IMPACT | RNC Stories

GOP paints a nation on brink, Dems see rebound

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:33:00 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. - Listening to Republicans, a vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is imperative to save the nation.

"The republic of Washington and Jefferson is now in danger of becoming the democracy of debt and despair," Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told delegates at the GOP convention delegates this past week. "Our great nation is coming apart at the seams."

He was one of many Republican speakers who tried to tap into the public's unease about the country's future.

In just days, Democrats will present a starkly different vision at their three-day convention in Charlotte, N.C., sketching out a portrait of a nation on the rebound after the worst financial crisis since the Depression. They will try to play a consistent theme in America's history _ optimism.

As Republicans convened in Tampa, President Barack Obama gave a preview of his pitch, telling a crowd in Charlottesville, Va., "We knew that solving our biggest challenges would take more than one year, or one term, or one president. We know we've still got a lot of work to do, but we are determined to get it done. We are determined to finish the job."

The November election offers the political parties' sharply different visions of the state of America, as well as of the government's role and reach. Republicans envision a smaller government, with fewer social safety net programs, increased defense spending, less regulations and additional tax cuts. Democrats see a government able to lift those who need help and a nation where the wealthier pay more of their share.

In the 10 weeks to the vote, the campaigns will present their competing views of the United States, a country plunged into the darkness of joblessness and debt versus one emerging into the light of recovery. Which vision stays with the electorate on Nov. 6 will determine whether Obama wins a second term or Romney captures the presidency.

"To the majority of Americans who now believe that the future will not be better than the past, I can guarantee you this: If Barack Obama is re-elected, you will be right," Romney told the convention.

Obama, in his Virginia speech last week, pleaded for more time.

"We've got more jobs to create and more good schools to build," he said. "We've got more homegrown energy to generate. We've got more troops to bring home. We've got more young people to send to college. We've got more doors of opportunity to open to everybody who is willing to work hard and walk through them. And it all depends on you."

Polling suggests the public sees little reason for optimism. Associated Press-GfK polls have found the share of the public who think the nation is headed in the right direction has been below 40 percent for more than a year, and has been below half for Obama's entire presidency. AP polling has not found a majority saying the nation is moving in the right direction since 2003.

Republicans determined to oust Obama made it personal and dramatic during three days of speeches at their convention, assailing the Democrat's leadership as a failure while using apocalyptic terms to describe a nation teetering on the financial precipice.

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and onetime presidential candidate, said the clock is ticking. "Our great republic is almost out of time," he said.

The GOP pointed to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, tens of millions out of work, a sluggish economic recovery and a growing debt as the nation spends more than it has. This image of doom and gloom, bolstered by financial numbers, is the GOP's best-case argument that change is necessary in November.

"America is suffering through an economic calamity of truly historic dimensions," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said voters should be able to tell their children and grandchildren that "we helped elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to save America."

The images were bold at the Republican convention of the present and future.

Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, described college graduates, jobless and forced to return home, staring at the faded Obama posters in their bedrooms.

"None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers _ a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us," said the Wisconsin congressman.

Starting Tuesday in Charlotte, Democrats will argue that Obama inherited a financial crisis that was the product of eight years of Republican George W. Bush.

Count on Obama's party faithful to emphasize the following: The housing market has shown signs of life after a deep downturn, retail spending had its best performance since March and the Dow Jones industrial average stands above 13,000, good news for those checking their quarterly statements on their retirement accounts.

In remarks last week, Obama described a more promising outlook for the next few years, thanks to his health care overhaul and an end to the Iraq war.

The president said 7 million young people can remain on their parents' health insurance due to his overhaul law that Romney wants to repeal while seniors will save money on prescription drugs.

He acknowledged that Republicans would paint a dire picture of the nation.

"They will tell you how bad things are over and over again, and they'll helpfully add that it's all Obama's fault," the president said.

Romney Surprises and Pleases Conservatives; Rejects Pressure to Run to the Center

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 18:08:00 GMT

MANASSAS, Va., Aug 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement regarding Mitt Romney's nomination for president:

"The day before Paul Ryan was announced as Mitt Romney's running mate, many conservatives still wondered if Romney was a Republican they could work for and support, not just vote for.

"In the aftermath of the choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate, the adoption of the 'best yet' Republican platform for conservatives, and the emergence of the private Mitt Romney as a man of faith and conservative values, those doubts have been largely dispelled.

"Let's be clear: Romney hasn't changed and neither have we.

"However, as the dust has settled and the bruises of the primary season have begun to heal, conservatives have been able to make a more measured assessment of Governor Romney's character and policy priorities and have begun to warm to what has emerged.

"What we see is a candidate who approaches problems as the businessman he is, and has always been, but who has heard the conservative grassroots of the Party and embraced much of the conservative agenda as his own.

"The issues Romney will run on this fall and that were put front and center in his acceptance speech--pro-growth economic policies, respect for the federal system, shrinking the size and intrusiveness of the federal government, and balancing the budget, as well as his embrace of the right-to-life and support for the traditional family--are exactly the issues conservatives were demanding the Republican nominee stand for at the beginning of the primary season, when it was unclear who the Republican nominee would be.

"And the choice of pro-life, fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate gives conservatives a bit more confidence that a Mitt Romney administration will deliver on that agenda.

"Governor Romney's choice of Congressman Paul Ryan and his readiness to move to the right to run as a conservative has energized the grassroots conservatives who are the Republican Party. Without their work in the precincts knocking on doors, telephoning, and doing all the other little things necessary to make a campaign go, no Republican can win.

"Romney's decision to reject the usual establishment media calls to 'run to the center' and instead move to the right is in sharp contrast to establishment Republicans such as John McCain's losing campaign of four years ago, 1996 when Bob Dole led the ticket to defeat, and 1992 when George H.W. Bush garnered just 37.4% of the popular vote.

