My fellow Democrats, and my favorite Democrat.<\/p>\n
Jilly, I want you to know that Beau, Hunt, Ashley, and I are so proud of you. We admire the way you treat every single student who walks into your classroom. You not only teach them. You give them confidence. And the passion you bring to easing the burden on the families of our warriors. They know you understand what they\u2019re going through. It makes a difference. And I\u2019m grateful. So grateful that you said Yes on that fifth try.<\/p>\n
And Beau, thank you for placing my name in nomination to be Vice President of the United States. I accept.<\/p>\n
My fellow Americans, four years ago, a battered nation turned away from the failed policies of the past\u2014and turned to a leader\u2014who they knew, could lift our nation out of crisis. Our journey isn\u2019t finished. We still have more to do. But today, I say to you, my fellow citizens: In the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetimes\u2013 this nation proved itself. We\u2019re as worthy as any generation that has gone before us. The same grit, the same determination, the same courage, that has always defined what it\u2019s meant to be an American\u2014is in you.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re on a mission to move this nation forward\u2014from doubt and downturn, to promise and prosperity. A mission we will continue and a mission we will complete.<\/p>\n
Folks, tonight, I want to tell you about Barack Obama. The Barack Obama I\u2019ve come to know. I want to show you the character of a leader\u2014who had what it took, when the American people stood at the brink of a new Depression. A leader who has what it takes to lead us over the next four years\u2013to a future as great as our people.<\/p>\n
I want to take you inside the White House to see the President, as I see him every day. Because I don\u2019t see him in sound bites. I walk down the hall, 30 steps to the Oval Office, and I see him in action.<\/p>\n
Four years ago, middle class incomes were already falling. Then the bottom fell out. The financial crisis hit. You remember the headlines: \u201cMarkets Plummet Worldwide\u201d, \u201cHighest Job Losses in 60 Years\u201d, and \u201cEconomy on the Brink\u201d<\/p>\n
From the moment President Obama sat behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, he knew he had to restore the confidence not only of the nation\u2013 but the whole world. He knew, that one false move could bring a run on the banks, or a credit collapse, that could throw millions out of work. America and the world needed a strong president with a steady hand, with the judgment and vision to see us through.<\/p>\n
Day after day, night after night, I sat beside him, as he made one gutsy decision after another\u2013to stop the slide and reverse it. I watched him stand up to intense pressure and stare down choices of enormous consequence. Most of all, I saw what drove him: His profound concern for the American people.<\/p>\n
He knew, that no matter how tough the decisions he had to make in the Oval Office were, families all over America had to make decisions every bit as tough for them\u2014as they sat around their kitchen tables. Barack and I have been through a lot together. And we\u2019ve learned a lot about each other. I learned of the enormity of his heart. And he learned of the depth of my loyalty. And there was another thing that bound us. We both had a pretty good idea what these families were going through\u2013in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles.<\/p>\n
Barack had to sit at the end of his mom\u2019s hospital bed and watch her fight cancer and fight her insurance companies at the same time. I was a kid, but I can remember the day that my dad sat at the end of my bed, and said, things are going to be tough for a while. I have to go to Delaware to get a new job. But it\u2019s going to be better for us. The rest of my life, my dad never failed to remind me\u2013that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It\u2019s about dignity. It\u2019s about respect. It\u2019s about being able to look your children in the eye\u2014and say honey, it\u2019s going to be okay, and believe it was going to be okay. When Barack and I were growing up, there was an implicit understanding. If you took responsibility, you\u2019d get a fair shot at a better deal. The values behind that deal\u2013were the values that shaped us both. And today, they are Barack\u2019s guiding star.<\/p>\n
Folks, I\u2019ve watched him. He never wavers. He steps up. He asks the same thing over and over again: How is this going to work for ordinary families? Will it help them? And because of the decisions he\u2019s made, and the strength the American people have demonstrated every day, America has turned the corner. After the worst job loss since the Great Depression, we\u2019ve created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months.<\/p>\n
President Obama and Governor Romney are both loving husbands and devoted fathers. But they bring vastly different values and visions to the job. Tonight I\u2019d like to focus on two crises\u2013that show the character of the leadership each man will bring to the job. The first is the rescue of the automobile industry.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you about how Barack saved more than 1 million American jobs. In our first days in office, General Motors and Chrysler were on the verge of liquidation. If the President didn\u2019t act immediately, there wouldn\u2019t be an industry left to save.<\/p>\n
We listened to Senators, Congressmen, outside advisors, even some of our own advisors say\u2013we shouldn\u2019t step in, the risks were too high, the outcome too uncertain. The President patiently listened. But he didn\u2019t see it their way. He understood something they didn\u2019t. He understood that this wasn\u2019t just about cars. It was about the Americans who built those cars and the America they built.<\/p>\n
