President Clinton's January 19, 1999 State of the Union Address
As Suggested by Hobie (and posted  on the Elect Hobie Homepage Page before delivery)

    My Fellow Americans. I come before you tonight in extraordinary circumstances. The House has voted two Articles of Impeachment and the Senate now sits in judgment. These circumstances cannot be ignored and must be addressed.
    Simply put, I have let every one of you here in this Chamber, and every American, down.  I have dishonored the Presidency and the rule of law, first by my relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, and secondly by trying desperately to cover that relationship up.  And worse, I mislead my closest friends and associates by word and deed, and in seeking their help to deny and cover-up my misdeeds, allowed them to be wrong and do wrong, all with a significant financial and emotional toll.
    But most importantly I have grievously hurt my wife who has been my closest companion and strongest supporter over all my adult life; and words cannot express the remorse for the pain I have caused my daughter, who has far more grace and goodness than I could ever deserve.
    If the Senate in its wisdom and the American people in their hearts will allow me to continue, I pledge:

    First of all to tell the truth. Saying I will never resign is foolish. I will resign if I am not able to effectively lead this country and address our problems and limitless future.
    Secondly, I defiled the rule of law in my deposition and before the grand jury and am willing to face the consequences even in a court of law, as every other American would, after I leave office.
    Third, I will seek not just pastoral counseling, but professional help for my problems.
    Fourth, I will cease all polling. I have wanted for far too long and far too badly to tell people what they wanted to hear rather than what they should hear. I don't need a poll to know in my mind and heart that we must now address the pending Social Security and Medicare shortfalls, an education system that fails far too many students, and the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons that inevitably will lead to national blackmail.
    And Fifth, and above all I don't need a poll to know our political campaigns and the political process desperately need reform.  All of us in this Chamber know that the candidate with the most money wins. And so we have all learned how to press every button and stretch every rule to raise far more money than any of us thought possible, even though we all know the system is not just broken, but wrong.
    Recent court cases and Federal Election Commission interpretations now allow our campaigns to be financed by virtually unlimited amounts of money from anyone, or any organization, and from anywhere in the world. We simply cannot allow this flood of money to continue and grow, not only because it does buy influence over legislation, but also because it is primarily used for mindless 30 second television attack ads that have so turned off the voters that the biggest winner in the last election was a straight-talking ex-professional wrestler in Minnesota, who carried every category of voters below age 60 and making less than $100,000. Congratulations Minnesotans and Jesse, we fail to hear you at our peril!
    And finally we also cannot allow so much of that money to come from single-issue groups that rely on emotional hot-button appeals to exaggerate our differences with misleading statements that are designed not to fairly inform but rather to incite citizens to both vote and contribute.
    Indeed the greatest challenge we face is to not just reform the way we finance elections, but also the way candidates are chosen, and the way those chosen lead.  All of us in this Chamber entered politics because we wanted to change the world for the better. Somehow we got badly off track, allowing our campaigns to be financed by people and organizations we did not believe in, and participating in campaigns where ideas are not debated, personalities and human failings are magnified, and opponents' positions and intentions are intentionally misconstrued.
    And somewhere along the process we became arrogant, and too often confused what is best for the country with what is best for us; too often found our allies always virtuous and our opponents always vile; and too often came to believe our end justified any means.  Indeed, there are so many people fawning over us after a while we begin to believe that we are special and have great talents and insight that our country cannot do without, when in truth we  need the adulation of the people far more than the people need us.
    I have been running for public office all my life. So it is hard to comprehend that I will never run for public office again. I don't need political contributions for the next election, and I don't need polls anymore. I do need to work as hard as I can to help us all acknowledge and address our most pressing problems, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it will be the only way to mitigate the damage I have done, and salvage my honor and small place in history.
    As we inexorably pass into the next millennium, what happens to me and whatever happens in this Chamber over the next few days and weeks will be but a footnote in the history of our great country. With incredible changes especially in technology and genetics, we are faced with more possibilities for good in the next 100 years than in the past 1,000.  But we also are faced with problems that we can no longer ignore if that bright future is to unfold.
    I don't ask for your forgiveness. True forgiveness is not an exercise of the mind but a charity of the heart. I only ask for the chance to redeem myself by working to help us make the great words we all have spoken in the past into great deeds for the future.
Sets a Fairly High Bar for Tonight's Speech?  We'll soon see.
Don't miss Hobie's past  Call to Action Update about another Clinton State of the Union Address.
Return to the Elect Hobie Homepage.

POST NOTE:  Well this time Clinton ignored Hobie's suggestions and not only didn't even mention the historic Impeachment Proceedings but rather appealed to virtually every segment of the American population with 99 different poll-driven proposals... that were largely forgotten during the next news cycle.

This page was created 1/19/99, updated 2/15/99.  Distribution encouraged with attribution;
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