Excerpts from Governor Romney's nomination speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa:
Four
years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the
possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party
but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous
people who are united by so much more than divides us.
When
that hard fought election was over, when the yard signs came down and the
television commercials finally came off the air, Americans were eager to go back
to work, to live our lives the way Americans always have – optimistic and
positive and confident in the future.
That
very optimism is uniquely American.
It
is what brought us to America. We are a nation of immigrants. We are the
children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the ones who wanted a
better life, the driven ones, the ones who woke up at night hearing that voice
telling them that life in that place called America could be
better.
They
came not just in pursuit of the riches of this world but for the richness of
this life.
***
Every
family in America wanted this to be a time when they could get ahead a little
more, put aside a little more for college, do more for their elderly mom who's
living alone now or give a little more to their church or charity.
Every
small business wanted these to be their best years ever, when they could hire
more, do more for those who had stuck with them through the hard times, open a
new store or sponsor that Little League team.
Every
new college graduate thought they'd have a good job by now, a place of their
own, and that they could start paying back some of their loans and build for the
future.
This
is when our nation was supposed to start paying down the national debt and
rolling back those massive deficits.
This
was the hope and change America voted for.
***
I
wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his
promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have
to accept. Now is the moment when we CAN do something. With your help we will do
something.
Now
is the moment when we can stand up and say, "I'm an American. I make my destiny.
And we deserve better! My children deserve better! My family deserves better. My
country deserves better!"
So
here we stand. Americans have a choice. A decision.
To
make that choice, you need to know more about me and about where I will lead our
country.
***
My
mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all – the gift of unconditional
love. They cared deeply about who we would BE, and much less about what we would
DO.
Unconditional
love is a gift that Ann and I have tried to pass on to our sons and now to our
grandchildren. All the laws and legislation in the world will never heal this
world like the loving hearts and arms of mothers and fathers. If every child
could drift to sleep feeling wrapped in the love of their family – and God's
love– this world would be a far more gentle and better
place.
***
My
mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday
example. When my mom ran for the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of
the way. I can still hear her saying in her beautiful voice, "Why should women
have any less say than men, about the great decisions facing our
nation?"
I
wish she could have been here at the convention and heard leaders like Governor
Mary Fallin, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Kelly
Ayotte and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
As
Governor of Massachusetts, I chose a woman Lt. Governor, a woman chief of staff,
half of my cabinet and senior officials were women, and in business, I mentored
and supported great women leaders who went on to run great
companies.
***
Like
a lot of families in a new place with no family, we found kinship with a wide
circle of friends through our church. When we were new to the community it was
welcoming and as the years went by, it was a joy to help others who had just
moved to town or just joined our church. We had remarkably vibrant and diverse
congregations of all walks of life and many who were new to America. We prayed
together, our kids played together and we always stood ready to help each other
out in different ways.
And
that's how it is in America. We look to our communities, our faiths, our
families for our joy, our support, in good times and bad. It is both how we live
our lives and why we live our lives. The strength and power and goodness of
America has always been based on the strength and power and goodness of our
communities, our families, our faiths.
***
When
I was 37, I helped start a small company. My partners and I had been working for
a company that was in the business of helping other
businesses.
So
some of us had this idea that if we really believed our advice was helping
companies, we should invest in companies. We should bet on ourselves and on our
advice.
***
That
business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success
story. Some of the companies we helped start are names you know. An office
supply company called Staples – where I'm pleased to see the Obama campaign has
been shopping; The Sports Authority, which became a favorite of my sons. We
started an early childhood learning center called Bright Horizons that First
Lady Michelle Obama rightly praised. At a time when nobody thought we'd ever see
a new steel mill built in America, we took a chance and built one in a corn
field in Indiana. Today Steel Dynamics is one of the largest steel producers in
the United States.
***
But
for too many Americans, these good days are harder to come by. How many days
have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in
America?
Many
of you felt that way on Election Day four years ago. Hope and Change had a
powerful appeal. But tonight I'd ask a simple question: If you
felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn't you feel that
way now that he's President Obama? You know there's something wrong with the
kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had, was the day
you voted for him.
***
Today
the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years
behind us.
To
put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations.
To
forget about what might have been and to look ahead to what can
be.
Now
is the time to restore the Promise of America. Many Americans have given up on
this president but they haven't ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves.
Not on each other. And not on America.
What
is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a
special government commission to tell us what America
needs.
What
America needs is jobs.
Lots
of jobs.
***
To
the majority of Americans who now believe that the future will not be better
than the past, I can guarantee you this: if Barack Obama is re-elected, you will
be right.
I
am running for president to help create a better future. A future where everyone
who wants a job can find one. Where no senior fears for the security of their
retirement. An America where every parent knows that their child will get an
education that leads them to a good job and a bright
horizon.
And
unlike the president, I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs. It has 5
steps.
First,
by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of
our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables.
Second,
we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and
the careers of tomorrow. When it comes to the school your child will attend,
every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a
chance.
Third,
we will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. And when
nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable
consequences.
Fourth,
to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in
America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put
America on track to a balanced budget.
And
fifth, we will champion SMALL businesses, America's engine of job growth. That
means reducing taxes on business, not raising them. It means simplifying and
modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most. And it means that
we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing
Obamacare.
***
President
Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. MY
promise...is to help you and your family.
***
We
will honor America's democratic ideals because a free world is a more peaceful
world. This is the bipartisan foreign policy legacy of Truman, and Reagan. And
under my presidency we will return to it once again.
***
The
America we all know has been a story of the many becoming one, uniting to
preserve liberty, uniting to build the greatest economy in the world, uniting to
save the world from unspeakable darkness.
Everywhere
I go in America, there are monuments that list those who have given their lives
for America. There is no mention of their race, their party affiliation, or what
they did for a living. They lived and died under a single flag, fighting for a
single purpose. They pledged allegiance to the UNITED States of
America.
That
America, that united America, can unleash an economy that will put Americans
back to work, that will once again lead the world with innovation and
productivity, and that will restore every father and mother's confidence that
their children's future is brighter even than the past.
That
America, that united America, will preserve a military that is so strong, no
nation would ever dare to test it.
That
America, that united America, will uphold the constellation of rights that were
endowed by our Creator, and codified in our constitution.
That
united America will care for the poor and the sick, will honor and respect the
elderly, and will give a helping hand to those in need.
That
America is the best within each of us. That America we want for our
children.
If
I am elected President of these United States, I will work with all my energy
and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future. That
future is our destiny. That future is out there. It is waiting for us. Our
children deserve it, our nation depends upon it, the peace and freedom of the
world require it. And with your help we will deliver it. Let us begin that
future together tonight.
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