MITT ROMNEY
DELIVERS REMARKS
IN TAMPA,
FLORIDA
Boston, MA –
Mitt Romney
tonight
delivered
remarks in
Tampa, Florida.
The following
remarks were
prepared for
delivery:
Thank you all.
To the people of
Florida tonight,
thank you for
this great
victory. There
are fewer
candidates than
when the race
began, but the
three gentlemen
left are serious
and able
competitors. And
I congratulate
them on another
hard-fought
contest in this
campaign.
Primary contests
are not easy –
and they’re not
supposed to be.
As this primary
unfolds, our
opponents in the
other party have
been watching.
They like to
comfort
themselves with
the thought that
a competitive
campaign will
leave us divided
and weak.
But I’ve got
some news for
them: A
competitive
primary does not
divide us; it
prepares us. And
when we gather
here in Tampa
seven months
from now for our
convention, ours
will be a united
party with a
winning ticket
for America!
Three years ago
this week, a
newly elected
President Obama
faced the
American people
and said that if
he couldn’t turn
the economy
around in three
years, he’d be
looking at a
one-term
proposition.
We’re here to
collect.
Since then,
we’ve had 35
months of
unemployment
over 8 percent.
Under this
President,
Americans have
seen more job
losses and more
home
foreclosures
than under any
President in
modern history.
In the last ten
days, I met a
father who was
terrified that
this would be
the last night
his family would
sleep in the
only home his
son has ever
known. I’ve met
seniors who
thought these
would be their
best years and
now live day to
day worried
about making
ends meet. I’ve
met Hispanic
entrepreneurs
who thought they
had achieved the
American Dream
and are now
seeing it
disappear.
In his State of
the Union
Address, the
President
actually said,
“Let’s remember
how we got
here.” Don’t
worry, Mr.
President, we
remember exactly
how we got here!
You won the
election!
Leadership is
about taking
responsibility,
not making
excuses. In
another era of
American crisis,
Thomas Paine is
reported to have
said, “Lead,
follow, or get
out of the way.”
Mr. President,
you were elected
to lead, you
chose to follow,
and now it’s
time for you to
get out of the
way!
I stand ready to
lead this Party
and our nation.
As a man who has
spent his life
outside
Washington, I
know what it is
like to start a
business. I know
how
extraordinarily
difficult it is
to build
something from
nothing. I know
how government
kills jobs and,
yes, how it can
help.
My leadership
helped build
businesses from
scratch. My
leadership
helped save the
Olympics from
scandal and give
our athletes the
chance to make
us all proud. My
leadership cut
taxes 19 times
and cast over
800 vetoes. We
balanced every
budget, and we
kept our schools
first among
fifty states. My
leadership will
end the Obama
era and begin a
new era of
American
prosperity!
This campaign is
about more than
replacing a
President. It is
about saving the
soul of America.
President Obama
and I have two
very different
visions of
America.
President Obama
wants to grow
government and
continue to
amass trillion
dollar deficits.
I will not just
slow the growth
of government, I
will cut it. I
will not just
freeze
government’s
share of the
total economy, I
will reduce it.
And, without
raising taxes, I
will finally
balance the
budget.
President
Obama’s view of
capitalism is to
send your money
to his friends’
companies. My
vision for free
enterprise is to
return
entrepreneurship
to the genius
and creativity
of the American
people.
On one of the
most personal
matters of our
lives, our
health care,
President Obama
would turn
decision making
over to
government
bureaucrats. He
forced through
Obamacare; I
will repeal it.
Like his
colleagues in
the faculty
lounge who think
they know
better,
President Obama
demonizes and
denigrates
almost every
sector of our
economy. I will
make America the
most attractive
place in the
world for
entrepreneurs,
for innovators,
and for job
creators. And
unlike the other
people running
for President, I
know how to do
that.
President Obama
orders religious
organizations to
violate their
conscience; I
will defend
religious
liberty and
overturn
regulations that
trample on our
first freedom.
President Obama
believes
America’s role
as leader in the
world is a thing
of the past. He
is intent on
shrinking our
military
capacity at a
time when the
world faces
rising threats.
I will insist on
a military so
powerful no one
would ever think
of challenging
it.
President Obama
has adopted a
strategy of
appeasement and
apology. I will
stand with our
friends and
speak out for
those seeking
freedom.
President Obama
wants to
“fundamentally
transform”
America. We want
to restore
America to the
founding
principles that
made this
country great.
Our plans
protect freedom
and opportunity,
and our
blueprint is the
Constitution of
the United
States.
Together, we
will build an
America where
“hope” is a new
job with a
paycheck, not a
faded word on an
old bumper
sticker.
The path I lay
out is not one
paved with ever
increasing
government
checks and
cradle-to-grave
assurances that
government will
always be the
solution. If
this election is
a bidding war
for who can
promise more
benefits, then
I’m not your
President. You
have that
President
today.
But if you want
to make this
election about
restoring
American
greatness, then
I hope you will
join us.
If you believe
the
disappointments
of the last few
years are a
detour, not our
destiny, then I
am asking for
your vote.
I’m asking each
of you to
remember how
special it is to
be an American.
I want you to
remember what it
was like to be
hopeful and
excited about
the future, not
to dread each
new headline.
I want you to
remember when
you spent more
time dreaming
about where to
send your kids
to college than
wondering how to
make it to the
next paycheck.
I want you to
remember when
you weren’t
afraid to look
at your
retirement
savings or the
price at the
pump.
I want you to
remember when
our White House
reflected the
best of who we
are, not the
worst of what
Europe has
become.
That America is
still out there.
We still believe
in that America.
We still believe
in the America
that is a land
of opportunity
and a beacon of
freedom. We
believe in the
America that
challenges each
of us to be
better and
bigger than
ourselves.
This election,
let’s fight for
the America we
love. We believe
in America.
Thank you. And
God bless
America.
Source:
Mitt Romney For
President
Website |