"Those content-free establishment campaigns generated little conservative enthusiasm, hurt candidates down the ballot, and cost Republicans seats in Congress and in state houses and court houses across the country.

"If Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stick to the agenda they've outlined since Ryan emerged as Romney's running mate, that won't be a problem this election. There will be a clear conservative contrast and choice between the Romney--Ryan ticket and Obama and the liberal Democrats.

"The Romney--Ryan ticket is not, however, without its challenges. Romney's ham-handed staff seems to go out of its way to step on conservative toes and to keep conservatives at arms length, but so far there's no evidence that is how the Governor himself wants it.

"Romney was not the first choice or second choice of most conservatives, but at a time when jobs and the economy are our most pressing issues, a businessman who has established an undeniable record of achievement and excellence in that realm, and who lives according to the conservative principles of faith and family, just may be the right candidate for the times, and a winning conservative contrast with the frightening economic and social radicalism of Barack Obama and the Democrats."

SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com

RNC Campaign Update

Romney/Ryan Campaign Update — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:08:00 GMT

Good Morning,

Last night, Mitt Romney formally accepted the Republican nomination for President and delivered his first speech in the general election as the Republican candidate. In his prepared remarks, Gov. Romney expressed his firm belief that America can overcome the great challenges that face our nation and reaffirmed the fundamental values that make Americans strong during difficult times:

Gov. Romney: “[T]hat’s how it is in America. We look to our communities, our faiths, our families for our joy, our support, in good times and bad. It is both how we live our lives and why we live our lives. The strength and power and goodness of America has always been based on the strength and power and goodness of our communities, our families, our faiths.”

He also emphasized the consistent focus of his presidency - getting Americans back to work:

Gov. Romney: “Today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us. To put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations. To forget about what might have been and to look ahead to what can be. Now is the time to restore the Promise of America. Many Americans have given up on this president but they haven’t ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves. Not on each other. And not on America. What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. Lots of jobs.”

Gov. Romney’s remarks discussing his vision for what America’s future could be under his leadership come at a time when Americans are desperate for change. As the unemployment rate is rising in half of U.S. cities and we continue to see asset values go down and costs go up, Americans want to see a candidate with the knowledge and experience necessary to reverse the failed policies that resulted in the Obama economy.

And earlier this morning, Ann Romney appeared on CBS’ “This Morning” and discussed how last night’s programming at the Republican National Convention shared the side of Mitt Romney that she cherishes.

Ann Romney: “There’s story after story after story of those circumstances and events that happened in our life that people do not know about, and I think that's when I talked in my speech about how Mitt does not do these things for a political talking point … But I was so glad that other people spoke up and talked about those things that Mitt has done in his life. And that’s what I wanted people to see is that other side of him.”

Gov. Romney will join Governor Jindal in Louisiana. He will meet with first responders, thank them for their work and see areas impacted by the storm in LaFitte, LA.

Finally, in case you missed it yesterday, a must-read from the Wall Street Journal: “The Janesville President.” And as we head into the week of the Democratic National Convention, Associated Press notes, “Democrats encounter bumps on the road to Charlotte.”

Sen. Marco Rubio Remarks

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:23:00 GMT

The Hon. Marco Rubio

U.S. Senator, Florida

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 30, 2012

In 1980, I watched my first Republican convention with my grandfather.

He was born to a farming family in rural Cuba. Childhood polio left him permanently disabled.

Because he couldn't work the farm, his family sent him to school, and he became the only one in the family who could read.

As a boy, I would sit on our porch and listen to his stories about history, politics and baseball while he puffed on one of his three daily Padron cigars.

I don't recall everything we talked about, but the one thing I remember, is the one thing he wanted me to never forget. The dreams he had when he was young became impossible to achieve.

But there was no limit to how far I could go, because I was an American.

For those of us who were born and raised in this country, it's easy to forget how special America is. But my grandfather understood how different America is from the rest of the world, because he knew what life was like outside America.

Tonight, you'll hear from another man who understands what makes America exceptional.

Mitt Romney knows America's prosperity didn't happen because our government simply spent more. It happened because our people used their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who then invest or spend their money in the economy, helping others start a business and create jobs.

Mitt Romney's success in business is well known. But he's more than that.

He's a devoted husband, father and grandfather. A generous member of his community and church.

Everywhere he's been, he's volunteered his time and talent to make things better for those around him.

We are blessed that soon, he will be the president of the United States.

Our problem with President Obama isn't that he's a bad person. By all accounts, he too is a good husband, and a good father -- and thanks to lots of practice, a pretty good golfer.

Our problem is he's a bad president.

The new slogan for the president's campaign is "Forward."

A government that spends $1 trillion more than it takes in.

An $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs.

A government intervention into health care paid for with higher taxes and cuts to Medicare.

Scores of new rules and regulations.

These ideas don't move us "Forward," they take us "Backwards."

These are tired and old big government ideas. Ideas that people come to America to get away from. Ideas that threaten to make America more like the rest of the world, instead of helping the world become more like America.

Under Barack Obama, the only "Change" is that "Hope" has been hard to find.

Now millions of Americans are insecure about their future. But instead of inspiring us by reminding us of what makes us special, he divides us against each other.

He tells Americans they're worse off because others are better off. That people got rich by making others poor.

Hope and Change has become Divide and Conquer.

No matter how you feel about President Obama, this election is about your future, not his. And it's not simply a choice between a Democrat and a Republican.

It's a choice about what kind of country we want America to be.

As we prepare to make this choice, we should remember what made us special. For most of history almost everyone was poor. Power and wealth belonged to only a few.

Your rights were whatever your rulers allowed you to have. Your future was determined by your past.

If your parents were poor, so would you be. If you were born without opportunities, so were your children.

But America was founded on the principle that every person has God-given rights. That power belongs to the people. That government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests.

