Kennedy Delivers Acceptance Speech

KENNEDY DELIVERS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Prepared for Delivery

"Thank you Mayor Tom Menino, the finest mayor in America, for that generous introduction. And thank you John Kerry, my friend and partner in the Senate.

I think we're looking at a big night!

Are you ready for victory?

All across the country, people are demanding change, and we intend to make it happen.

I'm deeply grateful to the people of Massachusetts for sending me back to the United States Senate to fight for them.

To the people of Massachusetts, I say thank you. Serving you is the greatest honor of my life.

Just as you have honored me with your trust tonight, I will honor you in the years ahead by fighting every day for our Commonwealth and for our shared vision of what our country ought to be.

I'll fight for good jobs and decent wages to support your families.

I'll fight for affordable health care for you and all Americans.

I'll fight for full civil rights for all our people, and an end to bigotry, prejudice and discrimination in all their ugly forms.

I'll fight for education, to make sure that our schools serve all our children well and that college is affordable for every student.

And I'll fight to change our course on Iraq. This administration went to war on false pretenses. They sent our troops into battle under-armored, under-manned, and without a strategy for victory. But our brave soldiers have fought with courage and honor for three and a half long and senseless years. They've done their jobs heroically, and we're deeply proud of them. We owe them a policy worthy of their sacrifice.

So I pledge to you I'll never give in until we change our course in Iraq.

The votes you cast for me tonight were not just for a Senator, but for a cause.

It's the cause of young families in Boston with great dreams for their children.

It's the cause of elderly citizens in Springfield who can't afford their prescription drugs and are trapped in the Medicare donut hole.

It's the cause of families in Worcester with loved ones suffering from serious illness, and who want the immense potential of stem cell research to become a reality as soon as possible.

It's the cause of young students in Lawrence hoping for better schools and eager to go on to college.

It's the cause of minimum wage workers in New Bedford and Barnstable who've waited ten years for the raise in pay they clearly deserve

It's the cause of all the parents and wives and husbands and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters across Massachusetts who pray that our brave soldiers will make it safely home.

Most important, it's the cause that unites all of us here tonight, and all our fellow citizens across the country. Our shared cause is a return to the America of our hopes and dreams, an America respected not hated in the world, an America that is once again a land of opportunity for all and a beacon of liberty to peoples everywhere.

Today we have rejected the politics of fear and the tyranny of special interests. We have laid the foundation for a return to the politics of hope and a genuine commitment to the common good.

So I say this to you tonight. I'm ready to return to the Senate to do my very best to put our country on track again. We want our America back.

I want to thank Ken Chase for his willingness to run. Our democracy works best when contending views are heard in the public square, and Ken Chase performed a public service for our Commonwealth.

I thank all of you here in this room and the many others who've stood with us throughout this journey. It's your victory too. I couldn't have done it without you.

Together, we intend to move our Commonwealth and our nation forward again - and become an America that once again lives up to its highest ideals at home and abroad.

I'm especially grateful to my family tonight for their unconditional love and support.

Above all, I'm grateful to a woman of grace and strength and wisdom - whose laughter and warmth can light up a room, especially on a glorious moment like tonight. I'm so fortunate to have the strong support of the love of my life - my wife Vicki.

I'm proud as well of Teddy and Kiki, and Kara and Michael, and Patrick, who's headed to a great victory tonight in Rhode Island. I'm proud of Curran and Caroline too for the extraordinary young people they've become, for all they're doing in their lives, and for the constant support and encouragement they always give to me.

And I'm delighted that my four wonderful grandchildren, Gracie and Kiley, and Max and Teddy are here to celebrate tonight as well.

I'm also very grateful to my sister Jean for joining us and to Eunice, who's not far from our hearts. I cherish their everlasting love and support.

I thank my nephew Joe and his wife Beth for joining us as well. Throughout this campaign, I've been blessed to have Joe's sons, Matt and Joe, as campaign managers. They've shown extraordinary talent and commitment. There's no question they have bright futures. Thank you Joe, and thank you Matt. Great job!

And to Vicki's parents - two extraordinary people, Doris and Edmund Reggie. I thank you both for your friendship and love and support throughout this campaign.

It was a special privilege this year to run on a Democratic ticket with Deval Patrick and Tim Murray. Their campaign has been built on the politics of hope and vision and opportunity - and that's how they're going to lead from the Corner Office.

Looking out across this room tonight, I see great friends over many years who were there for Jack in 1960 and his campaigns in Massachusetts before that. I see supporters and volunteers and foot soldiers from my own first campaign in 1962, and many of Bobby's supporters as well. You've been there with us through good times and bad, and I'll never forget you.

I've also been blessed by new friends and supporters - many of whom were not even born in 1962. Your vigor and your enthusiasm have lighted up this campaign, and given me great inspiration for the future.

The poet Yeats said it well - "Think where man's glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."

I'm honored by your support and grateful for your confidence in me. I intend to repay your trust in the best way I know how - by working harder than ever for you-the-people, and for a stronger, fairer, and better Commonwealth and country and planet.

Thank you all so much."

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