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Text of Remarks by the President to Be Delivered to a GOP Fundraising Dinner [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7336707
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Text of Remarks by the President to Be Delivered to a GOP Fundraising Dinner [Ford Speech or Statement]
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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
OCTOBER 22, 1974
UNTIL 8:40 p.m. EDT
Office of the White House Press Secretary
(Cleveland, Ohio)
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO BE DELIVERED TO A
GOP FUNDRAISING DINNER
Before I begin, I want to extend my sincere thanks to Virginia Coy for
creaing this marvelous button for tonight. It says: "President Gerald R.
Ford -- Model A-1 Ford That's very kind. Because if you remember
the Model A Ford, it was brand-new, economical, dependable, uncomplicated,
and it got us to where we wanted to go. And that's exactly the kind of Ford
I want to be!
Virginia and Frank Coy, let me thank you for this wonderful tribute!
You know, it was such a warm, personal touch for Bud Humphrey to introduce
me tonight. Bud was a quarterback on the Yale football team while I was
the line coach there. And believe me, Bud was really one of Yale's brightest
stars. And as I listened to his words tonight, it's evident he still knows how
to carry the ball!
Then again, Ohio Republicans have always had a reputation for carrying the
ball and winning. All you have to do is look at Ohio's Republican team in the
Congress. You just can't argue with the scoreboard! And come November
5th, we're going to keep it that way!
I understand that the prospects are good for changes in the State House of
Representatives and the Governor's Office in Columbus. I know some people
in Ohio are trying to count Jim Rhodes out. I count him in. And I know you
can count on him as your next governor.
Candidates with proven experience in conducting the affairs of the public are
far too scarce. You might say that Jim Rhodes is the Cornelius Green of
politics. He also knows how to carry the ball and score.
Ralph Perk is another great team player who deserves to be elected the next
United States Senator from this State. As an outstanding mayor, he will be
an equally outstanding Senator. I urge you to send him to Washington to
help me in the biggest economic battle we have ever waged in this country
the one against Public Enemy No. 1.
Ohio has consistently done its part in providing the Nation with effective
leadership in the Congress, with dedicated, hard-working and honest legislators
the kind who will vote in Washington like they talk in Chio.
I know Ralph Perk will follow in this tradition. In fact, I wish the were a
chamberful of Senators like him and like Bob Taft in Washington. Bob continues
the magnificant tradition of his great Ohio family and we need more like him.
I wish we had a houseful of Congressmen like Chuck Mosher of Oberlin and
Bill Stanton of Painesville, who are with us here tonight, and like my other
outstanding former colleagues in the House of Representatives -- Del Latta,
Sam Devine, Don Clancy, John Ashbrook, Bill Harsha, Bud Brown, Chuck
Whalen, Chalmers Wylie, Clarence Miller, Ralph Regula and Tenny Guyer.
MORE
Digitized from Box 4 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
I urge you to also elect your four Republican challengers for Congress from this
area all of whom will be welcome additions to the Nation's Capital. Let's
send George Mastics, Bill Franz, Bill Mack and Bob Franz to Washington,
along with the other good Republicans running for the U.S. House across the state.
The battle for the Ohio General Assembly is a tight one. I am advised we have
a good chance to win the State House of Representatives and to preserve and even
increase our majority in the State Senate. We can do it by re-electing such
effective Cleveland area Senators as Tom Corts, Paul Matia and Charlie Bolton,
the son and gradson of my dear friends and former colleagues, the late Ollie
Bolton and Mrs. Frances Bolton
These are Ohioans who are responsive to the needs of the public. They are
the kind of problem-solvers the Republican Party is proud to support and work
to elect. I urge you to do sol
I understand that some people have lately been saying that my speeches are
getting partisan that I am using the word "Republican." Well, they are right!
I admit to being relatively restrained so far in this campaign.
'There is, however, a limit bt which forebearance ceases to be a virtue, " as
the great English Parliamentarian Edmund Burke once observed. We are now
close to that point.
I want the voting public to know precisely what I am saying so there is no
danger of misunder standing. The message is this: Inflation is the chief problem
we face in this country and throughout the free world. But rising prices and
intemest rates inAmerica will not be stopped by a free-spending gress.
This Congress is controlled by the Democratic Party and has been for 38 out
of the last 42 years and for the past 20 consecutive years. Now some elements i
in the Democratic Party seem to seek more than majority control They want
downright domination. They want and have said so openly -- to elect a
"veto-proof Congress" one which has the overwhelming numbers to override
any Presidential veto. In my view, that would be tantamount to a legislative
etatorship in this country.
