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Remarks of the President upon departure to Williamsburg, Virginia [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7346399
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Remarks of the President upon departure to Williamsburg, Virginia [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1976
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Digitized from Box 33 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 22, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
UPON DEPARTURE TO
WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
THE SOUTH LAWN
THE PRESIDENT: Let me thank the Suitland and St. John
Bands. I think they have done a great, great job. I like the way
they play that last song. It is the Michigan Victor's Song and that
is what is going to happen November 2.
Obviously I am overwhelmed by the wonderful turnout here this
morning. I thank you all for coming. I am deeply grateful for your
support, and let me say without any hesitation or reservation, we are
going to win November 2 and we won't let you down.
This has been a long campaign. But political campaigns--
and I have been through 14. of them--are very, very similar to
athletic contests. You will often find in football or baseball that one
team will appear to be outclassed, will start from behind, but because
they work together, because they feel they have the right approach,
the right plans, the right programs, and because they never give up,
they win in the last quarter or the ninth inning.
Which reminds me that out in Kansas City all of the polls
indicated we were some 33 points behind. That would seem to be
almost an insurmountable lead to overcome. We figured it out
mathematically and between that date and November 2 it meant we
had to change approximately 150,000 to 200,000 people is to how they wer
going to vote between that date and Election Day. But a certain
phenomena took place. The America people decided we had a good
convention, we had a good platform, we were pulling together, and we
had the right vision and the right programs for the American people.
The net result was the polls began to show very, very quickly that we
were gaining in a phenomenal way, and right today the polls are so close
that I think we have an excellent opportunity to pull the political surprise
of the century and to come back and win.
As I look at the next 12 or 13 days--and that's all that is left--what we do
between now and then will make the difference in the direction this country
is going to go in the next four years, building a foundation for the next
century of American history.
If we go the way that our platform calls for, the way I believe and Bob Dole
believes, we can keep the peace that has been achieved through the strength
of our military capability and our diplomatic skill, we can enlarge the
opportunities for economic progress so that we can honestly say that there
will be a job for every American who wants a job, there will be a home in a
decent neighborhood for every person or couple that wants to work and
save and buy a home. It is the direction of security on our streets for our
young as well as our old against crime in America. It means giving to the
American people the best medical care available at affordable prices. It
means greater opportunities for recreation in the wonderful, scenic places
we have all over America. It means that the American people can live in
a society where there has been healing, not division; where we can disagree
without being disagreeable; where we can look forward in the next four years
(MORE)
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and far beyond to a quality of life, peace abroad and peace at home with
prosperity for all. That's the direction we want to go and that is what
is going to win November 2.
So I thank you all for being here. We will be out there working
every day from now until November 2. And when the polls close on that
fateful day, I want to be able to say, and I know each one of you wish to
say, that you made a maximum effort to see to it that the direction of
America is the right direction for the next four years.
Thank you very, very much.
END
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