Reagan closed with what would become a signature theme: democracy as something precious, fragile, and easily lost. He had spent much of the speech discussing the Cold War — including a vivid account of the labor union battles in Hollywood, where he described 'tin-hatted, club-carrying pickets' outside studio gates, buses bombed, and 'glamour girls' crossing picket lines knowing what 'a scar on the face or a broken nose could mean careerwise.' But the threat wasn't only external. Reagan argued that Americans were surrendering freedoms through apathy and the slow expansion of government: 'For every seven of us sitting here in this lovely outdoor theater, there is one public servant, and 31 cents of every dollar earned in America goes in taxes.' The closing metaphor — democracy as a 'comfortable cloak' — was unusually tender for Reagan, who more often spoke of freedom in muscular terms. Here, the emphasis was on warmth, comfort, and the terrifying uncertainty of its loss.