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Election 2006: Keith Ellison's speech after victory over Alan Fine, Tammy Lee for the 5th Congressional District seat.

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KEITH ELLISON: You look great out there. What a joy. Let me tell you, would you please give a hand for my wife, Kim Ellison?

[CROWD CHEERING]

Let me tell you, Kim, Kim, Kim!

[CROWD CHANTING]

That's right. Well, you know we've come a long way, haven't we?

[CROWD SHOUTING]

We had our ups and we had some downs, but mostly, we've had the ups. Isn't that right?

[CROWD SHOUTING]

We've had an incredible journey, incredible, indescribable journey. And each one of us here tonight has been a part of it. And for that, I thank you. I thank God for you. I love you very much.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Now, I want to tell you, I want to tell you that we got a lot to celebrate tonight. Looks like the governor is going our way.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Looks like Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is looking good.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Looks like Rebecca Otto is looking good.

[CROWD CHEERING]

I'll tell you, and it looks like to help me out here, we're doing good all over the country, y'all.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Amy Klobuchar is doing fantastic!

[CROWD CHEERING]

And let me just say that you are here tonight who've knocked doors, who made calls, who reached out to neighbors and friends.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Those of you who had to talk to folks about what the real truth was as opposed to some mess that somebody said.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Those of you who believed in the progressive vision. Those of you who believed that we could all come together and stay together-- all cultures, all colors, all faiths, all people.

[CROWD CHEERING]

I want you to know and I want you to know this, that God is good, y'all.

[CROWD CHEERING]

That's right. He's good. And we are-- and I want you to know,

[CROWD CHANTING]

and I want you to know, and I want you to know that this community can come together. This community can work together. This community can shape a whole new world. This community, our prosperity does not depend upon someone else's suffering.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Our prosperity does not depend upon somebody going without. In order for us to do well, somebody else doesn't need to be homeless. In order for us to do well, somebody else doesn't have to be among the uninsured.

[CROWD CHEERING]

In order for us to do well, somebody else doesn't have to be discriminated against and vilified. In order for you and I to do well, all we got to do is believe in each other, hang with each other. Be brave. Face the world bravely.

And let me tell you, in this campaign, we proved that toughness is not about how much pain you can inflict. Toughness is about how much you can take for the sake of your people. That's what it's about. That's what it's about. That's what it's about.

I want you to know that in this campaign, not only did I say or do no wrong to any opponent I ever had.

[CROWD CHEERING]

No one on our campaign staff did that. None of our donors did that. None of you did that. And what we want to do is create a new way of doing politics. We want you to know, we want all of you to know, anybody here tonight who's thinking about running for office, we want you to know you don't have to smear anyone to win.

You don't have to tear anyone down to win. Your rise does not depend upon somebody else's fall. You can do well by putting forth a positive image. Let me tell you, when we say peace is the guiding principle of our nation and it must be, we don't just mean the war in Iraq. We mean All-American foreign policy.

[CROWD CHEERING]

When we say peace is the guiding principle of our nation, we just don't mean foreign policy. We mean domestic policy too.

[CROWD CHEERING]

And we don't just mean public safety in our streets and in our neighborhoods, we mean how we interact with each other one to another. We should react to each other in love, in brotherhood, and in sisterhood. We should talk it out, not shoot it out, not fight it out.

We got to come together, people. This is what we're talking about when we talk about peace being the guiding principle of our nation. This is what we mean. This is what we are referring to.

[CROWD CHEERING]

This is what we're talking about. And I want you to know and I wish each one of you could come up here and see what I can see. Hey, y'all, it's packed out there, isn't it? Before we went to The Blue Nile, let me get a hand for The Blue Nile too, y'all.

[CROWD CHEERING]

But we had to get a bigger place. And we're so grateful that the brother who allowed us to be here tonight, the owner of the Trocaderos allowed us to be here. It's a bigger place, but it's still not big enough for all of you.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Because what we're talking about tonight, peace. When we talk about peace, a lot of folks can get with the idea of peace. Is that right?

[CROWD CHEERING]

A lot of us can get together with the idea that we all need to be together. A lot of us can get together with the idea that the uninsured must be covered, that we need to look to all of the people of our society and say, no one is a throwaway person.

We're not going to tolerate, we're not going to tolerate homelessness, victims of natural disasters being left on rooftops to rot. We're not going to do that anymore. That's not how we do business. Not here in America. Not anymore.

So, look, I want to let you know this, that we got, we got a lot of work to do, you all. In this whole campaign, I have always talked about we. We means me and you.

[CROWD CHEERING]

We means that we are going to lift us all up, right? We means that there is no big I and little you. There's just us together. And we got a lot of work to do. We got a lot of people to reach out to. That we got a lot of people to comfort, a lot of people to clothe.

We got a lot of people to talk to about how to work it out, how to have negotiation and discussion. And so each one of us has to take up the mantle tonight, has to agree tonight that individually, individually, we are committing ourselves to building a better world and a better country.

And we're going to start it right here from the 5th congressional district of Minnesota. Right here, right now. Right now. Let me say I love you. May God keep you. God bless us all.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Funders

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