That we shouldn't be trapped in the circumstances of our birth. That we should be free to go as far as our talents and work can take us.

We are special because we've been united not by a common race or ethnicity. We're bound together by common values. That family is the most important institution in society. That almighty God is the source of all we have.

Special, because we've never made the mistake of believing that we are so smart that we can rely solely on our leaders or our government.

Our national motto is "In God we Trust," reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all.

And special because we've always understood the scriptural admonition that "for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required."

We are a blessed people. And we have honored those blessings with the enduring example of an exceptional America.

I know that for so many of you, these last few years have tested your faith in the promise of America.

Maybe you are at an age when you thought you would be entering retirement. But now, because your savings and investments are wiped out, your future is uncertain.

Maybe, after years of hard work, this was the time you expected to be your prime earning years. But instead, you've been laid off, and your house is worth less than your mortgage.

Maybe you did everything you were told you needed to do to get ahead. You studied hard and finished school. But now, you owe thousands of dollars in student loans. You can't find a job in your field. And you've moved back in with your parents.

You want to believe we're still that place where anything is possible. But things just don't seem to be getting better. And you are starting to wonder if things will ever be the same again.

Yes, we live in a troubled time. But the story of those who came before us reminds us that America has always been about new beginnings.

And Mitt Romney is running for president because he knows that if we are willing to do for our children what our parents did for us, life in America can be better than it has ever been.

My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. My father lost his mother when he was nine. He left school and went to work for the next 70 years.

They emigrated to America with little more than the hope of a better life.

My dad was a bartender. My mom was a cashier, a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart. They never made it big. They were never rich. And yet they were successful. Because just a few decades removed from hopelessness, they made possible for us all the things that had been impossible for them.

Many nights I heard my father's keys jingling at the door as he came home after another 16-hour day. Many mornings, I woke up just as my mother got home from the overnight shift at K-Mart

When you're young, the meaning of moments like these escapes you. But now, as my own children get older, I understand it better.

My Dad used to tell us: "En este pais, ustedes van a poder lograr todas las cosas que nosotros no pudimos" "In this country, you will be able to accomplish all the things we never could."

A few years ago during a speech, I noticed a bartender behind a portable bar at the back of the ballroom. I remembered my father who had worked for many years as a banquet bartender.

He was grateful for the work he had, but that's not the life he wanted for us.

He stood behind a bar in the back of the room all those years, so one day I could stand behind a podium in the front of a room.

That journey, from behind that bar to behind this podium, goes to the essence of the American miracle -- that we're exceptional not because we have more rich people here.

We're special because dreams that are impossible anywhere else, come true here.

That's not just my story. That's your story. That's our story.

It's the story of your mother who struggled to give you what she never had.

It's the story of your father who worked two jobs so doors closed for him would open for you.

The story of that teacher or that coach who taught you the lessons that shaped who you are today.

And it's the story of a man who was born into an uncertain future in a foreign country. His family came to America to escape revolution.

They struggled through poverty and the great depression. And yet he rose to be an admired businessman, and public servant.

And in November, his son, Mitt Romney, will be elected President of the United States.

We are all just a generation or two removed from someone who made our future the purpose of their lives.

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Their stories may never be famous, but in the lives they lived, you find the living essence of America's greatness. To make sure America is still a place where tomorrow is always better than yesterday, that is what our politics should be about.

And that is what we are deciding in this election.

Do we want our children to inherit our hopes and dreams, or do we want them to inherit our problems?

Mitt Romney believes that if we succeed in changing the direction of our country, our children and grandchildren will be the most prosperous generation ever, and their achievements will astonish the world.

The story of our time will be written by Americans who haven't yet been born.

Let's make sure they write that we did our part. That in the early years of this new century, we lived in an uncertain time. But we did not allow fear to cause us to abandon what made us special.

We chose more freedom instead of more government.

We chose the principles of our founding to solve the challenges of our time.

We chose a special man to lead us in a special time.

We chose Mitt Romney to lead our nation.

And because we did, the American Miracle lived on for another generation to inherit

Newt and Callista Remarks

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:22:00 GMT

The Hon. Newt and Callista Gingrich

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 30, 2012

Callista: Thank you for that warm welcome. What a wonderful tribute to President Reagan and the spirit of the American people.

Newt: It's fantastic to see so many friends here. Friends from decades of service to the party, service in public life and those who have helped us over the past few years. And we're delighted that tonight we come together to once again renew the American spirit and put real leadership back in the White House this November.

Callista: The election of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will decisively move America to a better future. Remembering President Reagan reminds us that the choices we make matter, and this year is as important as the choice we made in 1980.

Newt: Over three decades have passed since Ronald Reagan was first elected to the White House, yet the impact of his leadership is still evident today. While in office, President Reagan had three major goals: To restore the economy; to revive the American spirit; and to defeat totalitarianism, spreading democracy throughout the world.

Callista: By remaining true to his convictions, through his belief in the American people and with tremendous optimism, President Reagan achieved these goals.

Newt: It's striking how President Carter and President Obama both took our nation down a path that in four years weakened America's confidence in itself and our hope for a better future.

Callista: Both weakened the respect for America abroad; both increased government programs, filled with waste and inefficiency that failed to produce results; both made promises they couldn't keep; and, as a consequence of ineffective policies, both were unable to revive our economy and create jobs.

Newt: For example, both crippled American energy production when there were better ways to develop and use our abundant energy resources.

The Romney plan for North American energy independence is exactly the kind of bold, visionary leadership Reagan believed in, and it's what we need now.

Callista: The Reagan presidency also teaches us that there is a better way to put Americans back to work, create millions of jobs and help every American achieve success. The Reagan program of tax cuts, regulatory reform and spending controls worked.

Newt: Reagan's belief in small business owners and entrepreneurs is a remarkable contrast with Obama's class warfare rhetoric, massive deficits and a passion for taxing those who create jobs. The Romney plan for a stronger middle class has deep roots in Reagan's approach.

