John F. Kerry Quotations | Page 2

President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second.

You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or daughter in the service.

I commanded a naval gunboat patrolling the Mekong Delta. Then when I came home after two tours of duty, I decided that the same sense of service demanded something more of me.

For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions that Irish-Americans.

This President has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment. and judgment is what we look for in the president of the President of the United States of America.

And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.

I know there are a lot of musicians and a lot of artists, and there are a lot of writers and other people who inspire young people, but I'd like to see somebody in political life be able to connect and make these choices that we need to make in Washington real in terms of people's lives.

I think it's time we had a President who will provide the only real economic security: good jobs. A President who will provide middle class payroll tax relief to get money in the pockets of workers who will spend it, not more tax giveaways for those at the top to stimulate the economy in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. A President who will index the minimum wage to inflation and raise it from a 30 year low, not increase the tax burden on the middle class and those struggling to join it.

Middle class Americans don't ask for special favors, they just want basic fairness, and a President who fights for that ideal.

Under this [Bush] Administration, America's middle class has been abandoned -- its dreams denied, its Main Street interests ignored and its mainstream values scorned by a White House that puts privilege first.