August 9, 2007 Issue

Editor’s Note:
This is the introduction used by Charles Morgan, Monday, Aug. 6 to introduce former president William Clinton.

Welcome. We are honored to have you with us. This is not an inexpensive night on the town. We know that, and we appreciate your support.

Pat Edington is the reason we are gathered here tonight. She is a leader in the Democratic Party of Alabama and is the White House representative to UNESCO. Chris Cadenhead and Larry Anchors have worked all week to make this happen. My mother, Camille, has been making calls and requesting contributions. Those are not easy calls to make. Thanks to all of you who have helped.

Congressman Allan Boyd is with us. Dr. Richbourg from Okaloosa Walton College is here. Don Foster, a United States Attorney from Mobile and Redding Pitt, a United States Attorney from Montgomery are both here.

Just inside the entrance to Harbor Docks there is a photograph of a 25-year old man standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King at a ballot box. That picture was taken more than 40 years ago. That was the year that my father, Chuck Morgan, represented a young man from Atlanta who was denied a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives. Please welcome Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP, and his wife, attorney Pam Horowitz. They have a home here in Destin. They have been colleagues and friends of my family for many years now. I’m glad that they are here tonight.

Democrats make up only 27 percent of the voters in Okaloosa County. This county has been solidly Republican for more than 20 years. Today it has the highest percentage of registered Republicans in the state. We have a hard time even fielding candidates in local elections.

If the Republican rhetoric about lower taxes and less government had any validity at all, it should have taken place in Okaloosa County. But as we all know it hasn’t.

Today, we have an administration in Washington that has been cavalier in its disregard for world opinion. Around the globe the country perceived to be the biggest threat to world peace is not Iraq or Iran or North Korea. It is the United States. Here at home, this administration has routinely assaulted our civil liberties and neglected our domestic challenges.

In the past seven years, since our guest has been out of office, his stature has grown. Today he may be the most revered public figure in the world. He has been an ambassador for the hopes, values, and ideals that our nation holds dear. From Asia to Africa and all points in between he has proven to be a true world leader.

Personally, I am excited to have the opportunity to listen to a president who speaks in grammatically correct, complete sentences.

This past week the president’s staff called and asked me about the attire for this evening. I told them that Destin was a pretty casual area and that it would be hot. I asked them what they preferred the attire to be.

“We’re not concerned about what y’all wear,” I was told. “We need to know what the President should wear. He doesn’t want to wear a suit if everyone is going to be casually dressed.”

I want y’all to remember that I have now been consulted on the proper attire for the President of the United States. And Mr. President, you look wonderful.

Thank you all for making this evening possible. On behalf of my family, on behalf of the Harbor Docks family, on behalf of the Luckiest Fishing Village in the World, and on behalf of the folks who worked so hard this past week; I welcome you.

Because of term limits, we cannot re-elect the man who stands before you tonight. But, by electing Senator Hillary Clinton, we can get him back in the White House.

Please welcome President William Jefferson Clinton.

…And the crowd goes wild.

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