect and will always raise up the police officers, troopers and deputies who put their lives on the line everyday to keep Missouri safe.
At the same time, we’ll work to rebuild trust between law enforcement and our minority communities, through community policing, integration of law enforcement, witness protection, and by making sure honest folks are never treated like criminals.
In this room, we begin the campaign to repair our state. To Missourians who reject the childish behavior and extreme language we have seen this campaign season…I ask for your support. To Missourians who hold out hope that fiscal conservatism can live comfortably with social tolerance, I ask for your support. And to everyone who is fed up with the insanity, I ask you to join me the next 100 days, and the next 4 years, to build a Missouri that will make us proud.
Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your faith. And may God bless this great state.
