...you want to go forward in a car...put it in “D.”
...backwards...in “R.”

...what they’re counting on in this election is amnesia. They’re counting on you not remembering the disastrous consequences of economic policies that, by the way, had caused problems for working-class families, for middle-class families, before the recession hit, before the crisis hit. We had had almost a decade of sluggish growth, sluggish job growth, and incomes and wages that had flat-lined even as the cost of health care, the cost of college tuition, the cost of energy had all skyrocketed.

And so they are not offering a single new idea. They are counting on you forgetting that it was a consequence of these policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

You know, I’ve been using the analogy of the folks who drove the car into the ditch. And so we decided, you know what, we’re going to do the responsible thing. We put on our boots, we got into the mud, we got into the ditch. We pushed, we shoved, we’re sweating. They’re standing on the sidelines sipping a Slurpee -- sort of watching us, saying, “Well, you’re not pushing hard enough,” or “Your shoulder is not positioned the right way,” giving us a whole bunch of advice on how to push -- not lifting a finger to help.

And finally we get this car up back on the road again, and finally we’re ready to move forward again. And these guys turn around and say, “Give us the keys.” Well, no, you can’t have the keys back -- you don’t know how to drive. You don’t know how to drive.

They don’t know how to drive. And I also want to point out, by the way, when you want to go forward in a car, what do you do? You put it in “D.” When you want to go backwards, you put it in “R.” We cannot go backwards -- we’ve got to move forwards. That’s what we’re fighting for in this election -- moving forwards.

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So that’s what we’ve got to offer, and we’re just getting started. Because we’ve got more work to do. The problem we’ve got right now is we’ve got folks on the other side of the aisle who have spent 20 months politicking while we’ve spent those 20 months governing. They’ve been thinking about the next election instead of the next generation.

I mean, think about it. When the leader of the Republicans on the House side was asked, “What’s your idea for job creation,” he said, “Repeal health care reform.” I don’t know what jobs that would create except maybe for the guys who are paid to deny you claims.

When they asked them about Wall Street reform, they said, no, we think actually the status quo is okay. Now, think about this. You have the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and they said no to reforming the system.

When we had a crisis down in the Gulf -- unprecedented oil spill -- and I went down there and I met with fishermen and small business owners who were being devastated economically and were seeing their way of life potentially threatened, and we made sure that BP was going to be accountable to those folks and put together a $20 billion fund to make sure they were getting paid off, what happened? The guy who would be in line to chair the Energy Committee on behalf of the Republicans apologized to BP. Said we are sorry about the President shaking you down. That’s how he characterized our efforts to make sure that people were treated fairly after a big oil company wrecked their livelihood.

So across the board, what you see is a governing philosophy on their part that basically comes down to we’re going to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest among us -- folks who don’t need those tax cuts and weren’t even asking for them, which would cost $700 billion -- these are the folks who say they’re concerned about the deficit but are willing to send $700 billion to those who are luckiest and least in need in our society.

Their agenda is we’re going to eliminate rules and regulations that rein in special interests, and then we’re going to cut the middle class loose, say you’re on your own. You can’t afford health care? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You can’t afford to send your kids to college? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You can’t afford to retire? Too bad, you’re on your own.

That is the philosophy that held sway in Washington for eight years before I came in, and that is what they want to go back to.

So I just want everybody here to understand very clearly, this is a sharp and clear choice. If you are interested in a clean energy future in which we continue to build our solar industry and wind power and biodiesel and natural gas and we are shaping a strategy to wean ourselves off our dependence on foreign oil, then you better go out there and support those Democratic members of Congress. Because the other side is just going to say no to that.

If you are interested in ending tax cuts for companies that ship jobs overseas, and instead want tax cuts to go to small businesses like the bill that we’ve got right now in the Senate that would eliminate capital gains for small businesses, would be additional tax cuts on top of the eight tax cuts we’ve already given to small businesses so far, then you’d better go out there and help some Democratic candidates. Because the other side is not interested in helping folks who are starting things up -- they’re interested in the special interests who can afford to hire lobbyist in Washington.

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So we’re going to have choice after choice on every single issue that you care deeply about. If you care about education, if you care about health care, if you care about civil rights and equal pay for equal work, if you care about consumer protections, if you care about jobs and growth in this economy -- if you care about building a new foundation so that we’re not just going back to the same tired, worn-out theories that didn’t work for the last decade but are instead instituting something that’s going to work for the 21st century -- then we’re going to need you to really step up and work hard in this election.

Now, that’s hard to do at a time when people are feeling like, boy, this is a polarized electorate and it makes people dispirited -- all the yelling and the shouting and the cable chatter and the punditry. And I’ll be honest with you, sometimes Democrats, we’re our own worst enemies, because we can do great stuff and somehow still feel depressed. You know, there’s -- sometimes we do a little too much handwringing. Say, well, you know, I don't know, I wish we had gotten that public option. Well, that’s great, but we got 31 million people health insurance and we’re reducing costs for people and we are [inaudible] consumer protections when it comes to the health insurance industry.

We have had an extraordinary record of accomplishment over the last 20 months, and we can continue those efforts but we’re going to need you in this election season. We’ve got to have you talking to your friends, we’ve got to have you talking to your neighbors, your coworkers. We’re going to need you to contribute to congressional candidates who are going to have very tough races out there.

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