Session 1. Winning in the Red Regions: Transcript - Chet Edwards (TX-17)
Congressman Chet Edwards (TX-17)
U.S. House of Representative
Transcription by Kat
We encourage you to listen to the clip.
Jim, thank you very much and again, my name is Chet Edwards and I happen to represent President Bush in Congress.
But I am thrilled to be with Wes Clark today and with all of you who played such an important role in his presidential campaign.
I watched Wes's service to our country when he was in the military at Ft. Hood as he mentioned. And he had every right (along with Gert) to say, "We've done OUR duty to the country." The fact that when he took his uniform off continued to give back to our country, and continues to do so today, is something for which I have great respect.
And I want to thank all of you for your support of him. Let me tell you, if you ever wonder if you can make a difference, and if you ever wonder about the depth and breadth of Wes Clark's grassroots organization, I'm living proof of the difference you can make, because when Wes put my campaign - one of the top targeted races in the country, because Tom Delay made me #1 or 2 in the redistricting targets in Texas. When Wes put me on his website -- on y'alls website - we raised $45,000.
From that directly in small contributions from all over America from people who had no idea ...(text unintelligible due to applause). So keep up what you're doing. I truly think you can make a difference and that's why I'm here.
I want to try to.... If I can offer anything, try to give you a few insights into the specifics of one race in a very very red district in the heart of red country in the very... literally we call it the heart of Texas... and how we won.
And perhaps there are a few lessons that can be gleaned that can help other Congressional candidates or legislative candidates win. And maybe there are a few lessons for Jim in our race for national Democrats. You'll hear a lot of common themes between what Jim said and what I said.
Let me just say that I am one that believes in the basics. I think that it's the basics that make the difference between a successful company or corporation or a failing one, an effective military organization or an ineffective one, or a winning campaign or not, sometimes.
It's the basics. And there are three basic rules, or 3 basic goals we had in our campaign that were sacrosanct.
- I would define myself. I wouldn't let others do it, or my opponent do it. We defined ourselves.
- Secondly, I defined my opponents.
- And thirdly, we responded immediately if attacked.
Now for you bloggers, immediately is, I think, about a 15-minute time frame. On television, we either had an ad up on the same day they attacked me or we had an ad up within 24 hours. And we didn't just respond to their ad, we counterpunched. Because that's one of the lessons I've learned from Republicans is to always play offense. And watch 'em, if you don't believe that. Tom Delay gets indicted...is the issue about indictment to him? No. It's attacking Ronnie Earle, the district attorney.
Republicans get accused of leaking CIA information and outing the covert agents and they want to somehow turn the issue against us somehow about not being patriotic because President Bush said the other day we're asking questions about the Iraq War and the intelligence information. They always play offense and I think that that's an important lesson.
Let me go back to those first 3 basic rules. I want to show you with real television ads that we made a difference to just put it in context.
I had a district that President Bush carried by 69,000 votes. Charlie Cook, the noted political analyst, said that I have the most Republican district in America represented by a Democrat. In fact, it's even worse than that. He said that based on the last 2 elections for George Bush, there are 200 Republicans in the House of Representatives that have more Democratic districts than I do. I had 2 out of 3 voters in this last election that were new to me because of redistricting and I was either #1 or #2 on Tom Delay's target list in that redistricting. So it was a tough, tough scenario, which I think may allow you to appreciate (hopefully) some value of the lessons we learned from this campaign.
Playing TV Ad "Soldiers" from Chet Edwards 2004 campaign:
ANNOUNCER: "When some in Washington wanted to weaken the Army by slashing forty thousand soldiers, Chet Edwards stood up to them and won and kept our Army strong. It's why the Association of the U. S. Army named Chet Edwards, "Legislator of the Year."
That's what Chet Edwards stands for. The independence to do what's right. The experience to get things done.
Chet Edwards. Our Congressman."
CHET EDWARDS: "I'm Chet Edwards and I approve this message."
End TV Ad
That was our first ad and you know when we ran that? The day after the Republican primary runoff. So that I could start defining myself immediately before my opponent could define me. And I knew that they'd attack me. I voted against the partial-birth abortion bill because it had no health exception for the woman and was unconstitutional. The NRA was against me and I knew they'd say I was more liberal than John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, which is laughable, but they did make that accusation in an attack.
When I said.... Going back to what Jim said, when I showed people I supported a strong national defense, and I've always been active in support of veterans, but that not only said what my values were, it defended me against this attack I'm this liberal Democrat, that somehow didn't care about defending our country.
The second spot, under Rule #1: Define myself.
Playing TV Ad "Balance" from Chet Edwards 2004 campaign:
CHET EDWARDS: Families have to balance their checkbooks every month. Shouldn't the government have to do the same?
I stood up against party politics and sponsored the Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.
I voted to hold agencies accountable with audits to help eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.
I'm Chet Edwards and I approve this message because waste and deficits are wrong. They're bad for jobs and our economy and bad for our children's' future.
