Duluth, Minnesota Remarks at a "Get Out the Vote" Rally.

Vice President Mondale, Senator Humphrey, Senator Anderson, Governor Perpich, Congressman Oberstar, Governor Schreiber, Chairman John White, Bob Short, my friends who are going to have a great Democratic victory November 7, next Tuesday, if you work, and I hope you will work:

Mayor Beaudin met me at the airport, and as we drove in, he talked about the changes that have taken place in northeast Minnesota in the last 3 years. One of the best things that happened to me was shortly after the Ohio, California primaries, a young man, compared to me, came down to Plains and said, "I've just finished reading your book, Jimmy, called, 'Why Not the Best?', and I've offered to volunteer my services to be your Vice President." [Laughter]

That's not exactly the way it happened, but I wanted to come back to Minnesota and thank you for Fritz Mondale, the greatest Vice President I know.

Elections are exciting; elections are precarious, unpredictable; elections are times when the people of the country which we all love have an opportunity to be part of government, to stand on our own feet, to make our own decisions, to show what democracy means, to show what freedom means, what individuality means.

In 1960, our country went to the polls, and we elected John Kennedy as President. Two-thirds of the American people voted. The projections are that Tuesday, this year, two-thirds of the American people will not vote.

Tonight, I'm going to discuss some of the reasons for that, but I would like to point out to you that when three people don't vote on election day, ordinarily, two of them are Democrats, because Democrats quite often are those who have newly arrived on the scene of full citizenship. They are people who quite often have come up out of poverty, who might be black, who might not speak English very well, whose parents have only been here a short time, who have recently got a job or recently' finished an education, who have recently become interested in politics and government. So, a strong vote on election day almost always ensures that people like DFL candidates, Democrats throughout the country will be elected.

There's a real reason for the fall-off in voter participation, and I'd like to ask you to think back 3 or 4 years about what our country was. There was a great alienation, distrust, withdrawal by the people of our country from their Government.

We had been embroiled for many years in the Vietnam war; 50,000 young Americans had died. Watergate, an unprecedented scandal in our Nation, resulted in revelations day by day which were an embarrassment to us all. Top officials in the heart of our Government—in the White House, the Attorney General, and others—not only were embarrassed but were guilty of crimes. Many of them went to prison. Our CIA was accused, with some basis, of plotting murder and violating the law.

Our farmers were facing another Hoover Depression; income was down. When we had a slight surplus in feed grains, food grains, in a completely unpredictable way, the leaders of our Government would declare an embargo and would not let us ship our goods overseas to world markets.

When I became President, 10 million American adults could not find a full-time job. Seven million Americans couldn't find a job at all. In your region of Minnesota, the unemployment rate was 9 percent throughout the Iron Range, Northview, and here in Duluth, the unemployment rate was 9 percent.

Mayor Beaudin told me tonight the unemployment rate here is less than 4 percent; the same throughout the northeast.

We saw in times gone by a time when the elderly people were beginning to worry about their own future. Social security, which had begun under a Democratic President many years ago, was facing immediate bankruptcy.

These kinds of things had torn at the very fabric of our country. And I, as a Governor and a candidate for President, shrank up inside every autumn when the United Nations General Assembly began its deliberations in New York, because I knew that the country that I loved was likely to be the target of every attack, the butt of every joke by two-thirds of the nations on Earth. We were not beloved, we were not even respected by every nation that was small or new or weak, or whose people were brown or black or yellow.

Our country had lost its spirit. But there was a hunger within us and a strength within us that was indomitable, and we began the long journey back. It was not an accident. It's not been easy. We have not yet won all the battles. We've not answered all the questions. We've not solved all the problems.

But the progress that we have made has been because of a strong team spirit, a spirit that epitomizes what Hubert Humphrey's life meant, what he stood for, a concern about common, ordinary working people who don't want a selfish benefit from government, but just want a chance in life to be an individual, to take whatever talent God might have given us and use that talent to the utmost, to be free and proud, proud of ourselves, proud of our family, proud of our country. That's not asking too much. And that's what we've tried to bring back.

Your State is known throughout the Nation as setting an example for the rest of us in honesty, in decency, and concern about one another, voter participation. This is what we need to have Tuesday. But we can't take anything for granted. I doubt if any time in recent years has there been a threat that the Governor's office, both Senate offices might go to the Republican Party, responsible for that kind of America that I've described in a very few words.

Miners now have a good life. The social security system is sound. In the last 21 months we've added 6 1/2 million net new jobs in our country. We've cut the unemployment rate down by 25 percent. Day before yesterday, I signed two bills, the most progressive and far-reaching help for education in the history of our country-over $12 billion that will now go from the Federal Government into better elementary and secondary education, better aid for students who want to get a college education and who couldn't otherwise afford it.

At the same time, we've not been wasteful. The Democratic Party has always been a party with a heart, we've always been compassionate. But we've also built very laboriously, recently, a reputation for competence, for efficiency, because you can't educate a child, you can't feed a hungry person, you can't build a house, you can't have a good school system with waste and inefficiency.

I was concerned, as a responsible fiscal person, because when I ran for President, we had a deficit of over $66 billion. We've already cut that deficit over $25 billion. And the budget I'm preparing now for submission next year to Congress will more than cut that deficit in half. And we're trying to work for a balanced budget.

At the same time we've been careful about your own pocketbook, not just concerned about deficits and better services, but we've cut taxes $8 billion last year in income tax cuts, another $20 billion this year.

We've tried to bring to you the elements of life that Americans have a right to demand and which epitomize what you've had here in Minnesota with an enlightened and a progressive government.

i wouldn't say that I'm tired, but I haven't had much rest since we began the summit talks at Camp David. And I didn't have to come here tonight, because I'd like to be going back to Washington to be with my family for a change. But I've come here, and so has the Vice President, because I care about what happens in Minnesota Tuesday night when the election returns come in. It's important to the country. And it's a completely legitimate thing for a President to care who the Governor of a State is and who the Members of the Senate are.

