Dave Morin

The Democratic National Convention is in full swing, as you all know. The following is the text of Former President Clinton’s speech. I think it is well worth the read:

Now, how do they pay for that deficit? First, by taking the Social Security surplus that comes in every month and endorsing the checks of working people over to me to pay for the tax cuts. But it’s not enough.

So then they have to go borrow money. Most of it they borrow from the Chinese and the Japanese government.

Sure, these countries are competing with us for good jobs, but how can we enforce our trade laws against our bankers? I mean, come on.

So if you think – if you believe it is good policy – if you believe it is good policy to pay for my tax cuts with the Social Security checks of working men and women and borrowed money from China and Japan, you should vote for them. If not, John Kerry’s your man.

We Americans must choose for president…

… we’ve got to choose for president between two strong men who both love their countries, but who have very different world views: our nominee, John Kerry, who favors shared responsibility, shared opportunity and more global cooperation; and their president and their party in Congress who favor concentrated wealth and power, leaving people to fend for themselves and more unilateral action.

I think we’re right for two reasons.

First of all, America just works better when more people have a chance to live their dreams.

And, secondly, we live in an interdependent world in which we cannot possibly kill, jail or occupy all of our potential adversaries. So we have to both fight terror and build a world with more partners and fewer terrorists.

Now, we tried it their way for 12 years. We tried it their way for 12 years. We tried it our way for eight years. Then we tried it their way for four more. But the only test that matters is whether people were better off when we finished than when we started. Our way works better.

It produced over 22 million good jobs, rising incomes for the middle class, over 100 times as many people moved from poverty into the middle class, more health care, the largest increase in college aid in 50 years, record home ownership, a cleaner environment, three surpluses in a row, a modernized defense force, strong efforts against terror and a respected America in the world. More importantly, more importantly we have great new champions in John Kerry and John Edwards, two good men, with wonderful wives: Teresa, a generous and wise woman, who understands the world we’re trying to shape; and Elizabeth, a lawyer and mother, who understands the lives we’re trying to live.

Now, let me tell you know what I know about John Kerry. I’ve been seeing all of the Republican ads about him. Let me tell you what I know about him.

During the Vietnam War, many young men, including the current president, the vice president and me, could have gone to Vietnam and didn’t. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going too, but instead, he said: Send me.

When they sent those swiftboats up the river in Vietnam and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bate the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said: Send me.

And then, on my watch, when it was time to heal the wounds of war and normalize relations with Vietnam and to demand an accounting of the POWs and MIAs we lost there, John Kerry said: Send me.

Then when we needed someone to push the cause of inner-city children struggling to avoid a life of crime or to bring the benefits of high technology to ordinary Americans or to clean the environment in a way that created new jobs, or to give small businesses a better chance to make it, John Kerry said: Send me.

So tonight, my friends, I ask you to join me for the next 100 days in telling John Kerry’s story and promoting his ideas. Let every person in this hall and like-minded people all across our land say to him what he has always said to America: Send me.

The bravery that men who fought by his side in battle, that bravery they saw in battle, I have seen in politics. When I was president, John Kerry showed courage and conviction on crime, on welfare reform, on balancing the budget, at a time when those priorities were not exactly the way to win a popularity contest in our party.

John Kerry took tough positions on tough problems. He knows who he is and where he’s going. He has the experience, the character, the ideas, the values to be a great president.

And in a time of change, he has two other very important qualities: an insatiable curiosity to understand the world around him, and a willingness to hear other views, even those who disagree with him. Therefore…

Therefore, John Kerry will make choices that reflect both conviction and common sense. He proved that when he picked John Edwards to be his partner.

Now, everybody talks about John Edwards’ energy and intellect and charisma. You know, I kind of resent him.

But the important thing is not what talents he has, but how he has used them. He chose – he chose to use his talents to improve the lives of people like him who had to work for everything they’ve got and to help people too often left out and left behind. And that’s what he’ll do as our vice president.

Now their opponents will tell you…

Their opponents will tell you we should be afraid of John Kerry and John Edwards, because they won’t stand up to the terrorists. Don’t you believe it. Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.

They go hand in hand.

They go hand in hand, and John Kerry has both. His first priority will be to keep America safe.

Remember the scripture: Be not afraid.

