Senator Jim Webb Delivers Keynote Address
at GSPM's 20th Graduation

From left to right: GW's Outgoing President, Stephen J. Trachtenberg,
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), and GSPM Dean Christopher Arterton

Contact: Jessica Smith (Sen. Webb), 202-228-5185
Kimberly Hunter (Sen. Webb), 202-228-5258
Monica Parham (GSPM), 202-994-4717

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY:
Saturday, July 28, 2007

"Dean Arterton, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, and especially the graduates of the George Washington School of Political Management, I am grateful for the opportunity to share in this important milestone in your lives.

"I understand that the New York Times has called this school 'the West Point of the Political Wars.'  Given that West Point and the New York Times share the same state, I can understand how that conclusion might have been reached.  As a graduate of the Naval Academy I might suggest that you petition to call your school the Annapolis of the political wars, but I’ll leave that up to you…

"I would like to take a moment to especially thank the Dean, Chris Arterton, for his two full decades of dedication to the GSPM, and also to congratulate this year’s award winners for all the contributions they have made.  And I'd like to recognize some distinguished guests in the audience…

"I’d also like to express my thanks to the several members of this class who helped out in my Senate campaign last year, and especially to point out that Kimberly Hunter, who is a valued member of my staff, is now even more valuable to me today with a GSPM diploma.   

"I am particularly honored to be here given the program’s 20^th Anniversary. 

"Today is a day for families and friends, for shared memories of good times here, at Lindy’s Red Lyon and Froggy Bottom Pub.... and for that feeling that comes from accomplishing something truly special.

"I also want to say a special word at the outset of my remarks about all the spouses and parents who are here with us. I'm sure that those of you who are graduating know what a very special time this is for them. They have worked long and hard, and sacrificed much to bring you to this point. When you remember this day, remember them. And I know that you will never take their love and support for granted.

"Commencement speakers are often asked to wade into these conflicting emotions and share a few lasting pearls of wisdom and advice. It is a difficult task.

"Winston Churchill's advice for public speakers is particularly fitting for me today. Churchill always counseled people to 'Be Clear ... Be Concise ... and Be Seated.' Considering this is the second or third Commencement for many of you, I will try to follow that advice today.

"But at the same time, I don't want to let this day pass without a few sincere and heartfelt pieces of advice.

"Many of you came to GSPM to build onto existing careers while others come straight out of undergraduate school. Some earned their political stripes outside the beltway in state and local campaigns while others have walked the Halls of Congress either working for or lobbying our nation's lawmakers.

"In your graduate studies, you've been taught the practical skills of politics but I hope that the true lesson that you take away from this program is to follow your principles and fight for the issues that you care about.  Quite frankly, we live in a world where politics has too frequently been dominated by negativism and the manipulation that inevitably comes from too great an emphasis on process.  Our country desperately needs a greater focus on substance.  It doesn’t even matter to me on which side of the debate you fall, so much as how you present your arguments, and how clearly the public begins to comprehend the choices we are now faced with as a nation.

"As many of you know I have not lived the life of a politician. In fact a little over a year ago, I had no political base whatsoever, in either party. My opponent, who as you know was an incumbent Senator, had just received the highest number of votes in a presidential poll taken during the Conservative Political Action Conference. I had no money, and on a good day I was 33 points behind in the polls.

"My political credentials were viewed with unease by both sides. On the one hand I had spent four years as a Republican Committee counsel in the House of Representatives and four years as a political appointee in the Reagan Administration, which did not exactly warm the hearts of many Democrats. On the other I had helped the United Mine Workers during their landmark 1989 strike against the Pittston Coal Company and I had been an early and vocal critic of the Bush Administration's Iraq War policy, which did endear me to the hearts of many Republicans.

"What my nascent campaign staff and I did have was a strong belief that this nation is going through a sea-change in terms of party politics, and that the old labels simply don't work anymore. That the political cards are being reshuffled, all across this country. That good, well-meaning people have watched their government flub things up, from Iraq to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. That they want better leadership, and that they want new approaches.

"We conveyed this message with relentless discipline. It is a message that I believe should be a continuing part of the national debate.  And if the message is successful, I believe it could and should become the core message of a revitalized Democratic Party.

"And so, in the campaign I talked about deeper themes rather than mere political issues. We never simply talked about Iraq. Instead, we spoke repeatedly, and in depth, about the need to re-orient our nation's national security posture in a way that would allow us not only to withdraw our forces from Iraq, but also to restore a measure of stability in that historically volatile region, to increase our ability to fight the war against international terrorism, and to more properly address the wide range of strategic and foreign policy issues that have been dangerously ignored over the past five years.

"We also spoke about the need to restore economic fairness in this country.  In this age of globalization, the internationalization of corporate America has created enormous inequities in our society, and serious problems for American workers. Over the past seven years, we have seen a dangerous re-distribution of wealth that threatens to create an America more divided by class than at any time since the days of the Robber Barons that began in the 1880s.  Corporate profits in this country are at an all time high as a percentage of national wealth, while wages and salaries are at all time lows.  More than half of the stocks are owned by one percent of the people.  This disturbing trend must be addressed and reversed for the good of our nation as a whole.