In those meetings, I often thought about my dad. My dad was an automobile man. He would have been one of those guys\u2014all the way down the line\u2014not in the factory\u2014not along the supply chain\u2014but one of those guys selling American cars to the American people. I thought about what this crisis would have meant for the mechanics, the secretaries, the sales people who he managed. And I know for certain, that if my dad were here today, he would be fighting for this President, who fought to save all those jobs, his job, and the jobs of all the people he cared about. He would respect Barack Obama for having the guts to stand up for the automobile industry, when others walked away.<\/p>\n
When I look back now on the President\u2019s decision, I also think of another son of an automobile man\u2013Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney grew up in Detroit. His father ran American Motors. Yet he was willing to let Detroit go bankrupt. It\u2019s not that he\u2019s a bad guy. I\u2019m sure he grew up loving cars as much as I did. I just don\u2019t think he understood\u2014I just don\u2019t think he understood what saving the automobile industry meant-to all of America. I think he saw it the Bain way. Balance sheets. Write-offs.<\/p>\n
Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the highest profit. But it\u2019s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.<\/p>\n
When things hung in the balance, the President understood it was about a lot more than the automobile industry. It was about restoring America\u2019s pride. He knew what it would mean to leave 1 million people without hope or work if we didn\u2019t act. He knew the message it would have sent to the rest of the world if the United States of America gave up on the industry that helped put America on the map. Conviction. Resolve.<\/p>\n
Barack Obama. This President has shown that same resolve, that same steady hand, in his role as Commander in Chief. Which brings me to the second crisis.<\/p>\n
In 2008, Barack Obama made a promise to the American people. He said, \u201cIf we have Osama bin Laden in our sights, we will take him out. That has to be our biggest national security priority.\u201d Barack understood that the search for bin Laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield. It was about righting an unspeakable wrong, healing a nearly unbearable wound in America\u2019s heart. He also knew the message we had to send to terrorists around the world\u2014if you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the ends of the earth. Most of all, the President had faith in our special forces\u2013the finest warriors the world has ever known.<\/p>\n
We sat for days in the Situation Room. He listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. And he asked the tough questions. But when Admiral McRaven looked him in the eye and said\u2013 \u201cSir, we can get this done,\u201d I knew at that moment Barack had made his decision. His response was decisive. He said do it. And justice was done.<\/p>\n
But Governor Romney didn\u2019t see things that way. When he was asked about bin Laden in 2007, he said, and I quote, \u201cit\u2019s not worth moving heaven and earth, and spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was wrong. If you understood that America\u2019s heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the President did. And you too would have moved heaven and earth\u2013to hunt down bin Laden, and bring him to justice.<\/p>\n
Four years ago, when my mom was still with us, sitting in the stadium in Denver, I quoted one of her favorite expressions. She used to say, Joey, bravery resides in every heart, and the time will come, when it must be summoned.<\/p>\n
Ladies and Gentlemen, I\u2019m here to tell you, bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama. And time and time again, I witnessed him summon it. This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and steel in his spine. And because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made\u2013and because of the grit and determination of American workers\u2013and the unparalled bravery of our special forces\u2013we can now proudly say\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Osama Bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.<\/p>\n
Folks, we know we have more work to do. We know we\u2019re not there yet. But not a day has gone by, in the last four years when I haven\u2019t been grateful that Barack Obama is our President. Because he has always had the courage to make the tough calls.<\/p>\n
Speaking of tough calls, last week at their convention, our opponents pledged that they too had the courage to make tough calls. But in case you didn\u2019t notice, they didn\u2019t have the courage to tell you what calls they would make. They talked about how much they cared about Medicare. How much they wanted to preserve it. That\u2019s what they told you.<\/p>\n
But what they didn\u2019t tell you, is that their plan would immediately cut benefits to more than 30 million seniors already on Medicare. What they didn\u2019t tell you is what they\u2019re proposing would cause Medicare to go bankrupt by 2016. And what they really didn\u2019t tell you is, they\u2019re not for preserving Medicare. They\u2019re for a whole new plan. They\u2019re for Vouchercare. That\u2019s not courage. That\u2019s not even truthful.<\/p>\n
In Tampa, they talked with great urgency about the national debt. The need to act, to act now. But not once, not once, did they tell you they\u2019ve rejected every plan put forward by us\u2013by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles Commission\u2014by other respected outside groups\u2014to reduce our national debt if it contained even one dollar\u2014one cent\u2014in new taxes for millionaires. That\u2019s not courage. And that\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s just say it straight: The two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years have fundamentally different visions, and a completely different value set.<\/p>\n
Governor Romney believes that in the global economy, it doesn\u2019t much matter where American companies put their money or where they create jobs. As a matter of fact, he has a new tax proposal \u2014 the territorial tax \u2014 that experts say will create 800,000 jobs, all of them overseas.<\/p>\n
I found it fascinating last week\u2013when Governor Romney said, that as President, he\u2019d take a jobs tour. Well with all his support for outsourcing, it\u2019s going to have to be a foreign trip. Look, President Obama knows that creating jobs in America\u2013keeping jobs in America\u2013and bringing jobs back to America\u2013is what being President is all about. That\u2019s the President\u2019s job.<\/p>\n
Governor Romney believes that it\u2019s okay to raise taxes on the middle class by $2,000 in order to pay for over a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the very wealthy. President Obama knows that there is nothing decent or fair about asking more of those with less\u2013and less\u2013of those with more.<\/p>\n
Governor Romney believes that kids-the kids we call DREAMers\u2014those immigrant children who were brought to America at a very young age, through no fault of their own\u2014he thinks they\u2019re a drag on America.<\/p>\n
President Obama believes that even though these DREAMERs\u2014these kids\u2014didn\u2019t choose to come to America-they\u2019ve chosen to do right by America and we should do right by them. Governor Romney looks at the notion of equal pay for equal work in terms of a company\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n
President Obama knows\u2013that making sure our daughters are paid the same as our sons for the same job must be every father\u2019s bottom line. But I must tell you\u2013one thing that perplexed me the most at their convention was this idea of a culture of dependency. They seem to think you create a culture of dependency when you provide a bright, qualified child from a working family a loan to get to college, or when you provide job training in a new industry, for a dad who lost his job, because it was outsourced.<\/p>\n
Folks, that\u2019s not how we look at it. Americans have never looked at it that way. These men and women aren\u2019t looking for a handout. They\u2019re just looking for a chance to acquire the tools and the skills to provide for their families\u2014so they can hold their heads high and lead independent lives with dignity. I told you the choice is stark. Two different visions. Two different value sets. And at its core, the difference is, we have incredible faith in the decency, and the hard work of the American people. And we know what has made this country great\u2013its people.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned at the outset folks\u2013four years ago, Americans we were hit hard. You saw your retirement accounts drained, the equity in your homes vanish, and your jobs lost or on the line. But you did what Americans have always done. You didn\u2019t lose faith. You fought back. You didn\u2019t give up. You got up. You\u2019re the ones bringing America back. You\u2019re the reason why we\u2019re still better positioned\u2013 than any country in the world\u2013to lead the 21st century.<\/p>\n
You never quit on America. And you deserve a President who will never quit on you. And one more thing that our opponents are dead wrong about: America is NOT in decline.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got news for Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan, it has never, never, ever, been a good bet to bet against the American people.<\/p>\n
My fellow Americans, America is coming back and we\u2019re not going back! And we have no intention of downsizing the American Dream.<\/p>\n
In a moment you\u2019re going to hear from a man, whose whole life is a testament to the power of that dream. And whose Presidency is the best hope to secure that dream, for our children.<\/p>\n
We see a future where everyone rich or poor does their part and has a part.<\/p>\n
A future where we depend more on clean energy from home and less on oil from abroad.<\/p>\n
A future where we\u2019re #1 in the world again in college graduation.<\/p>\n
A future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector.<\/p>\n
And a future where women control their own choices, health, and destiny.<\/p>\n
A future where no one\u2014no one\u2014is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We see a future where America leads not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. Where we bring our troops home from Afghanistan, just as we brought them home from Iraq.<\/p>\n
And a future where we fulfill the only truly, sacred obligation we have as a nation\u2013to equip those we send to war and care for them when they come home from war.<\/p>\n
Where we acknowledge the incredible debt we owe to the families of the 6,473 fallen angels and the 49,746 wounded. Thousands, critically wounded.<\/p>\n
We must never forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and our prayers.<\/p>\n
My fellow Americans, we now find ourselves at the hinge of history. And the direction we turn is in your hands. It has been an honor to serve you, and to serve with a President who has always stood up for you.<\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve said, I\u2019ve seen him tested. I know his strength, his command, his faith.<\/p>\n
I also know, the incredible confidence he has in all of you. I know this man. Yes, the work of recovery is not yet complete, but we are on our way.<\/p>\n
The journey of hope is not yet finished, but we are on our way. The cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. So I say to you tonight, with absolute confidence,<\/p>\n
America\u2019s best days are ahead of us, and, yes, we are on our way.<\/p>\n
In the light of that horizon, for the values that define us, for the ideas that inspire us, there is only one choice.<\/p>\n
The choice is to move forward, boldly forward. Finish the job we started and re-elect President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
God bless you and may God protect our troops<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My fellow Democrats, and my favorite Democrat. Jilly, I want you to know that Beau, Hunt, Ashley, and I are so proud of you. We admire the way you treat every single student who walks into your classroom. You not only teach them. You give them confidence. And the passion you bring to easing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n