Khan Speech & Transcript
Hello my fellow Americans. I know your lives are busy, so let’s cut right to the chase.
Looking at America from the outside, you’d think that we’re two countries. Over the course of this campaign, I’ve been called every name you can imagine. I’ve been called a democrat, a republican. The reason that a state didn’t vote for me was because I was a “conservative from Texas.” At the same time, I’ve been called a socialist. I’ve been called a communist. But, I ask you, the people of America, to what end? Where does that get us? Are we not exactly where we began, if not even further from the truth? Further from what is really important?
So, I ask you once again, the people of America, what does America mean to you? Does it mean Republicans vs Democrats? Does it mean the Left vs the Right? Does it mean Conservatives vs Liberals? Or, does it mean balancing the two sides of our country? Does it mean taking the best of the two ideologies and making policy that can actually stand up to the ever changing demands of the new America? Here at the Khan campaign, we are committed to the idea of NO LABELS. Labels, at least in the political sense, are the ideas that restrict the ways that we think. They put a cap on our policy. But most importantly, they limit the Americans that we can help. What that means is that all of our goals, our policy, our platform, rest on the idea that they should benefit everyone in America. We balance the old with the new. We balance the Smith with the Sanders. We are the new America, and we should have a president that embodies that.
America is a frozen yogurt shop. You can pick whatever flavor you want. Moreover, you can mix flavors. Maybe you aren’t feeling only chocolate or only vanilla today. That’s okay. In fact, that’s way better than okay. Swirl is just inherently better than just chocolate or vanilla. Think about it. Your politicians shouldn’t just represent one side of the aisle, they should represent your holistic views. Your flavor. Your toppings. Your policy. Your ideology.
That’s where my fellow candidates fail in their policies. The Sylvester campaign, which I commend for its policy to lower taxes for working families, gives huge tax breaks to corporations, lowering their tax rate from 35% to 20%, again allowing big business to hold the reins and dictate where our economy goes, basically monopolizing the field. Sticking too far along party lines, Sylvester does one thing that helps working families, but basically immediately stabs them in the back. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Herscowitz campaign talks about raising taxes, and punishing people for being successful. Playing god by choosing who stays rich and poor, and unilaterally determining equality of outcome is not the way forward. Who is the government to decide who prospers?
My own policies focus on creating the future of America through Conservative values. An example is the deregulation of the EPA. What Hercowitz (sic) proposes here is a Carbon Tax in order to stop emissions. This will hurt more than it helps. A regulation that makes cheap things more expensive doesn’t make any sense for working class Americans. Instead, we should focus on the real problems: getting rid of regulations that make green energy expensive and impossible. According to the New York Times, due to the EPA red tape in 2016, there was no sustainable nuclear energy, only 3% of dams were actually producing renewable energy, and there was an insufficient wind energy plan to fuel the future. By getting rid of regulation, we can make green energy the option that people CAN and WANT TO use, not something that is forced upon them.
Policies like this are the future. The 2016 election showed the rise of conservatism in America. But after the election, a poll showed that with voters under 24, Democrats won 46 out of 50 states. Pundits are hailing the 2016 election as the last rise of the Republicans before an inevitable wave of blue for years to come. So I ask you, my fellow Republicans: Do you want to be left in the past? In order to survive, Conservatism must adapt.
Don’t get me wrong, Conservatism is still alive and well. The basic tenets of it—free trade, competition, a reduction of regulation, cutting taxes for all—are the essential components of America. But what the Khan campaign proposes is not a recreation of the past. Together, we will apply the values of conservatism to the modern world. We are the future. Together, we can bring America into the future.