Carter/Mondale Presidential Committee Remarks at the National Campaign Headquarters.

MR. STRAUSS. ¹ Mr. President, we turned on the air conditioning for you today, and we say an awful lot of nice things about you when we're really burning up in the heat here. [Laughter] But, Mr. President, I want to, before I present you to your colleagues and your associates, I want to spend just a minute or two and tell you a bit about what we're doing.

You have here people from all of the floors of this building, various floors, who've gathered here, many volunteers-most volunteers, as a matter of fact—and they work in— [laughter] —I know you'll remember that, Mr. President. As a matter of. fact, I'm one myself, and I hope you'll remember that, Mr. President. [Laughter]

But, Mr. President, these people have been working on a lot of things, but one of the things I think will interest you here is—and the map shows it there—we have begun in the last couple of weeks to direct our attention to—

THE PRESIDENT. That's 1968?

MR. STRAUSS. That's 1968. [Laughter] And there you see—

THE PRESIDENT. I hope the other volunteers are more current. [Laughter]

MR. STRAUSS. It's an outrage isn't it? [Laughter] Mr. President, you see in 1968 the Nixon, Humphrey, and the Wallace vote, and we are beginning to concentrate and look at those States. And if the Secret Service man will move here [laughter] —we see the Ford-Carter vote, or should I say, the Carter-Ford vote of 1976. And the map there—and we are doing our comparisons now in trying to see where we should focus our attention for the coming months.

And here I have a book that I wanted to present to you, and there are just a half a dozen of these books in existence. And this says, "Book Two—Strauss;" I hope Book One has Carter if not, I'm going to be mad. [Laughter] But in this book we have the beginning of our strategy, and we have the beginning of our various precincts all over the country, we have our legal problems, we have our financial problems all for the general election, we have our get out the vote. So, the campaign, this is the first cut—the people on this staff here, working under Tim Kraft and Tom Donlion—the first cut of our 1980 campaign strategy really beginning to fall into final place now.

And so that now you have a feel of what we're doing, ladies and gentleman, I know I do not need to tell you my dear friends what a pleasure it is for me—and, I know, for you—for me to be able to present the President of the United States to his friends.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you.

Bob tells me we have 1,553 delegates. Who would have dreamed 6 months ago that here long before we conclude the primary election campaign that we would have had this tremendous an achievement? The credit goes to you, and I'm deeply grateful to you. I will say that in the next few weeks and all the way through the fall, you will now have an active partner in the campaign, and maybe we'll do even better.

Political historians will record the tremendous achievement that you've made so far, running not a sectional or regional or limited campaign, but a nationwide campaign. We have not skipped a single State nor a single congressional district in the entire Nation; we've not skipped a territory. We've taken our message to the public, and we've listened; we've formed a good alliance with the people who vote and who make decisions in the Democratic Party. We've laid a good groundwork for the coming weeks and the coming months, and I'm deeply grateful to you.

What we have achieved was far beyond even our fondest expectations a few months ago. I don't know the exact figures. I think in the primary elections we've earned over 60 percent of the delegates; in the caucus States we've earned over 65 percent of the delegates against formidable opposition. And I'm very grateful for that as well.

Being an incumbent is not all it's cut out to be. [Laughter] There are a few advantages in being an incumbent, but there are some disadvantages. For the narrow-minded or the shortsighted, an incumbent President of this great country cannot deal in empty slogans, cannot deal in words, cannot deal in false promises, cannot deal in distortions of issues. An incumbent's stock in trade, particularly in an executive position, has to be in action-action dealing with the current problems of the day, action dealing in forging a policy and a spirit and an ideal and a commitment of an entire nation. An incumbent can't yield to the particular pressure of a regional or a local interest group. An incumbent has to deal with what's best for all the people every day.

We've faced some difficult challenges in the last 6 months. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, strengthening our alliance, marshaling support for our position that an invasion of an innocent country can't go unpunished. We've had to deal with the shocking violation of every international principle and law by the Iranians, who have captured and held innocent hostages imprisoned. We've had to deal with these issues with sensitivity and with courage, with commitment, with openness, with frankness, and the American people have been remarkably united and they've been remarkably patient when patience was necessary. And our country has also been very strong in its commitment to unchanging principles.

We've represented our Nation well in dealing with the problems of energy dependence, taking unprecedented steps to forge an energy policy based on conservation and the production of additional energy in our country. We've faced unbelievable inflation and interest pressures because OPEC prices went up 150 percent in 16 months, and we've been persistent in dealing with these issues on an equal basis with the Congress. Interest rates have dropped precipitously lately. The inflation rate is going to come down in the summer and make it easier for us. In the fall, we need some good news; I believe it will be coming.

But in all these multitudinous challenges that came upon us, some which had very devastating political potential, we've survived very well, because we've never forgotten that the Democratic Party is well named. It's the party of the people. And we have not forgotten those kinds of people who are particularly dependent on government and who have been the strength of our party down through the generations. This is a very important element of our collective strength. The trust that's been placed in our party has not been betrayed, and it will never be betrayed.

We've still got very important primary elections ahead of us. Every week, 1, 2, 5, 6, sometimes 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 elections in a single week, and we've had to deal with these diverse pressures without flinching and without betraying the principles that are widely publicized and which we hold so dear.

We're coming now to the end of a long campaign, and I want to make sure that the ending will give us a strong series of victories and leave us with a strong Democratic Party.

It's time for us to look forward, not backward. It's a time for us to heal existing wounds that are created in any tough Democratic Party election campaign and not create new wounds. It's incumbent on you and me to heal existing wounds, not to create new wounds in our party. It's time for us to pull the different elements of our party back together; to be generous in victory, to be strong, looking to the future, to be confident, to be united, to be determined, and not to fail. I do not intend to lose this election in 1980.

I've got a great running-mate in Fritz Mondale. And all of you who have worked so hard on the campaign—Bob Strauss, Tim Kraft, Tom Donilon, everyone over here—knows how much I appreciate the work you've done. This has been an excellent team effort, and I look for the future to be just as gratifying as the past has been.

I'll be out campaigning between now and the end of the primary season. And then we'll be preparing very eagerly to meet Ronald Reagan, or whomever the Republicans choose, and let the Nation know that we'll carry the Democratic banner to a tremendous victory in November.

Let me say this in closing. My sense, as I stand here before you, is one of gratitude and also one of a partnership. We could not have won this election had we not worked together. You've been over here in a relatively unrecognized way—luxurious working quarters. [Laughter] Maybe that made up for some of the low-paying jobs that you have. [Laughter] But we've never lost our temper, and we've never lost our sense of humor. We've come through some difficult times and some discouraging Tuesdays together, and they've always been followed by excitement and victory parties that have bound us back together again.

In my opinion, the issues have been thoroughly debated. There is no lack of knowledge among the American electorate about where I stand on any issue. We need not fear the Democratic convention. It's a place for debate; it's a place for discussion. And as we hammer out the Democratic platform, none of you need be afraid of the open and fervent debate, including the final touches on the platform that will be the base for victory for me and Fritz Mondale in November.

I want all of you to help me reach out a healing hand and a friendly hand to those who've not supported us so far. We'll need them in November, and with their help, our victory will be even greater than it has been so far. So, together, as future partners, we'll have the same kind of results in the months ahead as we've had in the months past.

God bless you, everyone. I look forward to working with you.