Callista: Reagan's commitment to reform welfare and to create a work requirement was a major achievement when he was governor of California. His pioneering work led to the historic welfare reform bill Congress and the president passed 30 years later. This bipartisan legislation reduced the size of government, made our country more competitive and put millions of Americans back to work.

Newt: Tragically, President Obama gutted this achievement. And, like Jimmy Carter, over four years he produced little effective legislation that brought the two parties together in the interest of the nation. Obama's waiving of the work requirements in welfare reform is just one example of his direct repudiation of President Reagan's values.

Obama's proud of what he's done and of his politically motivated partisanship, but he should be ashamed for putting politics before people.

Callista: Governor Romney will return America to work, and to the principles that are at the core of President Reagan's legacy.

This year the American people will once again have an important choice to make.

Newt: Now each of us must commit ourselves in the tradition of Ronald Reagan to come together. President Reagan said, "There is no substitute for victory." And this November, we cannot settle for anything less.

This is the most critical election of our lifetime. Each of us must do our part now to ensure that America remains, in the tradition of President Reagan, a land of freedom, hope and opportunity. Thank you and God bless.

Remarks by Olympians

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:20:00 GMT

Kim Rhode, Mike Eruzione and Derek Parra

Olympic Gold Medalists

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 30, 2012

RHODE: Thank you.

I have had the good fortune--the amazing blessing--to represent this great country, as a proud member of Team USA at the last five Olympic Games, in doubles trap and skeet shooting competitions.

I won my first gold medal in Atlanta, in the summer of 1996, and I just returned from the Olympics in London, a few weeks ago with another gold medal. This was one of a record-setting 104 medals won by Team USA, including 58 by women-which is the most ever. I think it's safe to say we showed the world that American women are a force to be reckoned with!

I'm honored to share the stage tonight with a handful of Olympic champions. Allow me to introduce them to you:

Dan Jansen - An American favorite through four Olympiads and a gold medalist.

Andy Gabel - A four-time, short track speed skating Olympian and a silver medal winner.

Rowdy Gaines - An Olympic Hall of Famer, and three-time Olympic gold medal winner.

Lea Ann Parsley - A silver medalist in the women's skeleton in 2002.

Noelle Pikus Pace - The 2007 skeleton World Champion and 2010 Olympian.

Bill Schuffenhaer - A three-time Olympian and an Olympic bobsled silver medalist in 2002.

Jimmy Shea - The only third-generation Olympian, winning the gold medal in skeleton in 2002.

Jean Racine-Prahm - A two-time World Cup champion bobsledder, and two-time Olympian.

Scott Hamilton - An American icon and 1984 gold medalist known for his backflip.

Christopher Devlin-Young - An American Paralympic alpine skier who won two Gold medals and two Silver medals.

Derek Parra - A gold and silver medalist speed skater in 2002.

Mike Eruzione - Captain of the 1980 Winter Olympics U.S. hockey team that defeated the Soviet Union in the famous Miracle on Ice game.

From the time when I walked into the Games in Atlanta as a wide-eyed 16-year-old to the moment a few weeks ago, when I heard our national anthem played in London as a seasoned veteran, I've seen our country both prosper and more recently falter.

Not unlike my athletic career, there were times when things were going very well, and times when they were not. It was in those times - when things were difficult - that I learned to rely on strong leadership to get me-as they say in my world - back on target.

The strong leadership of a more experienced teammate of my coaches and, of course - most importantly - the strong leadership of my mom and dad.

I came here tonight because I believe that today our country is off-target. We need the leadership of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to turn our country around so the millions of Americans who have taken aim at their own dreams -- whatever they may be -- have the opportunity for those dreams to come true just like our Olympic dreams did.

We need strong leadership, we need new leadership and we need it now.

We are here on stage because we know America needs the leadership of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan!

Thank you and goodnight.

ERUZIONE: Good Evening. I am Mike Eruzione.

I am honored to have this opportunity tonight to talk with you about the global significance of the Olympic movement - its ideals and its meaning - and how it was rescued by Mitt Romney.

It has been over 10 years, so many of you may have forgotten, but in 2002, due to bribery scandals and mismanagement, the Olympics - not just those Games - but the Olympics as an institution - were threatened.

Thankfully, Mitt Romney was there, to salvage a desperate situation.

Mitt's leadership not only turned around those Games by solving the operational and financial problems - but he did something deeper - he drew a line in the sand and said, that the 2002 Games would have the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

He put Olympians - the athletes - and the ideals of the Olympics back at the center of the Games.

He focused on restoring the Olympics to the top pedestal of sports and he preserved the opportunity - and idealism - of the Olympics for future generations.

I was fortunate to compete in the Olympics as the captain of the 1980 U.S. "Miracle on Ice" hockey team. And that team was proud and honored to light the cauldron for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That action, of passing along the flame of the Olympic spirit symbolizes something grander than all of us. It is the single greatest movement that brings all humans - across the world - together.

We are all fortunate that Mitt Romney kept that fire burning!

As a result of the 2002 Olympics, I had the opportunity to get to know Mitt and Ann Romney and to see what they have accomplished.

Mitt is a brilliant leader who is committed to the highest ideals and he is a wonderful and caring family man.

Just like the Olympics needed Mitt's leadership 10 years ago, America desperately needs Mitt Romney's leadership today. Please join me in making him the next President of the United States!

Thank you.

PARRA: I am Derek Parra.

I'm a 5'4" Mexican-American from Southern California.

Those are just three reasons it didn't add up for me to have ever become a Winter Olympic champion.

But somehow, from inside a Roller Rink as a teenager, a dream grew within my heart that, someday maybe I could represent my country at the Olympic Games.

And I chased that dream for over 20 years and eventually, it led me to Salt Lake City.

