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1,191
Dear Supporter,
Last night, we did
it. We won the
Republican
nomination. It was a
long, up and down
journey, but we
stuck together,
spoke honestly to
the American people,
and our steadfast
determination has
paid off. You have
my thanks and
undying gratitude
for your unwavering
support.
As we come to the
end of our party's
primary contest, we
begin what will
certainly be a
spirited and
hard-fought campaign
against the
Democratic nominee.
In November,
Americans will have
a clear choice to
make. And I intend
to fight as hard as
I can to make it
very clear that I am
the candidate with
the experience and
leadership to serve
as our commander in
chief from day one.
My friends, I write
to you today because
I know we have a
great challenge
ahead of us.
As president, I
intend to reduce the
size of the federal
government, reduce
your tax burden and
win the war against
Islamic extremists.
My Democratic
opponents will
increase the size of
the federal
government, raise
your taxes and
withdraw our troops
from the front lines
based on an
arbitrary timeline.
I have said before
that this election
will be about big
things, not small
things. And as
president, I will
make the hard but
necessary decisions
to lead our country
in solving our
greatest challenges.
Today, we must unite
as we face either
Hillary Clinton or
Barack Obama in
November.
I thank you for your
support and look
forward to the
campaign that lies
ahead of us.
Sincerely,
John McCain
REMARKS BY JOHN
MCCAIN ON TONIGHT'S
PRIMARY VICTORIES
Tuesday, March 4,
2008
ARLINGTON, VA --
U.S. Senator John
McCain's
presidential
campaign today
released the
following remarks by
John McCain as
prepared for
delivery tonight in
Dallas, Texas:
Thank you. Thank
you, Texas, Ohio,
Vermont and Rhode
Island. I am very
grateful for the
broad support you
have given our
campaign. And I am
very pleased to note
that tonight, my
friends, we have won
enough delegates to
claim with
confidence, humility
and a sense of great
responsibility that
I will be the
Republican nominee
for President of the
United States.
I want to thank all
of you here and all
the Republicans,
Independents, and
independent thinking
Democrats, in all
parts of this great
country, who
supported our
campaign for the
nomination, and have
brought us across
the finish line
first, an
accomplishment that
once seemed to more
than a few doubters
unlikely.
I want to commend
again, my friend,
Governor Mike
Huckabee, and his
supporters, for
their passionate
commitment to their
campaign that
Governor Huckabee so
ably represented.
And I want to thank
all my former rivals
for the nomination
and their supporters
for their steadfast
dedication to
keeping America
free, safe,
prosperous, and
proud.
And, of course, I
want to thank my
family: my wife,
Cindy; my children,
and our dear friends
who have been
throughout this
campaign, and will
remain in the
challenging months
ahead, an unwavering
source of support
and love.
Now, we begin the
most important part
of our campaign: to
make a respectful,
determined and
convincing case to
the American people
that our campaign
and my election as
President, given the
alternatives
presented by our
friends in the other
party, are in the
best interests of
the country we love.
I have never
believed I was
destined be
President. I don't
believe anyone is
pre-destined to lead
America. But I do
believe we are born
with
responsibilities to
the country that has
protected our
God-given rights,
and the
opportunities they
afford us. I did not
grow up with the
expectation that my
country owed me more
than the rights owed
every American. On
the contrary, I owe
my country every
opportunity I have
ever had. I owe her
the meaning that
service to America
has given my life,
and the sense that I
am part of something
greater than myself,
part of a kinship of
ideals that have
always represented
the last, best hope
of mankin d.
I understand the
responsibilities I
incur with this
nomination, and I
give you my word, I
will not evade or
slight a single one.
Our campaign must
be, and will be more
than another tired
debate of false
promises, empty
sound-bites, or
useless arguments
from the past that
address not a single
American's concerns
for their family's
security.
Presidential
candidates are
judged on their
records, their
character and the
whole of their life
experiences. But we
are also expected to
concentrate our
efforts on the
challenges that will
confront America on
our watch and
explain how we
intend to address
them.
