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twitterRory Reid officially enters race for governor
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009 | 6:33 p.m.
Rory Reid officially entered the race for governor Wednesday evening. The full text of his speech is below.
Find additional coverage here.
•••
Good evening. Thank you for being here. Thank you Steven for that introduction.
I am here today because, simply put: Nevada can do better, much better. To realize our great potential, Nevada needs a fundamentally new direction. Nevada needs a governor who takes immediate action to put people back to work. And Nevada needs a leader with a new economic plan and vision that moves our state into the 21st Century.
So, today, to give Nevada the new leadership and the new direction our state needs, I am proud to officially announce my candidacy for governor of Nevada.
I’m also proud to announce my plan to transform our economy.
My entire life has been centered in this state. I’ve lived in the north and the south; I think I’ve been to every town and fished in almost every lake. I grew up here and went to school right here at Doris Hancock Elementary School. I’ve watched Nevada grow and prosper like no other state in the nation and I have watched as Nevada has hurt like no other state in the nation. And as I look at Nevada today, I believe we are again at a crossroads. There’s an urgency in the air. Nevada has more potential than any other state in America. But to realize that potential, we need to do two things: First, we need to take decisive action to create jobs and put our fellow Nevadans back to work. And second, we need to lay out an economic plan to transform our economy for the long term, instead of merely waiting for our tourism industry to grow us out of any problem as we have done for so long.
55 years ago, Collier’s Magazine featured Nevada on its cover. The article described a state with a dynamic tourist economy, with some mining and some agriculture, but also facing tremendous challenges. It described a fiscal system that didn’t work, an education system that was lacking, and an economy trapped in a cycle of boom and bust. If you took the date on that story and replaced it with today’s date, the story would be the same. Same promise – and same challenges – as 55 years ago.
For too long, Nevada has kicked the can down the road, relying on the same old industries to get us through, content with that boom and bust, and unable to achieve our potential. All of us deserve better. And certainly our children and grandchildren deserve better if we expect them to stay and raise their families here close to their parents and grandparents
My hands-on work as an advocate in local government, working directly with people and solving their problems, has taught me about creating jobs, public-private partnerships, and community. I’m proud of my record creating jobs through public works and public-private partnerships, working to protect children and seniors, balancing our budget with smart fiscal planning, and creating open spaces and parks to improve our quality of life.
But at the same time we’ve been fighting for Nevada in Clark County, the bottom has dropped out in Carson City. Carson City has been content to tread water and wait out the recession so they can once again defer the tough decisions that will create the good jobs that come with a diverse economy. We need to redefine what leadership is in this state and what a governor actually does. A governor is supposed to get up every day and fight to make sure people have economic opportunity, great schools, and a path to a strong future. A governor is supposed to clearly see the promise of Nevada, and then lead us from where we are now straight to that place.
Like you, I’m disappointed that vision hasn’t been articulated or fought for in recent years. And now, we find ourselves in some of the most challenging times in recent history.
Let me tell you a story. For the last year or so, I’ve been traveling around the state getting together with a small groups of people in living rooms across Nevada to listen what’s on peoples minds, learn about their challenges, and what folks think needs to change in Carson City.
Some months ago at a house party in Reno, a young woman stood up and asked me a question that brought it all home for me. It was at the end of the event and it was the last question of the night. Most of the attendees had spoken already and she had just been listening. But when I said there was time for one more question, she raised her hand and I called on her. I’ll never forget what she said:
“Rory, I’ve been sitting here, listening to this, and as I think about my own future, I’m left with one simple question: Why should I stay? Why should I stay in Nevada, and what future is there for me here?”
My campaign is going to be about answering that young woman’s question. Leadership is about answering that young woman’s question. That’s what this campaign is about.
That’s why today I’m not just announcing my candidacy, I’m also doing what the so-called “political professionals” warn you not to do: I’m actually going to lay out a plan and say something of substance. So today I’m proud to introduce a new economic plan to create jobs in the short term and to transform our economy in the long term. I’m offering a framework to build a new future, and a pathway to get us there. And it is all going to be there in black and white. You should expect nothing less from your candidates for governor.
First, we must take immediate steps to get our economy on the road to recovery and put people back to work. Nevada can no longer afford the price of inaction. We must extend a lifeline to small businesses, help families make ends meet, and prioritize projects with long-term benefits.
That’s why as Governor, I will:
• Boost access to capital for struggling small businesses and new start-ups.
• Prioritize capital spending on immediate job-creating projects.
• And immediately appoint an Energy Commissioner to realize the goals and benefits created during the 2009 legislative session.
• And further expand partnerships between the private sector and our community colleges and universities to develop a new green workforce.
These actions and others will create jobs and put Nevadans back to work. As governor I would take these steps immediately.
But even as we take action now, we also need to craft the plans that will put Nevada at the forefront of the 21st Century economy. So today I’m going to break another political rule and lay out an economic plan with new ideas for our future. Let me describe the kind of economy I envision for Nevada.
Nevada today is at the crossroads of everything that embodies the economy of tomorrow – a virtual crossroads of the global marketplace for goods, for services, for people, for ideas, and for information. We are uniquely positioned to take advantage of each of these factors, better than any other state in the nation and launch ourselves into the New Economy.
So we face a stark choice between continuing down the same path we have always traveled – which got us into this mess – or striking out in a bold new direction, which promises greater gains in the long term.
So now comes the hard part: leadership and perseverance to get us there. And instead of empty rhetoric, over the course of this campaign I intend to lay out the details of how we can meet the challenges of a new century, starting with some ideas right now in my plan. Ideas like:
• Requiring long-term infrastructure plans from state government the way we do at the local level.
• Ordering a comprehensive performance review of state programs to cut unneeded government spending.
• Support the development of cutting-edge health research.
