"The rebirth of activism, mutual tolerance andrespect is crucial," Gephardt said. "The faultlines in this country need to be healed if we areto make it through the next century."

Gephardt cited the abysmal voting statisticsfrom the 1996 elections--only half of registeredvoters turned out to vote for president--asevidence that American democracy was in trouble.

"We need to turn it around, and we need to turnit around quickly," Gephardt said, "Or else thismeans the functional death of American politics."

He urged audience members to join politicalorganizations, work on the campaign of a candidate"you really like," and, most importantly, vote.

"Don't keep your opinions to yourself," hesaid. "We in government need the counsel andguidance that the people give us."

The College Democrats voted the representativeHarvard-Radcliffe Democrat of the Year. After hisspeech, the Gephardt had a reception with theDemocrats in which he talked about the value ofgoing into politics and the importance of theDemocratic Party to the future of the country