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 of politics was that he helped make our party, or at least a huge wing of it. not only believers in the future but shapers and no longer chasers of the future. it is his blueprint and in so many ways, the footprint that he believes that he started and leaves for bruce and the rest of us to take to new levels

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 body politic, he helped make a huge wing of our party not only believers in the future but shapers and no longer chasers of the future activi. it is his blueprint that he started and leaves for bruce and the rest of us to take to new levels a