in a place lick missouri he could provide direction for national leaders like dick gephardt, high profile governors lick mel carnahan, for jean carnahan during her 10 newer in the senate or state legislators like me navigating the rock y waters of a tricky political climate. i know over time he has guided every one of my political heroes including our former president. al has given us through the d.l.c. a consistently invaluable repository of ideas for the laboratory of the 50 states. through the national conversation, the new d.l.c. fellows program, or simply through the d.l. c-webb site he invites us in and sends us out armed with ideas that strengthen our communities, keep or families safe, implement fiscal discipline, educate our children, and spur on economic development. through the decade i have known him, just one small chapter, i know, i have witnessed the genius of his short and long-term vision, a powerful reminder of the capacity of within person to impact systemic change. with his magnetic intensity, he is constantly seeking and finding new challenges, push being the fronts h

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 contributed. i just want to say a special word at bruce reid, the next, and thank him, the next leader of the deform l.c. the d.l.c. could not be in better hands. bruce reid is an idea man's idea man. he possesses a rare blend of brilliance, humor, and humility. to be honest, after his eight years in the white house, i never thought i'd leuer him back to the d.l.c. he was harder to recruit than bill clinton. but i always believed bruc

from chuck to dick gephardt, to jim jones, to john, bill, and barbara. obviously, to that great chairman and 91 who we will hear from later. i thought about the congressm from mississippi. the great leader in the senate from connecticut, joe lieberman. i thought about dave bliss here this evening. i thought about ellen and the great senator from indiana. i thought about my dear friend and vice chairman and partner in sharing -- in sharing this organization. and of course, my immediate predecessor, my friend, the great governor. for we have all been a part of something very special. mainly because of the courage and determination and tenacity of a fellow black men who is now a fellow again that you will see later, and our friend al from. tonight's dinner is special, not only for those of us in this room. what al did more for our party and the body of politics, and the most to get for our party -- the more he did for the larger body of politics, he helped make our party, or at least a huge wing of it, not only believes in the future, the shapers and chaser

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