End TV Ad
The second quick ad run about the second week of the general election. Strong on defense, fiscally responsible. Once I'd established those values in the voter's minds, then I could be very progressive, as I have been, on a lot of social issues but these define me.
Now, on that same point, let me show you what my opponent did. A state representative
Play Wohlmeguth TV Ad:
Announcer: Only candidate to cut government down to size....
State representative Arlene Wohlmeguth wrote the law that saved Texas over $1 Billion, preserved vital social and medical services and reformed our health care system and Arlene Wohlmeguth did that without raising taxes. Arlene Wohlmeguth wants you to keep more of what you earn. That's why she worked with Governor Bush to pass the largest tax cut in Texas history.
Arlene Wohlmeguth: I'm Arlene Wohlmeguth and I authorize this message.
End of TV ad
Less government, cut taxes, heard that message before from Republicans?
The quintessentially definition of the modern day Republican. John, I think... is there one more defining her?
Play Wohlmeguth TV Ad:
Arlene Wohlmeguth: My faith is fundamental to my world-view and how I solve problems and how I enjoy the good times of life. I am a.... I am a pilot and a flight instructor. I did my missionary work. I did missionaries in Mexico. We took down medical teams, we went to orphanages. I remember the faces of the children that we helped, the expressions of gratitude, the values that I've learned, faith and family matches the views and values of this district.
I'm Arlene Wohlmeguth and I have approved this message.
End of TV ad
Ok, less government, lower taxes. Opens up her ad with the bible, clearly sending the message she's the person of faith in this campaign.
Let me get to the final, key thing that allowed us to win. Rule #2, I was going to define my opponent. I wasn't going to let her get away with claiming a monopoly on religious faith or values.
And so, I took a book out of President Bush's, or Karl Rove's book, if you read it "Bush's Brain." The President, you've got to watch him, I've warned Democrats.... You've got to take him seriously. One of the things he's always talked about is political jujitsu. Take your opponent's greatest strength and turn it into their worst negative. They did that incredibly effectively with John Kerry and his Vietnam service. But I did the same thing. She said her greatest achievement in 10 years in the legislature was cutting $1 billion out of spending in health and human services, saving taxpayers $1 billion. She touted it for 5 months. I turned it against her, because in that bill, it could the Children's Health Insurance Program. I'm going to show you 2 ads, the second one is the key,
then I'll wrap up here.
The final one was a home run in our campaign. It absolutely defined her, and convinced people that maybe God wasn't on her side when she was writing the laws that cut children off of Children's Health Insurance Programs.
Playing TV Ad "Bailey" from Chet Edwards 2004 campaign:
I'm Jamie Jones. I'm 28 years old. I live in Teague, Texas. I have a little girl that's 3, Bailey.
Two years ago in March, my husband was killed in a house fire. And she got put on CHIPs. That meant no matter what happened, she was going to be okay. And then about 6 months ago, we were denied.
I haven't changed. I didn't get a raise at work. She was just denied.
You know there are so many people out there that work so hard. I don't want welfare; I just want good insurance for my child.
I'm working hard. I could go quit my job tomorrow and she'd be set. But I'm not going to do that. There are a lot of people out there that aren't going to do that and why that group of us has to get hurt, I don't know.
Look at my little girl, look into her eyes and tell her why she's not good enough to be taken care of.
CHET EDWARDS: "I'm Chet Edwards and I approve this message because there's so much at stake."
End of TV ad
That ad, that was done by Joe Slade White, the General's filmmaker (drowned out by applause)
People didn't care if she talked about lower taxes after that. They didn't believe that God was on her side when she kicked 157,000 children off health care, CHIP Health Insurance Program.
To sum it all up. The key to this, and the lesson to Democrats nationally, whether we're running for the White House, or for Congress or for the state legislature. We've got to define ourselves. We've allowed Republicans to define us as having no values, no religious faith, no commitment to strong national defense. We have not defined them. But this put a human face on what Republicans are all about when they mean they want less government. A woman talked about personal responsibility and conservative values were in this message.
When George Lakoff saw this ad at the Democratic Congressional Retreat, he said, "Save your money, you don't have to buy my book, see that ad. It says what Chet Edwards' values are, and what her values are."
I'm optimistic. I believe the cuts that they're proposing, including $14.3 Billion in college education cuts -- as we're sitting here in this room, they're debating that over at the Capitol this week. If we put a human face on the people they're hurting, we can turn this around, we can win back this country. And I don't care about one person in Congress might not change the world, because this democracy worked well long before I got here, but I care deeply about the kind of world my two little boys grown up in. And I know you do to, about our children's and our grandchildren's generation.
And I'm just grateful that there are people such as yourselves willing to fight along with Wes to present the true image of the Democratic party -the party that believe every child in America ought to have the chance to reach his or her highest God-given potential. And that average working Americans ought to be treated with respect, with decency and given a fair chance for a good job and a decent home, affordable health care and a quality education for their children. To me, those are the values of the Democratic Party. Those are the values of our common bond and when people like yourselves will win back the White House, and the Senate and the House.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)