John Kerry and John Edwards are good people with good ideas, ideas to make the economy work again for middle-class Americans, to restore fiscal responsibility, to save Social Security, to make health care more affordable, college more available, to free us from dependence on foreign oil and create new jobs with clean energy and a cleaner environment…

… to rally the world to our side in the war against terror and to make a world with more friends and less terror.

My friends, at every turning point in our history, we, the people, have chosen unity over division, heeding our founders’ call to America’s eternal mission to form a more perfect union, to widen the circle of opportunity deep in the reach of freedom and strengthen the bonds of our community. It happened every time, because we made the right choices.

In the early days of the republic, America was divided and at a crossroads, much as it is today, deeply divided over whether or not to build a real nation with a national economy and a national legal system. We chose to build a more perfect union.

In the Civil War, America was at another crossroads, deeply divided over whether to save the union and end slavery. We chose a more perfect union.

In the 1960s, when I was a young man, we were divided again over civil rights and women’s rights. And again we chose to form a more perfect union.

As I said in 1992, I say again tonight, we are all in this together. We have an obligation, both to work hard and to help our fellow citizens, an obligation both to fight terror and to build a world with more cooperation and less terror.

Now, again, it is time to choose. Since we’re all in the same boat, we should choose a captain of our ship who is a brave good man, who knows how to steer a vessel through troubled waters, to the calm seas and the clear sides of our more perfect union. That is our mission.

So let us go in tonight and say to America in a loud, clear voice: Send John Kerry.

God bless you.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Wear yellow. Livestrong. Support the fight against cancer. Some of you near the more metropolitan areas in the US may have seen these wristbands on a few folks around. I just FedEx’ed a bunch home today to my sister. So, if you are in Helena, get ahold of her and she’ll get you one. If not, click the wristband above and it’ll take you to the website where you can learn more about the Lance Armstrong Foundation, living with cancer, and how you can help fight cancer just by wearing a cool yellow wristband. It’s a good time to be wearing yellow and living strong watching Lance persue his 6th straight title.

Cancer is a vicious problem in the world. Treatments are getting better, but the people that have been through it, and are living with it today are the true heros amongst us. All of us have much going on. Work, school, stress, love, life. Imagine that with cancer. My grandma made it through breast cancer, which was the original reason I started wearing this wristband. I found out today my mom has skin cancer. Now I’ll wear two.

It seems sometimes the hardest things happen to the seemingly strongest people. Lance had won the Tour de France. Twice. Then he gets slapped with 3 different types of cancer. Maybe it’s in proportion to how ridiculously hardcore a person is. Win the Tour, you get 3. Be the best mom ever or grandma ever. You get it too. One thing I know is that I love my family. I love my grandma, and I love my mom. I couldn’t have asked for better people in my life growing up. My mom went through impossible obstacles many times over to make sure my sister and I were brought up right. I feel a deep, non-descript pain. It just doesn’t seem fair. But then again. That’s life.

Life may be full of obstacles. Your life may be overly busy and full of stress. But, remember those that now have to deal with an added obstacle. Support those that are working miracles to keep their energy within your life. Go by Niketown, buy a wristband for $1. Buy 10. Support those living with cancer. Support life. Livestrong.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Gallup Organization helps people. They help people understand their strengths and give them the tools to use these stregths to be happier in their field of work. Their test is like a Myers-Briggs test on steriods. I think a lot can be learned from Gallup’s approach to positive psychology. They take an approach to consulting that many do not. By helping you find your strengths, they show you how you can be most affective in your job. These things can also help you figure out if what you are doing is right for you. Some may think this is a worthless endeavor, some may find it ultimately very helpful. I think it is great. Here is a sample of my top five traits. Think about what this could do for your company if all of your employees knew this:

Ideation
You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough.

Futuristic
“Wouldn�t it be great if . . .” You are the kind of person who loves to peer over the horizon. The future fascinates you. As if it were projected on the wall, you see in detail what the future might hold, and this detailed picture keeps pulling you forward, into tomorrow. While the exact content of the picture will depend on your other strengths and interests?a better product, a better team, a better life, or a better world?it will always be inspirational to you. You are a dreamer who sees visions of what could be and who cherishes those visions. When the present proves too frustrating and the people around you too pragmatic, you conjure up your visions of the future and they energize you. They can energize others, too. In fact, very often people look to you to describe your visions of the future. They want a picture that can raise their sights and thereby their spirits. You can paint it for them. Practice. Choose your words carefully. Make the picture as vivid as possible. People will want to latch on to the hope you bring.

Activator
“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don�t know,” but this doesn�t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can�t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Woo
Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don�t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven�t met yet?lots of them.

Command
Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life�s unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear?eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Craigslist has hit The Tipping Point. It is absolutely genius in its simplicity. I’ve already used it to sell various things in my move to CA. Found my current apartment with it (just like most of you). Finding my next one with it. Found people to work for DMDS with it. Now I’m using it to sell my car. eBay would be smart to turn an eye before their market gets eaten alive.

America is lacking in simplicity. Corporate bureaucracy has it’s way of complicating things so greatly that our brains simply overload. Most websites involved in selling or trading just about anything are so complicated most of us just click through. Only to find even more complication. Sooner or later we come upon something so profoundly simple it’s ridiculous. Our next thought is “why didn’t I think of that.” But, isn’t that the nature of the beast.

Information flows so incredibly fast now, it’s beginning to become one big complicated cloud of fuzz. What news sources are good? What books are good? The numbers of syndicated publications are rising faster than you can say: Why aren’t the archives of the new york times online? For free? The number of blogs in America now number 3,000,000 and growing everyday. With RSS, the internet is becoming the place to read and enjoy culture. I say amen to that.

It’s amazing that a few years ago so many voices couldn’t be heard. Now, you’ve got blogs about girls chasing congressional tail on capitol hill, blogs about marketing, blogs about politics, and even juicy blogs about the life of a callgirl in London. The most fundamentally great thing about blogging? Simplicity. It’s a one way track to someone’s life and brain in this fast paced information rich world. You can read news from who you want to read it from, and almost know that it’s entirely genuine.

Simplicity is key in this complicated world. Add value to my life in a way that is simple and easy to use, and you’ve got a loyal fan. Make my life more complicated than it already is. Hasta la vista. Craigslist. Blogs. All a much needed breath of fresh air for all of us. How can you make our lives easier, simply?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Maybe Micheal Moore is on base. Maybe he isn’t. All that matters is that we are all definately thinking about our country right now. The youth in this country are thinking about some very interesting questions. Who is the right choice? Am I a Democrat? Republican? What the hell do either of these parties even stand for. I can sure tell you which person will suck most at the job. But who will do the best?

A lot of people you talk to right now will argue that we are at a fundamental turning point in our nations history. I for one am pretty leary of everything going on in the White House right now. But honestly. How do we really have any idea what information is correct. Pete, made an exceptionally good point today that a nation’s prosperity is defined by the amount of information it’s citizens have. It’s amazing the amount of information we think we have. But do we really?

Worldwide globalization. Saudi Arabian Oil. Indian technology economic explosion. Chinese manufacturing domination. Energy dependence. Gay marriage. Abortion. US tax policy. Terrorist extremism. So many issues, so little time. Our lives are clouded with information that moves so quickly, half of us don’t truely have time to really explore every issue we want to. We hope that we can trust our leaders and the information we receive. But can we?

Kelly and I debated for 2 hours over dinner at Cheesecake. As we went round and round battling each others points from both sides of the proverbial fence, one interesting point was agreed upon. Leadership is almost always defined by what the previous leader let go. There comes a time when the nation is so neglected internally that we need to shift to a president on the other side. Inversely, after a stint of external ass-kicking, war, and defense spending, we seem to see the cycle move the other way. This makes absolute sense.

Now, I’m just as pissed off as the next guy about Iraq and the loss of life going on both in the US military and Iraqi civilians. But can any of us say we really know what is going on over there? Why 9/11 happened? What this all about? Or why we are really there? Not one of us can define this answer to this question with absolute certainty. Who are you going to vote for? Why? How do you know what side of the fence you are on?

One thing is for certain. It involves money. A lot of it. It involves the very fabric of a very wealthy and powerful nation. A ruling country that is determined to stay in power. This is so complicated it’s hard to put one’s head around. How do our leaders grasp it? It’s just another bunch of fraternity guys trying to make sure the house doesn’t get kicked off campus. How long will we stay on campus?

Now, if we could only figure out how to make voting accurate and easily accessible…

Popularity: 4% [?]