i'm elizabeth glaser. eleven years ago, while giving birth to my first child, i hemorrhaged and was transfused with seven pints of blood. four years later, i found out that i had been infected with the aids virus and had unknowingly passed it to my daughter, ariel, through my breast milk, and my son, jake, in utero.

twenty years ago i wanted to be at the democratic convention because it was a way to participate in my country. today, i am here because it's a matter of life and death. exactly -- exactly four years ago my daughter died of aids. she did not survive the reagan administration. i am here because my son and i may not survive four more years of leaders who say they care, but do nothing. i -- i am in a race with the clock. this is not about being a republican or an independent or a democrat. it's about the future -- for each and every one of us.

i started out just a mom -- fighting for the life of her child. but along the way i learned how unfair america can be today, not just for people who have hiv, but for many, many people -- poor people, gay people, people of color, children. a strange spokesperson for such a group: a well-to-do white woman. but i have learned my lesson the hard way, and i know that america has lost her path and is at risk of losing her soul. america wake up: we are all in a struggle between life and death.

i understand -- i understand the sense of frustration and despair in our country, because i know firsthand about shouting for help and getting no answer. i went to washington to tell presidents reagan and bush that much, much more had to be done for aids research and care, and that children couldn't be forgotten. the first time, when nothing happened, i thought, "they just didn't hear me." the second time, when nothing happened, i thought, "maybe i didn't shout loud enough." but now i realize they don't hear because they don't want to listen.

when you cry for help and no one listens, you start to lose your hope. i began to lose faith in america. i felt my country was letting me down -- and it was. this is not the america i was raised to be proud of. i was raised to believe that other's problems were my problems as well. but when i tell most people about hiv, in hopes that they will help and care, i see the look in their eyes: "it's not my problem," they're thinking. well, it's everyone's problem and we need a leader who will tell us that. we need a visionary to guide us -- to say it wasn't al

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