We didn't get where we are by giving up. And in the last few weeks I've heard some of the most important and prominent and even loyal Democrats from Minnesota saying, "I'm afraid we've lost one of our Senate seats. I'm afraid we have an insurmountable obstacle to overcome." That's not the spirit of America. That's not the spirit of the DFL. It's not the spirit which I try to epitomize as President.

Many of you come here tonight because you are loyal, and I appreciate your being here. And perhaps you've worked hard in the past elections to have DFL nominees elected. You've proven that with the superb public servants that you've elected to represent your State here and also in Washington.

But it's not a time to give up. We've 3 more days, and there's no reason why everyone here tonight shouldn't put in 30 hours on the telephone, walking the streets, asking your family, your neighbors, your community to support the candidates Tuesday night and win a victory for Minnesota and for our country.

We are not a nation that's ever surprised when we win a victory, because there's a spirit within our country that far surpasses in most cases what government is. But I'm afraid that in your State this year, because of divisions within your party, that your public officials might be better than the people themselves. And I've come to ask you not to let them down. They are great nominees. They're different from one another. Fritz Mondale and I are different from one another. He has constituencies that I'm not very familiar with, and so do I have people who know me better than they know him. But we work as a team with our differences intact, and out of that comes strength.

I spent last night with a Croatian family in Chicago, Mayor Michael Bilandic. His parents haven't been here long. I met his mother. She doesn't speak English very well; I could hardly hear what she said. But she said every night she kneels down beside the bed, and she prays for me as President. And she prays that our country will be even greater.

Marty Schreiber comes from next door in Wisconsin. He's running against a cute Republican candidate who said the other day that elderly people are millstones around the neck of young Americans. That's the kind of philosophy that represents the Republican Party. It's the kind of philosophy that's brought me here to you tonight. I don't consider my mother to be a millstone around my neck. And I don't believe you consider your parents to be that either.

I've got great burdens on my shoulders. I asked for them, and I enjoy my job. But I need help in Washington and also in the State offices of this country from people who share a common philosophy with me. We intend to continue to put Americans back to work, to add jobs, to give people the basic right to support themselves, to take whatever talent or ability God might have given them and use it in a useful way.

We're trying to control inflation. When I became President, we had an average inflation rate for the preceding 3 years of 8 percent. It's a very intractable problem. It's not easily solved, but I announced last week a strong anti-inflation program, and as I had a philosophy during the campaign, I did not intend to lose, I don't intend to lose in the fight against inflation if you'll help me, and I hope you will.

I'm a farmer. I come from a working family. My family happens to have been in this country 100 years before it was a nation. We've lived in Georgia for more than 200 years. No one in my family before me ever finished high school. I know what it means to work for a living. I know what it means to have a better chance in life, and I want to be sure that the Government continues to give good services to our people. But I deeply believe that the best government is the one closest to the people.

I think there are roles to play for the Federal Government that can be enhanced, for we need a Federal Government that the bureaucracy is a source of pride and trust. When we inherited this job, the civil service was 95 years old and had not been reformed. It had deteriorated in quality. You'd have two people sitting side by side, one dedicated and competent, hard-working; another right next door at the adjacent desk, incompetent, lazy, in the wrong job.

The Congress has now changed that. We've got civil service reformed. Now we can reward that good employee. We can inspire the other one or maybe transfer the other one or maybe discharge the other one. We can let managers manage. We'll have a better Government for you. The budget is coming under control. These signs of progress mean that we have a competent government that's still compassionate.

Wendy Anderson, for instance, serves on the Budget Committee. He's a junior Senator, as you know, but he is so respected by his peer group that he's been given assignments commensurate with his background, his experience here as Governor and his own competence as a man.

I'm deeply dedicated to a strong defense. Our Nation is the strongest nation on Earth militarily. And as long as I'm President, our Nation will always be number one in military strength, and you can depend upon that.

It just happens that Wendy Anderson is on the Armed Services Committee, and he realizes that we don't just need a strong defense for the safety of America. We certainly don't want .a strong military to impose our will on others. We want a strong defense because we love peace. There has not been a single American who has shed blood in combat since I've been President, .and I hope I can complete my term as your President with that record still intact.

We are working every day with the Soviet Union to have a good SALT agreement, to remove the threat of nuclear weapons from their destructive power over the entire Earth. The Congress has passed a nonproliferation bill that prevents nations who don't have atomic explosives from ever having them in the future.

And we've tried to set an example for others. We've raised high a banner that represents the spirit and the commitment and the ideals of America, a banner that says, "Human Rights." And as long as I'm President and I have a strong Democratic team to support me, we will be the nation known throughout the world as the people who believe in basic human rights here and in other nations as well. And you can depend upon that as well.

Let me close by saying this: You have the right and, I hope, the duty to make a very important decision for you and your future on Tuesday night. Hubert Humphrey, Muriel Humphrey have been inspirations to all of us. Wendy Anderson, Bob Short will make a great team in Washington to help me. Rudy Perpich, here, Marty Schreiber, great Governors, epitomizing what we know is best for our country.

If you want jobs, if you want inflation controlled, if you want to cut the Federal deficit, make government more responsive to you, give our farmers and city dwellers a better life, our children a better education, a government of which we can be proud, a statesman-like attitude toward foreign affairs, military strength designed to bring world peace to us and others throughout the world, then work hard the next 3 days, vote Tuesday, send a strong Democratic team to victory. And I will be deeply appreciative as President of the United States.
Thank you very much.