Andrew Card on Picking a President: 'Who Will Respond to the Whisper in the Ear?'
Although the ultimate purpose of Card’s lecture was to convince his audience of truckers to “show up and vote,” the longtime Republican who has served three presidents — the most recent running the White House for President George W. Bush from 2001-2006 — didn’t offer his support of either major party candidate.
“The very first word in our Constitution is ‘we,’ and it’s the most powerful word in our Constitution,” Card said in a speech at the opening general session of American Trucking Associations' 2016 Management Conference & Exhibition here. “It’s our government, and we have a responsibility to pay attention.”
Card added, “I hope that your definition of 'we' will include 'you' when it comes to participating in this election, whether it's in Congress, the state legislative body, the mayor’s office, city council’s office, the county office or the president.”
The Constitution also spells out the duties of the president, Card said. “The president’s job is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he said.
To motivate truckers to vote, Card told the story of his day with President Bush on 9/11.
As the president was reading to a class of second-graders, Card walked up to him and whispered in his ear.
“A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
“I watched a president of the United States become president of the United States that day,” Card said. “Sure, he took the oath of office on Jan. 20. But in that classroom, he was thinking about his job: preserve, protect and defend.”
“So when you pick a president as part of the ‘we’ picking our government, think about who will respond to the whisper in the ear that they never wanted to hear, meet an obligation that they never wanted to have to meet, and ask for sacrifices that they would never invite on anyone. That’s picking a president.”
Card said he told that story because that experience “broke the bubble of not wanting to get involved.”
“I also tell you the story because I don’t want you to violate the promise that you probably made on Sept. 11, 2001. You probably said ‘I will never forget.’ Far too many of you do forget. Don’t forget.”
Card added, “I implore you to be part of that process, even if you don’t get to pick the perfect candidate ever. And we certainly haven’t picked the potential perfect candidate in this cycle. But we’re going to make a choice."
