2008 Democratic National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by
Austin Esposito, Son of Senator McCaskill
/EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UPON DELIVERY OF SPEECH, SCHEDULED FOR 11:00 P.M. EDT
TODAY, AUGUST 25/
/ADVANCE/ DENVER, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
transcript of a speech, as prepared for delivery, by Austin Esposito, at the
Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 25, 2008:
Scheduled for delivery: August 25, 2008 - 6:00-7:00 pm MT
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/DNCCLOGO )
My name is Austin. These are my sisters, Maddie and Lily. We're from Missouri
and we are here with just about everybody in our family, including our mom,
Claire McCaskill.
How did we get here? Well, it started with few strong Americans. My
great-grandmother Mildred was a single mom, which was tough. Thankfully, she
was strong and independent and wasn't afraid to state her opinions, even when
women weren't supposed to be heard from.
There was my grandfather, McCaskill, whose father taught him to never back
away from a fight, especially if it's about your family or something you
believe in. And then there's Mimi, my 80-year-old grandmother, who has been
working for Democrats since Missouri's own Harry Truman ran for president. She
made my mom say, "Trick or treat and vote for JFK" when she was seven.
But the real reason we are here is because we believe in our mother and Barack
Obama. We started bugging our mom over a year ago that she needed to get out
there and fight for Senator Obama. My sister Maddie wouldn't leave her alone,
and one January night, as Mom was tearing up over Senator Obama's victory
speech in Iowa, Maddie said, "Mom, you taught us that if you believe in
something, you are supposed to claim it, work for it, fight for it with all
you have."
Maddie was right and Mom knew it. Because this year, what's at stake is too
important. So my mom stepped up and went to work for a man we can believe in,
for change we can believe in. She's here tonight to do it again.
Our mother, Senator Claire McCaskill.
SOURCE 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee
Democratic National Convention Press Office, +1-720-362-2006
