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Imagine that you're a member of Congress.

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You've worked very hard.

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You've knocked on thousands of doors,

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sweating and shivering
depending on the season.

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You've made hundreds,

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maybe thousands of phone calls
to people you don't even know,

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asking for their support,

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begging for their money.

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And now you've got one of these.

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It's hanging on a door in Washington, DC.

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It says you're a member of Congress,

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that you represent
the people of your state.

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Now, imagine you're a Conservative
member of Congress.

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For some of you here
in Boston, Massachusetts,

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that's going to take
a powerful imagination, all right?

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(Laughter)

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But imagine with me

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that you're a Conservative
member of Congress.

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You grew up on Milton Friedman.

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You love his free markets,

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free enterprise

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and free trade.

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You've watched Ronald Reagan's
farewell address over and over,

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and you cry ever time --

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(Laughter)

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he gets to the part about
the shining city on the hill,

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and how if the city had to have walls,

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the walls had doors --

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doors to let in those yearning
to breathe free.

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You get goosebumps when you think
of him telling Mr. Gorbachev

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to tear down his wall.

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You're a Conservative member of Congress,

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and you agree with President
John F. Kennedy

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that America is an exceptional place.

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For inspiration,

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you go to YouTube and you watch
his speech at Rice University,

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September of 1962.

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"The Moonshot Speech."

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And you're amazed
that he admits in that speech --

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a speech of 17 minutes of pure
American exceptionalism --

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that some of the materials
needed for the spacecraft

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hadn't been invented yet.

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No matter.

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We're going to the moon
before the decade is out.

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You agree with him

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that the vows of this nation
can be fulfilled

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only if we in this nation are first

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and therefore we intend to be first.

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You've taken as your own
the affect that he so embodied.

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That when leaders are optimistic,

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they're saying they believe
in the people they represent.

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You're a Conservative member of Congress,

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and you believe
in the precautionary principle.

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You believe in data-driven analysis.

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You know that climate change is real
and human-caused,

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and you see in climate change

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a silent and slow-moving Sputnik moment.

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One that calls for
the greatness of your nation

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as much as the original Sputnik moment.

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You are a Conservative member of Congress.

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You high-five the memory of Jack Kemp,

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and believe with him

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that the test of conservatism is that
it works for everyone,

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regardless of skincolor.

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You're appalled by the alt-right.

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You want them to have nothing to do
with your brand, your party, your legacy.

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You utterly reject them.

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You --

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(Applause)

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You're a Conservative member of Congress.

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You rise with compassion to protect
the lives of the unborn,

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but otherwise you think
the bedroom of consenting adults

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is a rather strange place
for the government to be.

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You are a Conservative member of Congress.

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With John Adams,

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you fear the mob.

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Because you know as he knew

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that a mob is not able to protect liberty,

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not even its own.

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And you're amazed at the wisdrom
that he and other framers had

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in establishing a slow,
deliberative governing process --

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an inherently conservative
governing process.

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It would serve a country.

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It would grow far greater
than they could ever imagine.

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You are a Conservative member of Congress.

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You fear the fire of populist nationalism,

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because you know

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that those who play
with fire can't control it.

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You see their pitchforks and torches,

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and you know they're not
good building tools.

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The pitchforks and torches can tear down
and burn up but they can't build up.

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They can't build up the institutions
and the communities so necessary

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to a stable and prosperous country.

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You're a Conservative member of Congress,

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and you fear the next
county party convention.

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You so wish for your party to be
the grand opportunity party,

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not the grumpy old party.

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(Laughter)

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You know that they want
to hear from you some old [salve]

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about how a secret Muslim, non-American
socialist took over in the White House

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and destroyed the country,

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and you know that none of that's true.

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(Applause)

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You know that they want to hear your say

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that you're OK with insults,

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OK with "Lock her up" chants

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and OK with policy pronouncements

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with all the sincerity and thoughtfulness
that 140 characters can muster.

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You are a Conservative member of Congress.

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You realize that many in your party
look to some good old days

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that you know never existed.

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They hold on, for example,

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to the fossils that fueled
the last century of growth,

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but you know that better, cleaner
more abundant fuels await us,

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and you know that that abundance
can lead the world to more energy,

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more mobility

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and more freedom.

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You're a Conservative member of Congress.

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You realize that many in your party
pine for the '50s and the '60s

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because those were, after all,
the good old days.

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But you know that the Cuyahoga River
was on fire back then.

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You know that in Pittsburgh,

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street lights came on at noon
because of the soot in the air.

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The schools were segregated,

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neighborhoods redlined,

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that communism threatened freedom,

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and if you got cancer,

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you weren't likely to fight for long.

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You're a Conservative member of Congress

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and you want to sound like JFK at Rice,

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where JFK said, "It's understandable

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why some would have us stay where we are

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a little bit longer,

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to wait and to rest."

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But everything within you says with him,

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this city of Houston,

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this state of Texas,

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this country of the United States
was not built by those who waited

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and rested and wished to look behind them.

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You are ready to lead.

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You are ready to prove
the power of free enterprise

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to solve challenges like climate change.

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You are ready to lead.

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So I've got a suggestion for you then:

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lead ...

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now.

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Step out,

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step up.

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You know, we ask America's best

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to die on literal hills

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in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Is it too much to ask you
to die a figurative death

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on a political hill in Washington, DC?

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You know, at the end
of your time in Washington,

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they're going to take
this plaque off the door.

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They're going to hand it to you;

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you're going to go home with it.

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Can you imagine the emptiness
of knowing that you stood for nothing,

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that you risk nothing,

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that all you did was follow fearful people
to where they were already going

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rather than trying to lead
them to a better place?

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If you're not willing
to lose your seat in Congress,

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there's really very little
reason to be there.

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(Applause)

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So here's the thing:

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it's not too late.

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There's still time to lead.

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Speak out,

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speak up,

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call lunacy what it is:

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lunacy.

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Tell the American people
that we still have moonshots in us.

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Tell the folks at the county
party convention,

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"You bet free enterprise
can solve climate change."

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Tell them that Milton Friedman
would say to tax pollution

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rather than profits.

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Tell them that it's OK --

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no, it's a good thing

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that Progressives would agree.

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Tell them the very good news
that we can bring America together

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to solve these challenges
and to lead the world.

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Tell them that free enterprise
can do these things.

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Tell them that America
must stop the dividing,

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and must start the uniting.

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Tell them.

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Play your part before it's too late.

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(Applause)

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)