With great effort and the help of some amazing people along the way, I had become one of the top speed skaters in the world and the finish line was in sight!

But as the Olympics appeared on the horizon, that dream was almost derailed.

The Olympics were mired in scandal and budget deficit and, even worse, the national tragedy of September 11th that shook our entire nation to its very core.

It was a time of uncertainty. But in my Olympic world, Mitt Romney was at the helm.

His vision and commitment got the Games back on track and gave me the opportunity to realize my athletic dream.

Not only did Mitt facilitate my dream in 2002, he facilitated the dreams of athletes from around the world.

At that time I had only met Mitt briefly, but after the Olympics I got to know him and for a period of time I lived with him and his family.

I know Mitt and know him well. I know him as a businessman and as a leader. I know him as a father and as a very, very busy grandfather.

And I'm proud to say I know him as a friend.

Now, you might think my greatest Olympic moment came when I stood on the podium for the first time, with a gold medal around my neck. But you'd be wrong.

In fact, my most powerful Olympic memory came before the Olympics even got started!

It's a story I've heard Mitt reference a number of times on the campaign trail, so I would like to share it with you now, firsthand.

February 8th, 2002, was a cold, but clear night in Salt Lake City. It was the night of the Opening

Ceremonies.

I was competing the very next morning so I was not planning to attend. That is, until I got a call from the U.S. Olympic Committee just hours before the ceremony asking me if I would be one of the eight athletes selected to carry the World Trade Center flag into the Opening Ceremonies. I was floored.

Instantly, I knew this was something I had to do. Something I wanted to do. It was an honor beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

While it's now just over 10 years later, at that time, our country was still reeling from the wounds, the trauma and the pain of September 11th.

As the Opening Ceremonies got under way, the other flag-bearing athletes and I gathered backstage.

We were standing with the Port Authority Officers, whose job it was to oversee the flag.

They began telling us how proud they were of us - that the families of the victims were proud of us - that all the people who'd lost their lives would be proud of us.

When it came time to begin the procession, I touched the flag for the first time, and I remember a physical sensation unlike anything I had ever experienced. If it's possible to feel your soul being touched, then that is what I felt.

As we carried the flag out before the capacity crowd and a worldwide television audience, the silence was deafening. The flag, which had flown over so much pain and loss, still stood for life, love and the hope of our nation.

There are few times in any life when the emotion of the moment is all that exists. That night time stood still.

As our national anthem rang out - like never before - I stood there holding that flag, the symbol of everything our country had ever been through, with tears streaming down my face.

That moment came under the leadership of Mitt Romney and it not only inspired me, but it inspired all of Team USA, and we went on to win a record number of medals.

Today our country is struggling. But the right leaders can inspire us to push on, to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges and to accomplish great things.

Mitt Romney is that kind of leader.

Thank you and God bless!

Hearst Television Launches Free "Election 2012" App For iPhone, Android

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:06:00 GMT

NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hearst Television Inc., parent of one of the country's largest television station groups, has launched an "Election 2012" app featuring up-to-the-minute and in-depth election-related national content as well as content from the company's news stations in 25 markets stretching from Portland, Maine to Honolulu.

The advertising-supported Election 2012 app is available for free in the iTunes Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android users.

Among the features of the "Election 2012" app:

A friendly interface enabling users to browse local election and political coverage – including articles, slideshows, and videos – from a selection of local stations;
Local "Voters' Guides" with information such as deadlines on voter registration, polling locations, candidate biographies, and candidates' positions on issues;
A "count-down clock" to election day;
Electoral College map;
A featured "photo of the day";
The ability to upload user-generated content;
Facebook integration; and
Live election-night video, continuous news and commentary updates, and election results.

Each station's local content is fed to the app using the content management system of Hearst Television partner company Internet Broadcasting.

The Election 2012 app is the latest feature of Hearst Television's Commitment 2012 election-coverage project, a renewal of the Company's biannual election-coverage efforts which began with Commitment 2000 and which have earned a Peabody Award and multiple USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Awards. Other features of Commitment 2012 include "12 in 12" – a pledge of a minimum 12 minutes' airtime for daily political news and candidate-discourse coverage – and an exclusive partnership with PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website of the Tampa Bay Times.

"This app should come in handy not only for voters in the 25 Hearst Television news markets, but for any political observer interested in the latest developments in closely contested presidential-election states like Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – and in states hosting tight Senate races, like Massachusetts – in all of which states Hearst Television has leading news stations and websites," said Roger Keating, Senior Vice President of Hearst Television Inc.

SOURCE Hearst Television Inc.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee Remarks

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:19:00 GMT

The Hon. Mike Huckabee

Former Governor, Arkansas

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 29, 2012

I was so very honored to be asked to address one of this week's themes, "We can do better."

Then, I heard some folks backstage say that after hearing me speak, the delegates will say, "We sure can do better than Huckabee" and will nominate Mitt Romney to be the next President of the United States.

Tampa has been such a wonderful and hospitable city to us. The only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz practicing her speech for the DNC in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.

Four years ago, Mitt Romney and I were opponents. We still are, but we're not opposing each other.

We are mutual opponents of the miserably failed experiments that have put this country in a downward spiral.

Our country was in its origin an experiment, but an experiment in recognizing God-given individual liberty and creating a government in which no one is deemed better than another and all of us are equal.

Not equal in abilities, but in intrinsic worth and value. It is the essence of not just who we are, but what we are.

To those who question how once rivals can now be united, it's simple - we have Barack Obama to thank.

He said, "You didn't build it."

Translation: "It doesn't rightly belong to you!"

No small differences among us in our party approximate the vast differences between the liberty-limiting, radical left-wing, anti-business, reckless-spending, tax-hiking party of Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, versus an energized America who knows that we can do better.