If that happens, ladies and gentlemen, buckle your seat belts -- it's going to
make the inflation rate look like it's tied to the Moon Shot.
A recent Gallup Poll indicates that a majority of the American people blame
big-Government spending for the rampant inflation we are now experiencing.
If that is true, I am challenging the American people tonight to follow through
on their belief to make their votes consistent with their views, to elect to the
Congress men and wemen who are committed to curbing Federal spending
and to checking inflation.
To quote Edmund Burke again:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. "
That saying applies to the electorate in general and to Republicans in particular.
(MORE)
-3-
The word is out it has even reached Washington Ohio Republicans are
not going to vote this year. They are turned off by politics. They are going
to sit this one out. I frankly do not believe it. That kind of an attitude is
akin to setting fire to your house to keep warm.
I call on Republicans in Chio and in the rest of the country to turn out to vote
on November 5th "like you never have before. Confound the doom sayers.
Fool the pessimistic pollsters.
I also urge you to work as you never have before for the candidates you believe
in. Work on those thoughtful Independents and wise Democrats who believe as
you do or are at least sufficiently open to be convinced. Work at preserving
the two party system in this country which has helped provide us with nearly
two centuries of freedom and stability unlike anything seen on this earth before.
Without question, apathy is the chief villain in the American political scene.
Some people seem to think it just happened this year. I suggest that the
statistics have been reflecting it since 1960.
For example, take the national percentages of votes cast in Congressional off-
year elections like this one coming up. Based on the total number of eligible
voters, only 46. 3 percent turned out to cast ballots in 1962; on ly 45. percent
took the time to do so in 1966. And the percentage of eligibles who voted in
the last off-year election 1970 was even lower- 43. 8 percent.
On the basis of those figures, one computer program suggests that only 42. 7
percent of eligible voters will cast ballots for Congressional candidates two
weeks from today.
If that happens, it means that the composition of the 94th Congress will be
decided by slightly more than four out of every ten eligible voters. In short,
t he majority would let the minority decide.
What concerns me greatly -- is the inclination of the American people to
consider politics something they would rather not become involved in. I think
this sis wrong. Let's not make politics a spectator sport.
If we can get 85,000 people to come out on a Saturday to watch Ohio State win,
why can't we get five million Buckeyes to come out on November 5 to help
America win.
The sad fact is that less than one American in thirty has antying to do with
P olitics with the selection of candidates, with wor king in a campaign, with
researching the issues, with raising or contributing funds for the election of
candidates, or even with running for office.
What this Nation needs less than two years from the celebration of its 200th
birthday is not less but more citizen participation in politics.
To those who say politics is a dirty word which should be eliminated from
government, let me remind you that politics is government government
in action. And there is nothing wrong with this political system of ours that
a massive injection of citizen involvement will not cure.
Having spend a quarter century on Capitol Hill as a Member of the House of
Representatives, I am convinc ed of the importance of getting out and away
from Washington to find out what the people of this vast land beyond the
Potomac are thinking and are concerned about. That is why I am here tonight.
MORE
-4-
I believe the people of America not only have a right to see and hear their
President in person, but I believe it is the duty of the President to discuss
his programs and politics with the people.
With only two weeks before the upcoming elections which I consider crucial to
America, I urge you to send to Washington Congressmen who are willing to
join in this massive fight against inflation. You need Senators and Represen-
tatives on Capitol Hill who won't go over the hill in the battle against inflation.
You need Congressmen who can cut the red tape, cut the budget -- and cut the
mustard!
You know, Congressional elections are what America is all about. Every two
years in the House and every six in the Senate, members of those two bodies
must account to the American people for their stewardship. Some deserve
re-election, others do not. I urge you to make that distinction in advance
of the election and exercise it at the polls on November 5th.
Let me remind you of this simple fact of life: There is no weapon so mighty, no
force so powerful, as the quiet symbolic voice of the American citizen spoken
in the privacy of the voting booth on election day. And that voice is not only
heard but heeded by your elected officials.
Two weeks from today, I urge you to send a message to the Congress in
Washington that you, the American consumer, the working man and woman,
the housewife, the plain citizens are sick and tired of rising prices and
want something done about it. Let the Congress know that you want action
on the 3!-point program which I requested two weeks ago to help us whip
inflation and conserve energy.
What this nation needs in Washington -- what you need and what I need -- is a
responsive and responsible Congress. We need men and women who will, in
he words of one television commentator, "praise the Lord and pass the legis-
lation. "
Elect this great team of Republicans here tonight and across the Ohio -- and
watch the action.
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