America is at war in
two countries, and
involved in a long
and difficult fight
with violent
extremists who
despise us, our
values and modernity
itself. It is of
little use to
Americans for their
candidates to avoid
the many complex
challenges of these
struggles by
re-litigating
decisions of the
past. I will defend
the decision to
destroy Saddam
Hussein's regime as
I criticized the
failed tactics that
were employed for
too long to
establish the
conditions that will
allow us to leave
that country with
our country's
interests secure and
our honor intact.
But Americans know
that the next
President doesn't
get to re-make that
decision. We are in
Iraq and our most
vital security
interests are
clearly involved
there. The next
President must
explain how he or
she intends to bring
that war to the
swiftest possible
conclusion without
exacerbating a
sectarian conflict
that could quickly
descend into
genocide;
destabilizing the
entire Middle East;
enabling our
adversaries in the
region to extend
their influence and
undermine our
security there; and
emboldening
terrorists to attack
us elsewhere with
weapons we dare not
allow them to
possess.
The next President
must encourage the
greater
participation and
cooperation of our
allies in the fight
against al Qaeda and
the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
The next President
must lead an effort
to restructure our
military, our
intelligence, our
diplomacy and all
relevant branches of
government to combat
Islamic extremism,
encourage the vast
majority of
moderates to win the
battle for the soul
of Islam, and meet
the many other
rising challenges in
this changing world.
I will leave it to
my opponent to argue
that we should
abrogate trade
treaties, and
pretend the global
economy will go away
and Americans can
secure our future by
trading and
investing only among
ourselves. We will
campaign in favor of
seizing the
opportunities
presented by the
growth of free
markets throughout
the world, helping
displaced workers
acquire new and
lasting employment
and educating our
children to prepare
them for the new
economic realities
by giving parents
choices about their
children's education
they do not have
now.
I will leave it to
my opponent to claim
that they can keep
companies and jobs
from going overseas
by making it harder
for them to do
business here at
home. We will
campaign to
strengthen job
growth in America by
helping businesses
become more
competitive with
lower taxes and less
regulation.
I will leave it to
my opponent to
propose returning to
the failed, big
government mandates
of the sixties and
seventies to address
problems such as the
lack of health care
insurance for some
Americans. I will
campaign to make
health care more
accessible to more
Americans with
reforms that will
bring down costs in
the health care
industry down
without ruining the
quality of the
world's best medical
care.
And I will campaign
to reduce our
dangerous dependence
on foreign oil with
an energy policy
that encourages
American industry
and technology to
make our country
safer, cleaner and
more prosperous by
leading the world in
the use, development
and discovery of
alternative sources
of energy.
These are some of
the challenges that
confront us. There
are others just as
urgent, and during
this campaign I'll
travel across the
country in cities
and rural areas, in
communities of all
ethnic backgrounds
and income levels,
offering my ideas
and listening to the
concerns and advice
of Americans.
Americans aren't
interested in an
election where they
are just talked to
and not listened to;
an election that
offers platitudes
instead of
principles and
insults instead of
ideas; an election
that results -- no
matter who wins --
in four years of
unkept promises and
a government that is
just a battleground
for the next
election. Their
patience is at an
end for politicians
who value ambition
over principle, and
for partisanship
that is less a
contest of ideas
than an uncivil
brawl over the
spoils of power.
Nothing is
inevitable in
America. We are the
captains of our
fate. We're not a
country that prefers
nostalgia to
optimism; a country
that would rather go
back than forward.
We're the world's
leader, and leaders
don't pine for the
past and dread the
future. We make the
future better than
the past. We don't
hide from history.
We make history.
That, my friends, is
the essence of hope
in America, hope
built on courage,
and faith in the
values and
principles that have
made us great. I
intend to make my
stand on those
principles and chart
a course for our
future greatness,
and trust in the
judgment of the
people I have served
all my life. So
stand up with me, my
friends, stand up
and fight for
America -- for her
strength, her
ideals, and her
future. The contest
begins tonight. It
will have its ups
and downs. But we
will fight every
minute of every day
to make certain we
have a government
that is as capable,
wise, brave and
decent as the great
people we serve.
That is our
responsibility and I
will not let you
down.
Thank you.
###
Source: John
McCain 2008 |