For four years, we've given a chance to a man with very limited experience in governing, no experience in business whatsoever, and since taking office, mostly an interest in campaigning, blaming, and aiming excuses at his predecessor, the Republicans, and people in business, or as Republicans like to call them, employers.

We've stagnated into an economy that has taken all that hope "down the slope" and left millions without jobs, forced out of their homes by foreclosure, and herded into dependency upon a government that promises us candy and gives us cavities.

Barack Obama seems intent on enrolling more people on food stamps. Mitt Romney's focus will be on generating more jobs that would make food stamps unnecessary for them.

We know full well that we can do better.

Mitt Romney turned around companies that were on the skids; turned around a scandal ridden Olympics that was deep in the red into a high point of profitable and patriotic pride; and turned around a very liberal state by erasing a deficit and replacing it with a surplus.

Barack Obama said if he couldn't turn things around in three years, it would be a one-term proposition. It's been almost four ... let's make him a proposition he can't refuse.

Let's vote him out!

The job of President is admittedly tougher than running a company, Olympic contest, or a commonwealth, but when one sees what even Bill Clinton noted was a sterling record of problem-solving that has marked the life of Mitt Romney, we are confident we WILL do better.

Mitt has been loyal to his wife, his sons, his country, his employees, and his church.

I'm sure the press will tell you he isn't perfect.

But for the past four years, we've tried the one the press thought was perfect, and that hasn't worked out so well for us.

We can do better!

The Founding Fathers of our great nation left taxation and tyranny seeking religious liberty and a society of meritocracy rather than aristocracy. They created a bold experiment in government, believing God gave us unalienable rights, and government's role is simply to make sure they are protected.

So fearful were they that government would grow beyond their intention that even after crafting our magnificent Constitution, they said, "We can do even better." They added amendments that we call the Bill of Rights that limit what the government can do and guarantee what "We the people" have the unimpeded right to do - whether to speak, assemble, worship, pray, publish, or even refuse intrusions into our homes.

Many of them died to pass on that heritage. They had lived under the boot of big government and said, "We can do better."

As a kid growing up in a household with a dad who never finished high school and a family in which no male upstream from me had ever finished high school, much less gone to college, I was taught that there was nothing I could do about what was behind me, but could change everything about what was in front of me.

My working-poor parents told me I could do better. They taught me that I was as good as anyone else. It never occurred to them to tell me that I could rest comfortably and wait for Uncle Sugar to feed me, lead me, and then bleed me.

They told me to get off my backside, work hard, take risks, and treat people honestly and honorably. And look what's happened - I have become as the press label me, "a failed candidate."

It's true; I have fallen from the high perch of politics and now wallow in the mud of the media, but I still know that as a country, we can do better, and with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, we will.

Let me clear the air about whether guys like me would only support an evangelical. Of the four people on the two tickets, the only self-professed evangelical is Barack Obama, and he supports changing the definition of marriage, believes that human life is disposable and expendable at any time in the womb or even beyond the womb, and tells people of faith that they must bow their knees to the god of government and violate their faith and conscience in order to comply with what he calls health care.

Friends, I know we can do better!

The attack on my Catholic brothers and sisters is an attack on me. The Democrats have brought back the old dance the "Limbo" to see how low they can go in attempting to limit our ability to practice our faith.

This isn't a battle about contraceptives and Catholics, but of conscience and the Creator.

I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church than I do about where he takes this country. Joe Biden said, "Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." Well, in the Senate, Joe's party hasn't produced a budget in three years.

What does that say about their values?

Speaking of budgets, Joe Biden's budget shows that while he wants to be generous with your money through higher taxes and government spending, for years he gave less than two-tenths of 1 percent of his money to charity.

He just wants you to give the government more so he and the Democrats can feel better about themselves. Mitt Romney has given over 16% of his income to his church and charity, and I'd feel better about having a leader who gives more of his own money instead of mine.

My concern is not Barack Obama's past; my concern is for the future - not his future, but the future of my grandchildren.

And under this President, we burdened each of them with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, and a system that will collapse upon itself because he thinks we can prosper by punishing productivity and rewarding reckless irresponsibility.

The Democrats say we ought to give Barack Obama credit for trying. That sounds like the nonsense of giving every kid a trophy for showing up.

Friends, we're talking about leading the country, not playing on a third-grade soccer team!

I realize this is the man who got a Nobel Peace Prize for what he would potentially do, but in the real world, you get the prize for producing something, not just promising it.

Sometimes, we're so close to the picture, we can't really see it clearly. I've worked with Bono for the past few years in the ONE campaign to fight AIDS and hunger and disease around the world.

He's an Irishman and a great humanitarian who told me of his admiration for America. He said we're more than a country; we're an idea.

He reminded me that we are an exceptional nation with an extraordinary history who owes it to the generations coming after us to leave them an extraordinary legacy.

If we don't change the direction of our nation now, our bequest will be nothing but an extraordinary shame.

But we can do better.

President Obama is out of gas; Americans are out of patience, and our great Republic is almost out of time. It's time we no longer lead from behind, but get off our behinds and leave something lasting for those who come after us instead of a mountain of debt and a pile of excuses.

Tonight, it's not because we're Republicans; it's because we're Americans that we proudly stand with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to say we will do better!

Sen. Rand Paul Remarks

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:17:00 GMT

The Hon. Rand Paul

U.S. Senator, Kentucky

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 29, 2012

When the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, the first words out of my mouth were: I still think it is unconstitutional!

The leftwing blogs were merciless. Even my wife said -- can't you pleeeease count to ten before you speak?

So, I've had time now to count to ten and, you know what? I still think it's unconstitutional!

Do you think Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas have changed their minds?

I think if James Madison himself -- the father of the Constitution -- were here today he would agree with me: The whole damn thing is still unconstitutional!

This debate is not new and it's not over. Hamilton and Madison fought from the beginning about how government would be limited by the enumerated powers.

