Remarks on Beginning a Whistlestop Tour in Norcross, Georgia

The President. What a great Georgia day. Thank you for that great welcome. It is great to be in the land of the free and the home of the Braves. Thank you all very much.

You know, everywhere I go I see signs that say "Clean House!" We need more Members of Congress like Newt Gingrich. And I'm delighted to have been introduced by him. So send us more like Newt and also, while we're at it, let's clean Senate and elect Paul Coverdell to the United States Senate.

I am very proud to have at my side today the Governor of South Carolina, Carroll Campbell, one of the outstanding Governors in the entire United States. I'm glad he's here, and of course, my friend and supporter in the Senate, Strom Thurmond. I'll tell you, he does a great job for this country. May I thank Brooks Coleman, our master of ceremonies. And may I salute the world's best First Lady, Barbara Bush. I'm proud she's out here today.

Audience members: Barbara! Barbara! Barbara!

The President. And I like all these signs around here. I referred to that one the other night, last night in the debate. I love it. And we're going to show them on November 3d exactly how it works.

You know, baseball is like politics. So forget about all these polls. Forget people telling you how you think. On election day, on election day we're going to show America that it ain't over until Cabrera swings, and that is exactly the way it's going to be.

Anybody out here see the debate last night?

Audience members. Yes.

The President. The thing I like about it is we had a chance to lay out the differences, the choice for the American people: a vast difference between experience, a vast difference on philosophy, and a vast difference on character and confidence in the United States. I hope I stand for all four, and I challenge my opponent on all four.

You know, there was one scary moment in that debate last night, and that's when Governor Clinton said that he would do for America what he's done for Arkansas. You talk about a real threat.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. Here he is, running with Mr. Ozone, Senator Gore, and Arkansas is 50th in the environmental initiatives; 49th in high school dropouts; 45th in overall well-being of children; 75 percent of the kids that graduate from high school have to get remedial reading, remedial education when they go to college; and their income and their jobs and their wages lag the Nation. We cannot let him do for the United States what he's already done to Arkansas.

I've got to admit, I agreed with the feisty little guy from Dallas on one thing, when he said the grocery store is no preparation for Wal-Mart. I thought that was a pretty good line. Let me put it in baseball terms: The Little League ain't any preparation for the Atlanta Braves, either.

You know, we had a chance to talk about the economy. And yes, we've been going through some tough times, but what we don't need is a dose of lousy medicine. He wants to raise taxes by $150 billion and increase spending by $220 billion.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. And we cannot let him do that to the United States.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. And you know who's going to pay it. He says, "I'm going to sock the rich." That won't get him any money at all. What he's going to do is sock it to the cab driver and the nurse and the beautician and the housewife. I will protect against all these tax increases that Clinton wants to load on you, the taxpayer.

You know, I've got a difference in philosophy. I think that we're taxing too much and spending too much. He wants to tax more and spend more. Do not let this happen to the United States of America.

I believe in a State like Georgia one of the things that's going to save us and lead the recovery is more exports, more free and fair trade. I will continue to fight to expand our exports, because we have the best workers, the best products anywhere in the world. Let them have competition in foreign markets, and we will create more American jobs.

Another big difference -- I can't even remember whether I mentioned it last night; I think I did -- is the difference I have with him on legal reform. I want to reform our legal system and stop these crazy lawsuits. We've gone too far. Doctors are afraid to practice medicine; Little League guys are afraid to coach; somebody along the highway sees a victim, and they're afraid to stop because if they move the body a little bit to bring comfort, somebody's going to sue them for doing the wrong thing. We sue each other too much and care for each other too little in this country. And we've got to change that.

You saw the differences last night on education. I want to give parents the right to choose their schools, public, private, or religious. Give the middle class a break. Give the middle class a little relief.

Health care: He wants to put a Government board in there. I want to reform health care and make insurance available to all, the poorest of the poor, give the middle class a break on it. Keep the Government out of the health care business, and let's compete and make our health care the best and most affordable in the entire world.

Very candidly, we've got a big difference on crime. I was delighted the other day when the FOP, the Fraternal Police Officers came up to Washington from Little Rock, Arkansas, and that police group endorsed me for President of the United States. They did it because I agree with Strom Thurmond, who is fighting for tough anticrime legislation. We need to support the police officers more and have a little less sympathy for the criminals themselves.

I am for reforming Government. I am with Newt Gingrich and Strom Thurmond because I want a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. I want a line-item veto. I want to give you, the people, a taxpayer check-off so we must compel the Congress to get this Federal deficit down. And I want to give the Congress back to the people by having term limits up there, too -- there are term limits on the President -- term limits for the Members of Congress.

Lastly, I made a distinction last night. Governor Clinton said in Richmond, it's not the character of the President that counts, it's "the character of the Presidency." I repeat today, especially to the young people, these two are inseparable. These two are inseparable. You cannot flip-flop on the issues every single time. One day you said you told the full truth on your sorry draft record, and the next day it comes out you haven't.

On Desert Storm, that was a proud moment for the sons and daughters of Georgia. Governor Clinton said, "Well, I probably was with the minority," or "I supported the minority, but I probably would have voted with the majority." You cannot waffle. You cannot turn the White House into the waffle house.

It is his pattern. It is his pattern of trying to be all things to all people. You simply cannot have a pattern of deception. You cannot separate the character of the Presidency from the character of the President. I have tried to be a faithful custodian of the trust you have placed in me. Barbara and I have tried to protect and revere the White House, where we are privileged to live, and I will do that for 4 more years.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. You cannot literally flip-flop on all these issues and lead. You cannot lead by misleading. You can't say one day, "Well, I think Toronto is great, but I'm for the Braves." You've got to take a position. I am for the Braves, courageously.

My last point is simply this: The opposition would have you believe that the United States is a nation in decline. Governor Clinton said, well, we're something less than, paraphrasing, we're something less than Germany, but a little better than Sri Lanka. Let me tell him something. We are the best, the fairest, the most decent, and the strongest country on the face of the Earth.

And yes, our economy needs fixing, but we're caught up in something global. We're in an interdependent world. Our economy, in spite of its ailment, is doing better than Germany and Japan and England and France. With our leadership and our agenda for America's renewal, we are going to lead our way to economic recovery around the entire world, meaning jobs for the American worker.

Thank you for this fantastic turnout, and don't let him say we are second class. We are the United States, the freest, fairest, greatest nation on the face of the Earth. And I need your support, and I ask for your vote. Thank you all, and God bless you.