Carter/Mondale Presidential Campaign Remarks at a White House Reception for Delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

You've had a full day of very careful briefing and consideration, a chance to ask your questions and to think about the future of our Nation and our party. And I want to ask you one question: How many of you are convinced we're going to whip the Republicans in November? [Applause] I think you've got the political situation sized up very accurately- [laughter] —which shows your sound judgment, because this time 8 months ago, if most of you had said you're going to run as a Carter delegate, the chances are folks would have said, "Ah, you'll never win." [Laughter] And you've all won, right?

There are several reasons why the American people, the first week in November, will make the right judgment. One of the most important reasons that I will be reelected as President is because I have carefully chosen Fritz Mondale to be my running-mate. And I might say that, as was the case in New York in 1976, Fritz Mondale is my first choice.

No one can possibly look forward to the New York convention without the prospect of sharp divisions, heated debates, issues thoroughly discussed, sometimes dissensions, sometimes disagreement, sometimes maybe even hard feelings for a transient moment. But those characteristics of Democrats are exactly the characteristics that make our party the strongest and the oldest party on Earth. They're also the characteristics that have made our Nation strong.

We are a nation of diversity. We're a nation comprised of people who are different. And we're a nation and a party comprised of people who are outspoken, who have deep beliefs and are not ashamed to put them forward. Right? We're a party of immigrants. And when you look around this room and when I stood in the receiving line and when I meet with any group of Americans, almost every time, a constant impression is one of different kinds of people, different beliefs, different religion, different color, different ethnic backgrounds, different communities, different commitments, different hopes, dreams, ideas, fears, concerns, trepidation, competence.

But when we Americans, when we Democrats in an election year are faced with a difficult question or a complicated problem or a serious obstacle, if we can see it clearly and unite to meet a threat to our Nation, we have never failed. And when we meet in New York and see clearly the question to be answered by the American people, the problem to be resolved in the threat of a Republican takeover of the White House, and an obstacle to be overcome in winning the election, we Democrats, united, will not fail.

I look forward, actively, constantly, aggressively, to being out there with you as the Democratic candidate. And that's one reason, also, that we are not going to fail; we're going to win.

There's another point that I'd like to make. Our Nation, with its freedom, with its free enterprise system, with its tremendous advantages, and with the success that we've had with the innovative spirit that fills the heart and minds of Americans, have always been on the cutting edge of change. Democrats are not afraid of change. Democrats are not afraid of challenge. Democrats are not afraid to address difficult issues. We've never hidden our heads in the sand and just hoped that someone else would finally take the responsibility to resolve a question like excessive energy dependence or civil service reform or setting up a new Department of Education or giving our people a better chance in life. We've never been afraid of those things.

I have to admit to you that opening up some of those questions is not always politically advantageous in the short run, because people see the debate and the divisions; they see the disappointments in a subcommittee vote; they see some setbacks when you advocate a perfect program and you get 95 percent of it, because they always are reminded of the 5 percent you didn't get. But the progress that this Nation makes is because of that courage and commitment and unity of Democrats. Republicans have always been just the opposite.

I grew up on a farm. The Republicans were opposed to rural free delivery of mail. The Republicans were opposed to social security. The Republicans were opposed to Medicaid; they were opposed to Medicare. The Republicans have always been opposed to those very programs that are so dear to Americans who have suffered from poverty and alienation and discrimination, but who, when they're given a chance to stand on their own feet, to make their own judgments, have become our finest citizens. And those finest citizens that I'm describing to you are the kind of delegates that are going to be in New York to give me the nomination and to give us an advantage.

We're probably going to have some arguments about minority rights at the convention, and the arguments will be designed on how we can carry out even better our commitment to give minority Americans full opportunities to overcome discrimination from which they've suffered in the past. The Republicans didn't have an argument. They didn't have any minorities in Detroit—3 percent; we've got 25 percent. And I don't have any doubt that we'll be arguing about women's issues in New York, because we're going to have at least 50 percent of the Democratic delegates in New York female.

And we're not going to be arguing about whether to help our ailing cities. We don't argue about whether to help people; it's how can we help those to whom we are deeply committed. And the reason we're committed to the poor, to the elderly, to those searching for a chance in life, to those looking for a better education, to those looking for a better neighborhood, is because those people are we; they're us. We're talking about our own problems and the ones we've helped to overcome. So, we understand, because the Democratic Party is the party of the people.

And I want to make one other point. We're a nation of strength. This country, in spite of all our arguments and debates and temporary disappointments and sometimes slight inconveniences, is the strongest nation on Earth. We're the strongest politically. Our influence throughout the world is beneficial, pervasive, and growing. This country is the strongest on Earth economically. What we do here in developing new ideas, new concepts, new goods, new services helps us, yes; but it's destined inevitably to help people all over the world. This Nation is the strongest militarily, the strongest on Earth. And my judgment is that this Nation is also the strongest morally and ethically.

We believe in principles that do not change. And the fact that Democrats are so sure of ourselves in dealing to change in the technological world, to dealing with change in the educational world, to dealing in change in the business and financial world, in dealing with change in the sociological world—the reason we don't fear those changes is because there are things in our own heart and in our own mind and in our own consciousness and in our own commitment which do not change. And those kinds of principles that have always guided our party gives us that reassurance that in spite of our diversity and difference of approach and difference of perspective, that we can unify ourselves and our effort to carry out those high principles on which our Nation and our party are founded.

We are the majority party. It's not an accident. The fact that the Democrats have about a two-to-one majority in the House and Senate, the fact that the Democrats have a President in the White House is a tribute to the sound political judgment of the American people, and I don't believe they're going to lose that sound judgment this fall.

And I don't want to forget to point out to you that we are a nation at peace. We're at peace because we are strong. And if we are going to maintain peace in the future, we've got to keep that strength of all kinds that I described to you a few minutes ago. We lost eight brave servicemen in the desert in Iran in an accident, on not a warlike but a humanitarian mission. And except for them, since I've been in this White House we have never had a single American soldier killed in combat. And I hope and pray that I'll go out of office at the end of my second term With that record still intact.

So, with you help in New York, I trust that I will be making an acceptance speech there to you, and as I do and in preparation for that moment, please remember that we have strong, good Democratic Americans who support Senator Kennedy for President. Give them respect and a hand of friendship and the right to express themselves. That's part of the Democratic process; I do not fear it. And remember that after the convention is over, if things go the way we want them and expect them to go, they will not be our political adversaries; they will be our political allies, fighting the same battle to make sure that your prediction that we'll whip the Republicans in November will come true.

Thank you very much.