Friday, February 8, 2008
Romney's Withdrawal Speech
Excerpts of Republican Mitt Romney's speech Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, in which he announced he was suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.
Now, last year _ last year CPAC gave me the send-off I needed. At the time, I was in single digits in the polls, and I was facing household names in the Republican contest. As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for president. That's good, yes.
That's, of course, less than Senator McCain's 4.7 million, but quite a statement, nonetheless.
Eleven states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Thank you to those 11.
Of course, because size does matter, he's doing quite a bit better with the number of delegates he's got.
Now, to all of you, thank you, here, for caring enough about America to show up, to speak up, to stand up for conservative principles.
As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever. We face a new generation of challenges: challenges which threaten our prosperity, our security and our future.
I'm convinced that unless America changes course, we could become the France of the 21st century.
Still a great nation, but not the leader of the world, not the superpower. And to me that's unthinkable.
And finally, let's consider the greatest challenge facing America, and for that matter facing the entire civilized world: the threat of radical, violent jihad.
As you know, in one wing of the world of Islam there's a conviction that all governments should be destroyed and replaced by a religious caliphate. These jihadists will battle any form of democracy because to them democracy is blasphemous, because it says that citizens, not God, shape the law. They find the idea of human equality to be equally offensive. They hate everything we believe about freedom just as we hate everything they believe about radical jihad.
To battle this threat, we've sent the most courageous and brave soldiers in the world.
But their numbers have been depleted by the Clinton years, when troops were reduced by 500,000, when almost 80 ships were retired from our Navy, and when our human intelligence was slashed by 25 percent.
We were told we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend; we didn't get the peace.
In the face of evil and radical jihad, and given the inevitable military ambitions of China, we must act to rebuild our military might, raise military spending to 4 percent of our GDP, purchase the most modern armament, reshape our fighting forces for the asymmetric demands we now face, and give the veterans the care they deserve.
Soon the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it's Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to be able to...
(BOOING)
... if they were to be able to win the presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the Constitution. And economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy, opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.
Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign.
AUDIENCE: Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!
ROMNEY: You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976.
But there is an important difference from 1976. Today we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror: They would retreat, declare defeat.
And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child's play. About this, I have no doubt.
Now, I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know.
But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, and finding and executing Osama bin Laden.
And I agree with him on eliminating al-Qaida and terror worldwide.
Now, if I fight on, in my campaign, all the way to the convention ... I want you to know, I've given this a lot of thought _ I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.
Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
This isn't an easy decision. I hate to lose.
My family, my friends, you, my supporters across the country, you've given a great deal to get me to where I have a shot to becoming president. If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me.
I entered this race _ I entered this race because I love America. And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country.
AUDIENCE: No! No!
ROMNEY: You guys are great.
I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I'll fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next president of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism.
It is the common task of each generation and the burden of liberty to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit, so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.
To this task, accepting this burden, we're all dedicated. And I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope.
America must always remain, as it has always been, the hope of the Earth.
Thank you so very much. I love you. Thank you.
Excerpts of Republican Mitt Romney's speech Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, in which he announced he was suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.
Now, last year _ last year CPAC gave me the send-off I needed. At the time, I was in single digits in the polls, and I was facing household names in the Republican contest. As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for president. That's good, yes.
That's, of course, less than Senator McCain's 4.7 million, but quite a statement, nonetheless.
Eleven states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Thank you to those 11.
Of course, because size does matter, he's doing quite a bit better with the number of delegates he's got.
Now, to all of you, thank you, here, for caring enough about America to show up, to speak up, to stand up for conservative principles.
As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever. We face a new generation of challenges: challenges which threaten our prosperity, our security and our future.
I'm convinced that unless America changes course, we could become the France of the 21st century.
Still a great nation, but not the leader of the world, not the superpower. And to me that's unthinkable.
And finally, let's consider the greatest challenge facing America, and for that matter facing the entire civilized world: the threat of radical, violent jihad.
As you know, in one wing of the world of Islam there's a conviction that all governments should be destroyed and replaced by a religious caliphate. These jihadists will battle any form of democracy because to them democracy is blasphemous, because it says that citizens, not God, shape the law. They find the idea of human equality to be equally offensive. They hate everything we believe about freedom just as we hate everything they believe about radical jihad.
To battle this threat, we've sent the most courageous and brave soldiers in the world.
But their numbers have been depleted by the Clinton years, when troops were reduced by 500,000, when almost 80 ships were retired from our Navy, and when our human intelligence was slashed by 25 percent.
We were told we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend; we didn't get the peace.
In the face of evil and radical jihad, and given the inevitable military ambitions of China, we must act to rebuild our military might, raise military spending to 4 percent of our GDP, purchase the most modern armament, reshape our fighting forces for the asymmetric demands we now face, and give the veterans the care they deserve.
Soon the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it's Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to be able to...
(BOOING)
... if they were to be able to win the presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the Constitution. And economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy, opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.
Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign.
AUDIENCE: Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!
ROMNEY: You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976.
But there is an important difference from 1976. Today we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror: They would retreat, declare defeat.
And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child's play. About this, I have no doubt.
Now, I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know.
But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, and finding and executing Osama bin Laden.
And I agree with him on eliminating al-Qaida and terror worldwide.
Now, if I fight on, in my campaign, all the way to the convention ... I want you to know, I've given this a lot of thought _ I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.
Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
This isn't an easy decision. I hate to lose.
My family, my friends, you, my supporters across the country, you've given a great deal to get me to where I have a shot to becoming president. If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me.
I entered this race _ I entered this race because I love America. And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country.
AUDIENCE: No! No!
ROMNEY: You guys are great.
I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I'll fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next president of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism.
It is the common task of each generation and the burden of liberty to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit, so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.
To this task, accepting this burden, we're all dedicated. And I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope.
America must always remain, as it has always been, the hope of the Earth.
Thank you so very much. I love you. Thank you.
