Thursday, July 14, 2005

''Howard Dean Addresses NAACP Annual Convention''

"We need to reform our election system. I know Donna Brazille was here earlier this week to talk to you about our Ohio report. I'm not here to look backward, but to look forward. But the truth is, our election system failed the citizens of Ohio in 2004, and failed African Americans who had to wait three times as long to cast their vote, and failed young voters who were illegally asked for identification at the polls.

We need to make voting a federal right for all Americans. Voting isn't just a right, it's a responsibility...

We're not going to divide Americans to win elections. The Republican Party's "Southern Strategy" used in the 1960s and 1970s lives today. In 2000, they used the racially charged word "quota" to divide African Americans. In 2004, they used gay marriage. And just you wait; in 2006 its going to be immigrants. We need to stand together. We are all children of God, equal in the eyes of God. We need to stand up for social justice. The one thing the Democratic Party will never do - we will never divide Americans to win elections. We'll never do that..."-from his remarks today, via the DNC website.

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