thank you, chuck robb. [applause] from the very beginning, will marshall has provided much of the intellectual capital of the new democrat movement. many of the ideas that define new democrats today are grounded in the work that will has done as policy director of the d.l.c. and president of the progressive policy institute. thank you, will marshall. to the chairs of the d.l.c., gickgep -- dick gephardt, chuck, sam nunn, president clinton, johnny bro, evan bayh tom vilsack and evan ford jr. thank you for all you've done. for those of you still around here, thank you for your perseverance. i appreciate it very much. so many people and so many of you have supported the d.l.c. and the p.p.i. over the years and believe me, i appreciate it very much. i appreciate every hard-earned dollar you gave us and i thank you one and all. thanks as well to the hundreds of people who worked or interned for the d.l.c. your services made an incredible difference and i hope you're proud of it. i'm very proud of what you contri

[applause] >> without my friend chuck robb i wouldn't be here. he personally promised to pay my salary for a year even in the d.l.c. didn't last that long. and those of you who were around at the beginning know there was plenty of doubt as to whether it would. that was pretty important to struggling capitol hill staffer with two young daughters and a big mortgage and something i will never forget. thank you, conduct robb. [applause] >> from the very beginning will marshall has provided much of the intellectual capital of the new democratic movement. many of the ideas that define new democrats today are grounded in the work that will has done as policy director of the d.l.c. and president of the progressive policy institute. thank you, will marshall. [applause] >> to the chairs of the d.l.c., dick gephardt, chuck, sam nunn, president clinton, joe lieberman, ever,bayh, tom vilsack, harold ford jr., thank you for all you have done and for those still here thank you for your perseverance. i appreciate it very much. so many people and so many of you h

i thought back on the great leaders of this organization from chuck robb to dig gephardt to jim jones, at 2 barbara kinelly, obviously to the great chairman in 1990 and 1991 with whom we will hear from later. a thought about the congressman from mississippi. the great leader and the senate from connecticut, joe lieberman. the hon. joe long. i thought about roy romer and did mccurry who is here this evening. i thought about the great senator from indiana. i thought about my dear friend of vice chairman and partner in chairing this organization, now senator tom carver. of course, my immediate predecessor, my friend, the great gov. tom vilsack. we have all been a part of something very special because, largely, the courage and determination and tenacity of a little fellow back then who is now a little fellow again, and you'll see later, in our friend al from. tonight's dinner is special not only for those of us in this room but for politicians and those who benefited from new policies all across this country, and i daresay the world. what al did more for our party and more for the body o

i thought back on the great leaders of this organization, from chuck robb, to dick gephardt, to bruise babbitabbit. john jones. obviously to the great chairman in 1990 and 1991. i thought about the great ag secreta secretary. the great leader in the senator joe lieberman. the honor reliable joe long. i thought about the honorable roy romer. i thought about ellen tauscher and the great senator from indiana. i thought about my dear friend and vice chairman and partner in chairing this organization, the great then governor and senator now and my immediate prepared ses -- predecessor. for we have all been a part of something very special because largely if not mainly because of the courage, determination and tenacity of a little fellow back then who is now a little fellow again whom you will see later in al from. tonight's dinner is special not only for those of us in this room but for politicians and those who have benefited from new policies all across this country and i daresay the world. what al did more for our party and more for the body politic and what more he did for the larger bo

and world championship really blessed in those early years by chuck robb and sam nunn and dick gephardt, later joe lieberman, ev evan bayh. by senator carper, and there is a really, i think, magnificent person that will speak after me that proves the d.l.c. fellows program, rachel storch i'm glad you are hear representing the state and local representatives affiliated with the d.l.c. that was a really good movie. it had the virtue of being at least except for the stuff about me, true. i think secretary sebelius may be here. we were together at a previous event and i have a little more to say about that in a minute. but i loved getting involved in the d.l.c. for one thing, i was just tired of getting beat. and i'm old enough now to know what it was like to get beat over and over and over again. essentially, here is what happened to us. national elections and the standing of national political parties are determined by they things. the political culture. the conditions at election time. and the quality of the candidates. for much of the 20th century the political culture of america kept u