I have done my best, as a candidate, to run a new kind of campaign, signaling the new brand of politics that I will bring to Washington when I'm elected President. My campaign has attempted to define the differences between myself and other candidates without resorting to the old politics of mud-slinging. With the American people, I believe that our shared interests in our common problems deserve our fullest attention. This is not to suggest that character is not an issue. Unlike my opponent, however, I believe that the American people will judge our character based on our actions, including how we manage our campaigns.
No one doubts the damage that George W. Bush and his administration have done to integrity of the executive branch of our government. No one doubts the damage that George W. Bush and his administration have done to integrity of our nation in the eyes of the world. I have conducted my campaign in a manner to demonstrate through my actions, not my words, my commitment to restoring the integrity of the office of the Presidency and the Constitution it is sworn to uphold
Clearly, my opponent, Senator Clinton, has demonstrated another brand of politics, the politics of the past. Dare I describe it as tabloid politics. She has resorted to falsely inflating her own qualifications and experience while reducing my credentials to a speech I made in 2002. She has misrepresented herself, and me, on numerous occasions in order to score cheap political points, particularly with regard to NAFTA and her now notorious trip to Bosnia.
In my mind, and in the minds of many of the American people, the character of her campaign reflects poorly on her character as a candidate. The American people expect honesty from their elected officials. Senator Clinton has disrespected the American people and their desire for honest and transparent leadership. Her husband, President Bill Clinton, has encouraged me to join them in these politics of the past, saying that the American people want to see a good fight, as if politics should be treated as a circus, or some bizarre reality show, or spectator sport. I reject the invitation, because I hold too much respect for democracy. In my mind, democracy is not so much a noun, as it is a verb. It's something we DO. The character of our democracy is only as good as the character of those who participate in it. In disrespecting the process, we disrespect ourselves. We hold ourselves to a lower standard than a higher one, which is contrary to the very nature of democracy. Democracy is a process through which We, the people, move collectively to lift our nation up, so that we might form a MORE perfect union, to critically examine the present in order to better determine how to build a better future. It appeals to our higher ideals. To hold ourselves to lower standards for the sake of political gain does damage, in the end, to us all.
As candidates for elected office, the leadership we demonstrate during our campaign sends signals to the American people concerning the quality of our leadership once we assume office. So, what you see in the character of my campaign is what you'll see in the character of my administration.