All-Purpose GOP Convention Speech

In which Will Durst provides a public service for prospective GOP convention speakers: a pre-fab, pre-approved, pre-digested speech good for any occasion. Hey, it’s worked for all the other speakers.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Welcome, Republicans. (Applause)

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. No, please. Thank you. (Applause continues) Please, we’re on a schedule here, people. No, really, stop. Thank you. HEY! (Applause ends)

Thank you. Boy what a hot-looking crowd. The only thing hotter is the weather here in Philadelphia. And boy is it hot. On my way here, I saw a White House staffer chase down a dog. (Huge laugh, applause.) No. Thank you. No. Seriously. Thank you. PEOPLE! (Applause ends) Thank you.

I also want to thank George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic for that wonderful performance. (Applause) Weren’t they great? (Over applause) Bet England wishes their Parliament could move like that! (Stunned silence)

Speaking of George … (holds for suspense) … how ’bout a hand for George P. Schultz? (Rock star applause.) Yo quiero George P.! (Big laugh) Thank you.

Anyhow. And what about those Eskimo kids? Wasn’t their whale-hunting dance inspiring? (Applause, some tears) Because that’s what its all about, people. The kids. That’s what America is about. The kids. (Applause) What do you think about kids?

Let me say, we know America has concerns. (Serious looks) Let me assure you: We share those concerns. (Smiles) As a matter of fact, your concerns are our concerns. Black concerns. Brown concerns. Green concerns.

And I’m here to tell you the next president of this great country, George W. Bush (Applause) is a man who has proved he is concerned about those concerns, especially the green concerns. (Laughter and applause) And after the final nail has been driven into the Clinton-Gore coffin (applause), with the grace of God, our good and loving Christian God,(quickly) and those other gods as well, we will find the answers. Together. Because we’re all in this together. And together we will find the good through compassion.

Conservative compassion. Which George W. Bush has established he possesses a surplus of. A politician unafraid to admit he has prayed for the soul of every man he has executed. America needs George W. Bush, because America needs more good. And less bad. (Huge applause)

And you know what’s good? Families are good. (Applause) Good, moral families like the Utah delegation are best. (Applause) And veterans are good. (Big applause) Even the dead ones. (A moment of silence) And their legacy. Our military. It’s good, right? (Biggest applause) But not our military now, because it desperately needs to be rebuilt (Applause) into the kind of military we can be proud of. (Applause) The kind of military with a commander in chief that can command respect. (Applause) The kind of military capable of annihilating an enemy at the touch of a button. (Applause) An American-made button.(Huge applause)

And come November, when we take back control of this grand country, (Applause) we will have that control. And we’ll use it. For good. Not for bad. Because big changes are coming to Washington. (Applause) Because in order for America to compete in the new economy, our corporations need to be free from frivolous lawsuits. (Applause) Because George W. Bush is a reformer who has proven he can reform bad into good. (Applause) Because this country deserves to expect the kind of proven leadership the people of Texas have had for five years. Because our children need to grow up experiencing less fear and more hope, good hope, not the sequel to the man from Hope. (Laughter, applause)

No, America, we need the opposite. We need George W. Bush to be elected the next president and with your help, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. (Applause) Thank you, my friends. And may God bless America. Thank you. Thank you. Now stay tuned for the fresh sounds of the recently reformed NWA. (Applause)

WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We canā€™t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who wonā€™t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its futureā€”you.

And we need readers to show up for us big timeā€”again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We canā€™t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who wonā€™t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its futureā€”you.

And we need readers to show up for us big timeā€”again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate