Mitt Romney addressed a ballroom filled with over 3000 dyed-in-wool, true blue conservatives. Individuals who for whatever reason, have been lukewarm to a Mitt Romney candidacy. Individuals who have almost grown cold after Tuesday's 3-state sweep by rival Rick Santorum. It appears that Conservatives have been listing to the the rival candidates' branding of Mitt as a "Massachusetts Moderate." Question is whether that is accurate or simply political branding.
Today he was given the unique chance to plead his case--to defend his cause--to disprove the naysayers--to calm the concerns of the skeptics--but more importantly, to convince his colleagues that he is grounded in conservative principles. His speech could not have come at a more crucial time.
He spoke of where his conservative values originated--his family, his faith and his life's work. He talked about being raised in a home with conservative values and how his faith has provided the foundation on which, he and his wife Ann have built to raise their five sons. He said, "Those aren't just values I talk about, those are values I live everyday."
Many of his skeptics have been wary of his tenure as a governor of Massachusetts. Mitt Romney effectively demonstrated how his core conservative principles dictated his agenda as Governor.
He said, "When I took office, I was facing a $3 billion budge deficit and an economy in a tailspin. Even with a legislature that was 85% Democrat, I cut taxes 19 times and balanced the budget all four years. I cast over 800 vetoes and cut entire programs. I erased a $3 billion budget shortfall and left office with a $2 billion rainy day fund.
"If there was a program, an agency or a department that needed cutting, we cut it. In fact, a commentator once said that I didn't just go after the sacred cows, I went after the whole herd. And I can't wait to get my hands on Washington."
He reminded them that he knows how to battle for the conservative cause because as a Massachusetts Governor, he was on the front lines in the bluest of states.
He reminded them of times when as a Governor, he had to defend the right to life. Furthermore, he mentioned when he stood up to the state supreme court's ruling to re-define marriage.
He effectively defined how his role in business, as Governor and the also as the Chief Executive of the 2002 Olympic games gave him the experience to understand how tough decisions are made.
He said, "Leadership as a Chief Executive isn't about getting a bill out of a subcommittee or giving a speech--it's about setting clear goes and overcoming constant adversity."
He reminded the group of his fiscal conservative principles when he said, "Today we borrow almost 40 cents on every dollar we spend. That is unconscionable. It's unsustainable. It's reckless. It's immoral. And if I'm President, it will end."
He ended his speech by reinforcing his goals to cut the size of government. To eliminate useless programs. To responsibly reform the failing bankrupt programs, Social Security and Medicaid. To end government funding of Planned Parenthood. He admonished a call to restore conservative principles to our government.
He invited those in attendance to stand with him--shoulder to shoulder--to achieve this great fight.
***
Red Meat. Mitt delivered. The audience was engaged. The audience was loud. The audience rose to their feet on several occasions.
I thought his speech was remarkable. He defended his record. He defended his values. He did it by highlighting actual experiences from his record in business and government. He defended his core principles. By highlighting his record, it is clear that Mitt is not just a man full of political rhetoric--he is a man of principle and conviction. He is a leader. He is a reformer. He is ready.
Many look at him and say that he makes them feel a little uneasy or uncomfortable because he comes across "a little square."
Ann Coulter addressed the CPAC crowd today and said that with Obama, "We've tried hip." She then said, that it is time for something better. She endorsed Mitt Romney and said, "Let's try square."
I was living in Massachusetts during his years as governor. It was remarkable to watch him in action. Against all odds and resistance, Mitt Romney implemented conservative principles into a very liberal bureaucracy.
It is time for conservatives to rally. Time for conservatives to fight for our cause. It is time for conservatives to unite behind the candidate that has demonstrated that he can accomplish all that is necessary to restore America to greatness and prosperity.
It is time to unite behind Mitt Romney.
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(Click "read more" for a full version of Mitt Romney's CPAC Speech)Mitt Romney's CPAC speech:
Thanks, Al, for that warm introduction.
This year, here at CPAC, we’ve got a great crowd. It’s
been a great conference. For that I suppose we should acknowledge President
Obama, the conservative movement’s top recruiter. Turns out, he really is a
great community organizer. Although, I don’t think we were the community he had
in mind.
Today we are poised for a great victory in November. The
pundits and the pollsters tell us we can win this election. But we must tell
the nation why we should win. It is up to us to prove that we are truly ready
to step forward and lead this country. This election is not just about getting
more votes. Defeating Barack Obama is only one step toward our greater goal of
saving America.
Of course we can defeat Barack Obama! That’s the easy
part! Believe me, November 6th will be the easiest day our next President will
face.
This country we love is in jeopardy. It’s more than the
economic statistics we read, it’s the pain we feel in our hearts. For three
years we have suffered through the failures not only of a weak leader, but of a
bankrupt ideology. I am convinced that if we do our job, if we lead with
conviction and integrity, that history will record the Obama Presidency as the
last gasp of liberalism’s great failure and a turning point for a new
conservative era.
But it’s not enough to show how they have failed. We
must prove we deserve to lead. I am here today to ask you to stand with me
shoulder to shoulder as we go forward to fight for America.
As we step forward together, now is the time to reaffirm
what it means to be a conservative and why this must be our greatest hour.
America is like no other country in history. At the very heart of our American
conservatism is the conviction that the principles embodied in the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence are uniquely powerful, foundational, and
defining. Some see the hand of Providence in their authorship. Others credit
the brilliance of the Founders. Many of us see both. But conservatives all
agree that departing from these founding principles is a departure from the
greatness of America– from our mission, from our freedom, from our prosperity,
and from our purpose.
I know this President will never get it, but we
conservatives aren’t just proud to cling to our guns and to our religion. We
are also proud to cling to our Constitution!
The wisdom of our founding documents is that they see
the nation’s prosperity not as a product of government, but as the product of
individual citizens, each pursuing happiness. This is key to the success of the
American experiment. America does not just exist for the people, it has been
made exceptional by the people.
A free people, pursuing their own dreams and achieving
success in their own ways – that is what has propelled America and made us the
most prosperous and powerful nation in the world. Many politicians on both
sides of the aisle have forgotten that – if they ever really understood it at
all. They have fallen under the spell of Washington.
Politicians are routinely elected on promises to change
Washington, but when they come here, they become creatures of Washington. They
begin to see government as the answer to every challenge and the solution for
every problem. At every turn, they try to substitute the heavy hand of the
federal government for free citizens and free enterprise. They think government
knows better – and can do better – than a free people exercising their free
will. And this President is the worst offender. Barack Obama is the poster
child for the arrogance of government.
This election really is a battle for the soul of
America. And it’s going to come down to a choice between whether we want to be
a nation of and by Washington … or a nation of and by a free people.
As conservatives, we are united by a set of core
commitments. But not everyone has taken the same path to get here. There are
college students at this conference who are reading Burke and Hayek. When I was
your age, you could have told me they were infielders for the Detroit Tigers.
Some of you work in think tanks or follow the writings of prominent leaders.
Some of you have worked in government or labored on the front lines of
conservative causes. I salute you all.
My path to conservatism came from my family, my faith,
and my life’s work.
I was raised in a home shaped by and rooted in
conservative values. My mother’s father – my grandfather – came to America from
England. As a teenager, he was alone in a new country, but he risked it all for
a chance at religious liberty and economic opportunity.
You’ve probably heard how proud I am of my father. He
was born to American parents living in Mexico. When he was five, they moved
back to the United States. His dad was a builder who went bust more than once.
My Dad grew up poor and never had a chance to finish his college degree. But he
believed in a country where the circumstances of one’s birth were not a barrier
to achievement. And with hard work, he became the head of a car company and the
Governor of the great state of Michigan.
The values that allowed my parents to achieve their
dreams are the same values they instilled in my siblings and me. Those aren’t
values I just talk about; they are values that I live every day. My 42-year
marriage to my wife, Ann; the life we’ve built with our five sons; and the
faith that sustains us – these conservative constants have shaped my life.
In business, if you’re not fiscally conservative, you’re
bankrupt. I spent 25 years balancing budgets, eliminating waste, and keeping as
far away from government as was humanly possible. I did things conservatism is
designed for – I started new businesses and turned around broken ones. And I am
not ashamed to say that I was very successful at it.
I know conservatism because I have lived conservatism.
As governor of Massachusetts, I had the unique
experience of defending our conservative principles in the most liberal state
in our union.
When I took office, I was facing a $3 billion budget
deficit and an economy in a tailspin.
Even with a legislature that was 85% Democrat, I cut
taxes 19 times and balanced the budget all four years. I cast over 800 vetoes
and cut entire programs. I erased a $3 billion budget shortfall and left office
with a $2 billion rainy day fund. If there was a program, an agency, or a
department that needed cutting, we cut it. In fact, a commentator once said
that I didn’t just go after the sacred cows, I went after the whole herd. And I
can’t wait to get my hands on Washington.
During my tenure, our conservative values also came
under attack. Less than a year after I took office, the state’s supreme court
inexplicably found a right to same-sex marriage in our constitution. I pushed
for a stay of the decision, fought for a marriage amendment to our constitution,
and successfully prohibited out-of-state couples from coming to our state to
get married and then go home. On my watch, we fought hard and prevented
Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage. When I am President,
I will preserve the Defense of Marriage Act and I will fight for a federal
amendment defining marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman.
During my time in office, I stood up to those who wanted
to call into question the very definition of life. I vetoed a bill that would
have opened the door to cloning and embryo farming. I vetoed a bill that would
have allowed young girls to gain access to abortion-inducing drugs. I fought
for abstinence education in our public schools. And I defended the Catholic
Church’s right to serve their community in ways that were consistent with their
conscience through adoption programs that placed children in a home with a mom
and a dad.
I was a conservative governor. I fought against long
odds in a deep blue state. I understand the battles that we, as conservatives,
must fight because I have been on the front lines.
Here at CPAC, I know you understand this. This gathering
has always welcomed me. And you have consistently supported me – not because of
my rhetoric, but because of my record.
Over the course of this conference, several candidates
either have been – or will come – before you seeking to lead our country out of
these troubled times. What distinguishes us from one another is not our
opposition to President Obama or even our support for conservative convictions.
What distinguishes us is the nature of our experience, our perspective, and our
judgment.
This election will ultimately be about two very
different visions for America. But our more immediate choice will be between
candidates from two very different backgrounds.
I spent 25 years in business, starting at the bottom and
going on to help create a great American success story. I led an Olympics out
of the shadows of scandal and turned around a state crying out for leadership.
In each of these endeavors, I worked with many talented
people, but I was the Chief Executive. Success or failure lay on my shoulders.
When tough decisions had to be made, I made them.
Leadership as a Chief Executive isn’t about getting a
bill out of subcommittee or giving a speech – it’s about setting clear goals
and overcoming constant adversity. It’s about sharing credit when times are
good and taking responsibility for failure.
I am the only candidate in this race, Republican or
Democrat, who has never worked a day in Washington. I don’t have old scores to
settle or decades of cloakroom deals to defend.
As conservatives, you’ve learned to be skeptical of this
city and its politicians and right you are.
My wife and I raised five boys and one of the lessons
you learn is that when you hear an excuse that just doesn’t make sense… it’s
because it doesn’t make sense. And let me tell you, any politician who tries to
convince you that they hated Washington so much that they just couldn’t leave,
well, that’s the same politician who will try to sell you a Bridge to Nowhere.
This is a moment when our country needs serious change
and real reform. So, let me tell you exactly what kind of President I will be.
To get America back on track and get Americans back to
work, we need bold and sweeping reforms. These are not managerial issues of
changing this department or that agency. To change Washington, we must change
the relationship between government and citizen. These are moral choices that
will define us for generations to come.
Today we borrow almost forty cents of every dollar we
spend. That is unconscionable. It’s unsustainable. It’s reckless. It’s immoral.
And, if I am President, it will end.
I will approach every spending decision by asking a few
important questions: Can we afford it? And, if not, is it worth borrowing money
from China to pay for it?
As President, 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 or sacrificing
America’s military superiority, I will finally balance the budget.
And that will start with the easiest cut of all – I will
eliminate Obamacare.
I will dramatically reduce the size of the federal
workforce. And, for the first time ever, we will tie the compensation and
benefits of federal workers to those in the private sector. The principle here
is simple: public servants should not get a better deal than the citizens they
serve.
But cutting spending and bureaucracy alone won’t be
enough. In their current form, Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable.
And we cannot afford to avoid our entitlement challenges any longer.
I am the only candidate for President who has offered a
sweeping, specific plan to save Social Security and reform Medicare. There are
those who say you can’t talk straight to the American people on these key
issues and still win an election. I say we can, we must, and I will!
These are sensible and critical reforms. Under my plan,
no one at or near the retirement age will see any changes. And tax hikes are
off the table.
We will slowly and gradually raise the retirement age
for Social Security – and, we will slow the growth in benefits for our nation’s
higher-income retirees.
When it comes to Medicare, tomorrow’s seniors should
have the freedom to choose between traditional Medicare and a range of private
plans. If these future seniors choose a more expensive plan, they would bear
the additional cost.
I know this President and his liberal allies will attack
me for leading where he has failed. So be it. I will stand and fight – and we
will win.
He will attack us with the usual fear tactics, but we
will remind Americans that during this President’s term we have seen record
high job losses and record home foreclosures. We will not be lectured to on
values by the man whose ineptitude and failure has created so much unnecessary
pain for our fellow Americans.
Ours will not be the easy course. But it will be the
right course. And I am confident that Americans are yearning for a President to
do what is needed, not what is expedient.
And let me be clear: Mine will be a pro-life presidency.
On day one, I will reinstate the Mexico City policy.
I will cut off funding for the United Nations Population
Fund, which supports China’s barbaric One Child Policy.
I will ensure that organizations like Planned Parenthood
get no federal support.
And I will reverse every single Obama regulation that
attacks our religious liberty and threatens innocent life.
The Presidency is more than a public office; it is a
sacred trust. As President, I will honor that trust by assuring that America
remains the greatest military power on the face of the earth. This is very
simple: If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not
your President. You have that President today.
This election is a defining moment for our generation
and for the conservative movement. Make no mistake – we have an opportunity for
Greatness but with that opportunity comes defining responsibility. We cannot
use this election to refight past battles or reward our friends. I know that
the fundamental change this moment demands will take fresh, bold conservative
leadership with real world solutions based on real world experience.
I will come to Washington, and, with your help and
guidance and prayers, I will change Washington. And then I will leave
Washington and go back to the life and family I love.
I believe this is a moment that demands we return to our
basic values and first principals. This is our moment. This is why we are
conservatives. The task before us now is to reaffirm the convictions that unite
us and go forward shoulder to shoulder to secure the victory America deserves.
Thank you and God bless.
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