Madison was unequivocal. The powers of the federal government are few and defined. The power to tax and spend is restricted by the enumerated powers.

So, how do we fix this travesty of justice? There's only one option left.

We have to have a new president!

When I heard the current president say, "You didn't build that," I was first insulted, then I was angered, then I was saddened that anyone in our country, much less the president of the United States, believes that roads create business success and not the other way around.

Anyone who so fundamentally misunderstands American greatness is uniquely unqualified to lead this great nation.

The great and abiding lesson of American history, particularly the Cold War, is that the engine of capitalism -- the individual -- is mightier than any collective.

American inventiveness and desire to build developed because we were guaranteed the right to own our success. For most of our history, no one dared tell Americans: "You didn't build that."

In Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Taing family owns the Great American Donut shop. Their family fled war-torn Cambodia to come to this country. My kids and I love to eat doughnuts, so we go there frequently.

The Taings work long hours. Mrs. Taing told us that the family works through the night to make doughnuts. The Taing children have become valedictorians and National Merit Scholars.

The Taings from Cambodia are an American success story so, Mr. President, don't you go telling the Taings: "You didn't build that."

When you say they didn't build it, you insult each and every American who ever got up at the crack of dawn. You insult any American who ever put on overalls or a suit.

You insult any American who ever studied late into the night to become a doctor or a lawyer. You insult the dishwasher, the cook, the waitress.

You insult anyone who has ever dragged themselves out of bed to strive for something better for themselves or their children.

My great grandfather, like many, came to this country in search of the American Dream. No sooner had he stepped off the boat than his father died.

He arrived in Pittsburgh as a teenager with nothing, not a penny. He found the American Dream: not great wealth, but a bit of property in a new land that gave him hope for his children.

In America, as opposed to the old country, success was based on merit. Probably America's greatest asset was that for the first time success was not based on who you were, but on what you did.

My grandfather would live to see his children become doctors, ministers, accountants and professors. He would even live to see one of his sons, a certain congressman from Texas, run for president of the United States of America.

Immigrants have flocked to our shores seeking freedom. Our forbearers came full of hopes and dreams. So consistent and prevalent were these aspirations that they crystallized into a national yearning we call the American Dream.

No other country has a Dream so inextricably associated with the spirit of its people.

In 1982, an American sailor, John Mooney, wrote a letter to his parents that captures the essence of the American Dream:

"Dear Mom and Dad, today we spotted a boat in the water, and we rendered assistance. We picked up 65 Vietnamese refugees. As they approached the ship, they were all waving and trying as best they could to say, 'Hello America sailor! Hello Freedom man!' It's hard to see a boat full of people like that and not get a lump somewhere between chin and bellybutton. And it really makes one proud and glad to be an American. It reminds us all of what America has always been -- a place a man or woman can come to for freedom."

Hung and Thuan Tringh are brothers and friends of mine. They came to America on one of those leaky, overcrowded boats. They were attacked at sea by pirates. Their family's wealth was stolen. Thuan spent a year on a South Pacific island existing on one cup of rice and water each day until he was allowed to come to America. Now both of these men and their families are proud Americans. Hung owns his own business and Thuan manages a large company. They are the American Dream.

So, Mr. President, don't go telling the Tringh family: "You didn't build that."

When the president says, "You didn't build that," he is flat out wrong. Businessmen and women did build that. Businessmen and women did earn their success. Without the success of American business, we wouldn't have any roads, or bridges, or schools.

Mr. President, you say the rich must pay their fair share. When you seek to punish the rich, the jobs that are lost are those of the poor and middle class.

When you seek to punish Mr. Exxon Mobil, you punish the secretary who owns Exxon Mobil stock.

When you block the Keystone Pipeline, you punish the welder who works on the pipeline.

Our nation faces a crisis. America wavers. Unfortunately, we are one of a select group of countries whose debt equals their gross domestic product.

The republic of Washington and Jefferson is now in danger of becoming the democracy of debt and despair. Our great nation is coming apart at the seams and the president seems to point fingers and blame others.

President Obama's administration will add nearly $6 trillion to our national debt in just one term.

This explosion of debt is unconscionable and unsustainable. Mr. President, we will not let you bankrupt this great nation!

Republicans and Democrats alike must slay their sacred cows. Republicans must acknowledge that not every dollar spent on the military is necessary or well-spent, and Democrats must admit that domestic welfare and entitlements must be reformed.

Republicans and Democrats must replace fear with confidence, confidence that no terrorist, and no country, will ever conquer us if we remain steadfast to the principles of our Founding documents.

We have nothing to fear except our own unwillingness to defend what is naturally ours, our God-given rights. We have nothing to fear that should cause us to forget or relinquish our rights as free men and women.

To thrive we must believe in ourselves again, and we must never -- never -- trade our liberty for any fleeting promise of security.

Author Paul Kengor writes of a brisk evening in small-town Illinois. Returning home from a basketball game at the YMCA, an 11 year old boy is stunned by the sight of his father sprawled out in the snow on the front porch. "He was drunk," his son later remembered. "Dead to the world, crucified." The dad's hair was soaked with melted snow, matted unevenly against the side of his reddened face.

The boy stood over his father for a minute or two. He simply wanted to let himself in the door and pretend his dad wasn't there. Instead, he grabbed a fistful of overcoat and heaved his dad to the bedroom, away from the weather's harm and neighbors' attention.

This young boy became the man - Ronald Reagan - whose sunny optimism and charisma shined so brightly that it cured the malaise of the late seventies, a confidence that beamed so broadly that it pulled us through a serious recession, and a faith that tugged so happily at all hearts that a generation of Democrats became Republicans.

The American Dream is that any among us could become the next Thomas Edison, the next Henry Ford, the next Ronald Reagan.

