Hey guys, this past weekend our very own, Congressman Ford, was the keynote speaker at Indiana's annual Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner.Rob Harrington, a blogger who was in attendance at the dinner, informed me that our soon to be Senator "rocked" at the event.
He also said the Congressman was "well spoken, passionate, full of good ideas... focused on the future, not the past..."
Harrington notes in his blogging of Congressman Ford's speech, "Congressman Ford announced that he’s unofficially appointed himself the treasurer for the Bayh for President campaign.
“If there was ever a time that American needs to look forward…” “Senator Bayh, what he just did was lay out an agenda to win.” Rep Ford is talking about how America has changed. People don’t work at the same place for 30-40 years. With a click of a mouse, people can communicate around the world. The wicked genius of the terrorists of 9/11 was that they knew more about us than we did about ourselves. They changed us more than we have changed them. If ever a time that education is critical, now is that time.
Rep Ford is talking about how the War on Terror is much bigger than just guns and soldiers. It’s ideas.
He’s talking about how we have to take care of our troops, not just there but when then come back. Soldiers shouldn’t have to scrounge through the dump for food and equipment. He had a unit that just came back from Iraq. When they were parading in front of the gov’t officials, none of them asked “Who voted to cut VA hospitals? Who voted to close the airwing?” They just saluted and did their job.
He’s talking about how the public is not waiting for us to be angry. They’re not waiting for us to tell them how bad President Bush is (they already know). They’re looking for ideas. He’s listing off the great ideas of the past Democratic presidents. FDR and Social Security. JFK and the moonshot. LBJ and the Great Society. When President Bush was asked what we should do after 9/11? “Go to the mall.” We need great ideas.
He’s telling a humourous story about his campaign in ‘04. He prayed with a bishop who told him he was going to win. “There are more Davids than Goliath. There are more answers than questions.” He went into a bar that was filled with trucks with W stickers and confederate flags. He was scared to go in, but did anyways, remembering what the Bishop said. He was surprised that they loved him. The all gave him hugs and he asked that if he could put up some signs and bumperstickers. People are full of surprises if you give them a chance.
Congressman Ford concluded like he was a native Hoosier… taking a shot at the timezones… =)"
For a complete recap of the Congressman's appearance along with photos, please see the All America PAC blog here!
Oh, and thanks for the heads up and kind words Rob!