"And finally, in the wake of such seriously under-examined issues as the NSA wiretapping scandal, the failure of leadership during and after Hurricane Katrina, and the billions of dollars wasted due to a failure of oversight in Iraq War contracting, we talked about the need to restore simple accountability to our government, to make sure that the federal system works in the way our forefathers conceived it, and to ensure also that our taxpayers get real value for their investment.

"In short, we offered voters context, in a time when far too much political energy was being wasted on contrived, emotionally divisive issues such as flag burning, gay marriage and focus-group tested phrases such as 'cut and run' and 'retreat and defeat.'

"We did something else that was a bit different. I decided early that I would be guided by my own sense of values and political instincts rather than polls and focus groups, and over time the voters came to understand that I meant it.  We did our best to keep our message consistent, even when this gave our political advisers serious heartburn. I spoke directly to corporate leaders about corporate responsibility. I became the first statewide candidate in Virginia history to walk a union picket line during a campaign, even though Virginia is 48th in the country in terms of union membership.

"A lot of commentators were saying that I was naive. Others were saying that I was a one-issue candidate. Still others were saying that my opponent made such serious errors that he was responsible for his own defeat. Allow me to respond, first, that one-issue candidates don't beat strong incumbents - this was proven in Connecticut. And second, while it might have been risky, it was not naïve to have recognized that our voters have become disgusted with the cynicism of modern-day politics. We gambled on the likelihood that people in this country truly desire a clear and unambiguous approach to governing, and we won. And I am committed to doing my best to bring about that reality.

"Here at the GSPM, you have classes with Democrats and Republicans taught by Democrats and Republicans.  As a Democrat who used to be a Republican who used to be a Democrat… I feel right at home…

"I recognize that I am speaking to a partisan audience today that is driven by a passion for leadership and politics. While each of you holds his or her own political beliefs, I'd like to stress to you the importance of focusing on substance over politics in Washington and ask you to build on your valuable experience here at GSPM in order to work toward changing the tone of tomorrow's politics.

"The past two weeks the Senate has been vigorously debating the Iraq War. For the good of the country, we in the Congress need to find a way to come together, on both sides of the aisle, and work toward a solution that will – as I’ve said so many times before – end our combat presence in Iraq, increase the stability of that region, increase our ability to fight international terrorism around the world, and allow the United States to focus on the larger strategic issues that have been neglected in large part for more than five years.

"What we’ve seen in Washington over the past decade is the political version of the World War One Battle of the Somme.  Both sides of the aisle continue to pound on each other, neither side yielding, with little or no ground being gained by either side, and with little good coming to the country despite all of the energy and frustration.  

"In World War One, great nations lost their influence and inevitably their place in the world because neither side knew how to do anything except slog directly into each other, again and again, for years.  This is hardly the blood bath of World War One, but the political implications for our country are just as severe.  We are spending away our national treasure, burning up good people, losing the good will of other nations.  Along the way we have in too many cases lost the moral high ground that has always characterized the United States in the eyes of other nations.  We in the congress owe the country a better way.  And that way begins with an honest, logical approach to the issues we face in Iraq and our country.

"I know that most of you are ready to either begin or to continue the fight, on behalf of the issues that have brought you into politics in the first place.  Whatever side of the issues you are on, I salute you for that willingness.  We have been the most creative political society on earth because we have been blessed to be part of a structure that encourages vigorous debate.  My only request to all of you is to join in that debate honorably, to bring your beliefs to the stage with powerful, substantive argument and to win or lose based on the merits of your views, as finally measured by the American people. 

"Additionally, I personally hope that you will embrace another value as well. In the scriptures we are told, 'For unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be required.' Our country, and indeed our world community, needs you to follow this simple idea now more than ever.

"By your study, you have earned great advantages. But as with all of us who have been blessed with such opportunities, it is important to remember that with opportunity and advantage comes responsibility.

"In my view, there are few challenges confronting this nation that are more serious or urgent than the themes on which I based my campaign last year:  the need to straighten out our foreign policy, the need to redress the growing sense of unfairness that hangs over our economic affairs, and the need to bring true accountability into our government.

"We can fix these issues.  The generations that went before us achieved some remarkable things. They populated a wilderness, created a country, gave us American-style democracy, won World War II, and prevailed in the Cold War. They grew our economy until it was the world's largest. They ended racial discrimination.

"Your generation's legacy - no smaller a task - should be that you fought for new kind of politics - a principled politics. Challenge the status quo with the principles that guide you. Don't become blinded by partisan politics. To often decisions are made based on political calculations while the tough work of finding solutions for the common good are ignored.

"As graduates of the West Point of Politics, your education has focused on political strategy and tactics.  I ask that you apply the lessons of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli very carefully and strive for political leadership with a backbone and a conscience.

"And whatever happens in your lives, please make yourselves a promise – that you will always find a way to give something back - through service to your families, to your community, and to your country.

"I appreciate having been able to share this special day with you, and I wish all of you the very best in what I know will be an exciting future for each of you individually and for our country.

"Thank you. And God bless you all."

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