• Capitalizing a Nevada Energy Fund to establish Nevada’s leadership in clean technology and green jobs.
• Promoting entrepreneurship through micro-lending to make capital available to small businesses.
• And identifying the industries that will grow in Nevada over the next decade to make training available so students can pursue those high-growth fields.
I’m proud of this plan and these ideas, but it is just the beginning. Over the course of the campaign I’ll detail each of these areas and more. And I’ll travel the state to talk with Nevadans from all walks of life, gathering the creative thinking and good ideas we need. My wife Cindy and I are going to run a Nevada kind of campaign – about family and the great potential for our future. And I’m going to wake up everyday thinking about how we create jobs today and answer that young woman’s question about tomorrow.
I believe Nevada’s future is bright. I believe Nevada has more potential than any other state in America, and it’s time to realize that potential.
It’s time for Nevada to strike out in a bold new direction. I am offering Nevada a clear vision, and a clear choice. As Governor I will lead us in that new direction. I invite you to join me.
Thank you.
Discussion: 18 comments so far…
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This will be the ultimate test. If this "virus" wins, the voters will have no one to blame but themselves. Remember! You only throw your vote away if you don't vote with your conscience. There's other choices other than the 'lessor of the two evils'. An Independant
I guess Rory figures he will lie low in the governors office until daddy decides to handover his senate seat to him. Hopefully daddy doesn't have a seat to handover come 2010, either way I will safely be sitting by a beach in a state with a little more sanity *bronx cheer*.
Rory: please do something about that anemic physique.
Hmmmmm....I noticed that the first three posters said NOTHING about the speech that Rory delivered. They simply attacked him personally.
Why am I not surprised? Maybe none of the three actually read the speech? Apparently they have already marked their ballot....again, no surprise!
This great country needs politicians who are real men dedicated to the country, their friends, family, children and future generations.
For the Reids its about money and power for themselves.
If we all pray God will protect us from the new direction Rory Reid pretends he will take us. Pathetic people who think we the people are stupid to fall for the same "new direction" line.
God help us all!
I read the speech. I hear the same BS that comes out of the old man's mouth. I wish the election was tomorrow so I could vote against this moron. Green, green, green. And the tax cuts that all Democrats and every so called Republican except four hero's voted for. And yes it is in the long term plans for Pinky to retire and have the Democratic Governor appoint him in mid term.
What's the point of reading the speech? If his father wasn't a senator he'd be just another loser with no speech at all. Read the speech if you like, if you're significantly impressed by it, feel free to vote for him - I'm sure you can believe everything he says. No doubt he'll get the votes of the people who bought into Obama's lies.
When will constituents like the previous posters start to understand that America is not about serving personal hyperpartisan political creeds? This is about renewing our state into the prosperous state it once was; this election is not about having a "red" governor or a "blue" governor. Our current Governor Mr. Gibbons follows a neo-conservative laissez-faire capitalistic ideology and will listen to nothing else. Please, start to be mindful of the fact that Supply-Side Economics HAS NEVER, CAN NEVER, and WILL NEVER WORK?! These same people who cling to this broken ideology are the ones screaming that the President is failing, when stocks are on the rise, consumer confidence is on the rise, and the country is beginning a new leaf in world affairs and diplomacy. Please, put aside hyperpartisan politics and see the good that is actually occurring in this country. Rory has my full support and my vote, and I hope that one might be able to see why that is.
A sure way to victory will be for Rory to get the Senior Senator from the State of Nevada, who has the most power in Washington, to finally do something for Nevada and its citizens.
I read the above, too, if you call that a speech. I'd call it a pie-in-the-sky con job.
Ichabod is going to have to run on what he has done for Las Bugsy which looks like just sit around on his arse while Clark County went to hell in a hurry. NOW he comes forward and says he can fix all that has happened while he was in charge. So much for credibility.....
If there's anything at all even remotely worse for Nevada than Goober the Gubber it's this clown.
vote no for Reid...both of them
Let's see.....this Reid has run the county into the ground....signed obnoxious union contracts that pay over half of the county firefighters over $100k a year (many of them will get pensions over $100k a year).....
Now....he wants to take THAT LEADERSHIP....to Carson City......LOL.
@ larry5: "No doubt he'll get the votes of the people who bought into Obama's lies."
If Rory gets the votes of Obama supporters, he, well, wins as Obama carried Nevada 55.15% to McCain's 42.65%. Actually, courting the numerous Obama voters sounds like a good plan for any candidate.
How many of you believe in UFO's?
Isn't it ironic..."voters will have no one to blame but themselves."
I think that was very clear with the past 8 years. Hence, you have a progressive movement in response to the past 8 years that revealed the true identity of the right-wing nuts....twits, intolerant bigots and irrelevance.
In response to AngryReader, I would have to say the majority of those posting on here believe so.
If the few people here think that current administration has turned around everything in the last few months are the ones that are seeing the UFO'S!Repooplican,and Democraps all work the same way......SMOKE AND MIRRORS,SMOKE AND MIRRORS! This Reid is no better than his father!Go's to show the apple dosent fall far?But in this case the tree was already on the ground!!!
rumrunner
It is ironic but I must agree with you... Only one point very weak ROOTS.....
I had hoped that Barbara Buckley would have run for Governor - she was my first choice as the best qualified candidate. But, Rory was clearly my second choice as the next best qualified candidate to lead us in a new direction into a prosperous future!
Let's be fair folks - Rory is NOT Harry, and it's just not right to judge a son based on their other family members!
Rory is a good man with a good heart, and has a wonderful family centered value system of sound ethics - and he's his own man!
So, all you "Harry Haters" out there need to answer the question - "Who is the best qualified candidate to be the next Governor of Nevada?"
My answer: RORY!