Not a long speech tonight, just a story.  My first experience with Iowa. 

A few of you know this but I doubt that very many of you know it, but my first experience in Iowa was as a college student.  Some of the folks from [inaud.] will relate to this.  I had fallen in love with Christie at Hamilton College and it took me a couple of years to finegle an invitation out here.  But I was invited to come out one summer.  It was sophomore year and I was excited and I arrived at 906 Cherry Circle, which is where Christie and Dick were raised, and walked into the house, and Christie told me immediately that we were going to the country club on the river.

Where I came from a country club [inaud.] was a nice club house, 18 holes of golf, white linen table cloths--that was my image of a country club.  I didn't think anything about it when the picnic basket came out and in it was a freshly baked cherry pie.  I thought well that's not odd; I've seen a country club where you have to bring your own dessert.  [laughter; inaud.]  So we get in her car and we start driving and we go to [inaud.] and we turn onto a gravel dirt road running along the Skunk River, and I'm thinking where is this 18 hole gold course [inaud.]? 

And we pull up to this place.  [Inaud.] in porch kind of a place and its got ricketedy stairs and there's this little sign that's sort of tilted a little bit and it says "The Country Club."  [inaud.]  So I walk in and what I walk in to was a potluck supper, and what I experienced in a real heartfelt way was community. 

You could feel it; you could see it.  It was community because there were people of all ages and they were visiting with one another.  And I don't mean just sort of talking.  I [inaud.] they were really visiting with one another.  The old folks were listening to the young people.  The young people were listening to the old folks, and there was conversation and there was communication. 

And the food was displayed as in every potluck--long table [inaud.].  I was maybe the first person to say, "Is this heaven?  No it's Iowa."  And I walked in there and what I didn't realize was that the cooks were watching.  If you take [inaud.] salad, they'd want to know why.  But it was homemade food and it was displayed with a great deal of pride.  And you know that's really what Iowa and the heartland's all about.  It's about a sense of community and a sense of belonging.  It's about doing things right.  I've learned so much from this community and this community has given Christie and myself and Jess and Doug such an extraordinary opportunity. 

And I just simply tonight want to say thnk you to everyone who's here.  Because each one of you is special to us; each one of you has had experiences with us that are who we are.  And as we travel across this great country talking about the future of this great country, we're going to be taking with us the values, the stories, the inspiration, the support and the love of all of you.  And that already makes it a successful campaign as far as I'm concerned.  So thank you very much for being here tonight.  We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow...

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