DES MOINES — Former Obama chief of staff and current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel will address Democrats tonight at their Jefferson Jackson dinner here.
Excerpts from his speech show Emanuel attempting to fire up Democrats in the state that launched President Obama’s path to the 2008 Democratic nomination.
Read the excerpts, released by the Iowa Democrats, below:
The President did not make choices based on politics. He made them because of his principles. He did not make choices for the next election, he made them for the next generation.
President Obama never tailored what he believed to the moment.
In the next four years there will be more challenges and more crises that will determine the economic vitality of the middle class and the economic future of this country. Whose character, whose judgment, do you want in that office?
Over the next four years, there will be a series of choices. It won’t be clear what the outcome will be. We will need leadership; we will need values as guideposts.
To create true middle class security, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. We must out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the world.
President Obama believes in an America where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded. He believes in an America where everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street, does their fair share. He believes in an America where we don’t have two rule books, one for those at the top, and another set for everyone else. President Obama believes in the idea that our country prospers when we’re all in it together.