To lead us forward, away from the looming debt crisis, it will take someone who believes in America's greatness, who believes in and can articulate the American dream, someone who has created jobs, someone who understands and appreciates what makes America great, someone who will lead our party and our nation forward.

I believe that someone is our nominee: Governor Mitt Romney.

As Reagan said, our freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction. If our freedom is taken, the American Dream will wither and die.

To lead, we must transform the coldness of austerity into the warm, vibrant embrace of prosperity.

To overcome the current crisis, we must appreciate and applaud American success. We must step forward, unabashedly and proclaim: You did build that. You earned that. You worked hard. You studied. You labored. You did build that. And you deserve America's undying gratitude. For you, the individual, are the engine of America's greatness.

Thank you.

Sen. John McCain Remarks

By RNC In-house WBT Reporter — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:16:00 GMT

The Hon. John McCain

U.S. Senator of Arizona

(Remarks as Prepared for Delivery)

August 29, 2012

Thank you.

It's an honor, as always, my fellow Republicans, to join you at our national convention, and add my voice to yours as we nominate the next president of the United States, my friend, Governor Mitt Romney.

I had hopes once of addressing you under different circumstances. But our fellow Americans had another plan four years ago, and I accept their decision.

I've been blessed for so long to play a role in our nation's affairs that I'm conscious only of the debt I owe America, and I thank you for the honor.

When we nominate Mitt Romney, we do so with a greater purpose than winning an advantage for our party.

We charge him with the care of a higher cause. His election represents our best hopes for our country and the world.

It is said this election will turn on domestic and economic issues. But what Mitt Romney knows, and what we know, is that our success at home also depends on our leadership in the world.

It is our willingness to shape world events for the better that has kept us safe, increased our prosperity, preserved our liberty and transformed human history.

At our best, America has led.

We have led by our example, as a shining city on a hill. We have led at the direction of patriots from both parties.

We have led, shoulder to shoulder, with steadfast friends and allies. We have led by giving voice to the voiceless, insisting that every human life has dignity and aiding those brave souls who risk everything to secure the inalienable rights that are endowed to all by our Creator.

We have led with generous hearts, moved by an abiding love of justice, to help others eradicate disease, lift themselves from poverty, live under laws of their own making and determine their own destinies.

We have led, when necessary, with the armed might of freedom's defenders.

And always we have led from the front, never from behind.

This is what makes America an exceptional nation: It is not just a matter of who we are, it is the record of what we have done.

It is the responsibility that generation after generation of Americans has affirmed and carried forward.

It is the cause that many Americans have sacrificed everything - absolutely everything - to defend.

And when they have gone into battle, as they do today, they have done so with the conviction that the country that sent them there is worth their sacrifice, that it stands for something more than the sum of our individual interests.

May God bless all who have served, and all who serve today, as He has blessed us with their service.

We are now being tested by an array of threats that are more complex, more numerous and just as deadly as any I can recall in my lifetime. We face a consequential choice - and make no mistake, it is a choice.

We can choose to follow a declining path, toward a future that is dimmer and more dangerous than our past.

Or we can choose to reform our failing government, revitalize our ailing economy and renew the foundations of our power and leadership in the world.

That is what's at stake in this election.

Unfortunately, for four years, we've drifted away from our proudest traditions of global leadership - traditions that are truly bipartisan. We've let the challenges we face, both at home and abroad, become harder to solve.

We can't afford to stay on that course any longer.

We can't afford to cause our friends and allies - from Latin America to Asia, Europe to the Middle East, and especially in Israel, a nation under existential threat - to doubt America's leadership.

We can't afford to give governments in Russia and China a veto over how we defend our interests and the progress of our values in the world.

We can't afford to have the security of our nation and those who bravely defend it endangered because their government leaks the secrets of their heroic operations to the media.

I believe we can't afford to substitute a political timetable for a military strategy.

By committing to withdraw from Afghanistan before peace can be achieved and sustained, the president has discouraged our friends and emboldened our enemies, which is why our commanders did not recommend that decision and why they have said it puts our mission at greater risk.

We can't afford another $500 billion in cuts to our defense budget - on top of the nearly $500 billion in cuts that the president is already making. His own secretary of defense has said that cutting our military by nearly $1 trillion would be "devastating."

And yet, the president is playing no leadership role in preventing this crippling blow to our military.

A wise congressman from Wisconsin has said, "Our fiscal policy and our foreign policy are on a collision course." And that man is our next vice president, Paul Ryan.

But most of all, we can't afford to abandon the cause of human freedom. When long-suffering peoples demand liberation from their jailers and torturers and tyrants, the leader of the free world must stand with them.

Unfortunately, this is not happening.

When Iranians rose up by the millions against their oppressive rulers, when they beseeched our president, chanting in English, "Are you with us, or are you with them?", when the entire world watched as a brave young woman named Neda was shot and bled to death in a street in Tehran.

The president missed a historic opportunity to throw America's full moral support behind an Iranian revolution that shared one of our highest interests: ridding Iran of a brutal dictatorship that terrorizes the Middle East and threatens the world.

The situation is far worse in Syria. What began as peaceful protests has now become, 18 months later, a savage and unfair fight.

With the full backing of Iran, and Hezbollah, and Russia-with tanks, and helicopters, and fighter jets, Bashir Assad is murdering men, women and children.

More than 20,000 people have perished. Extremists are gaining ground. And the conflict is becoming more dangerous by the day for our allies, and for us.

In other times, when other courageous people fought for their freedom against sworn enemies of the United States, American presidents - both Republicans and Democrats - have acted to help them prevail.

Sadly, for the lonely voices of dissent in Syria, and Iran, and elsewhere, who feel forgotten in their darkness, and sadly for us, as well, our president is not being true to our values.

For the sake of the cause of freedom, for the sake of people who are willing to give their lives so their fellow citizens can determine their own futures and for the sake of our nation - the nation founded on the idea that all people, everywhere, have the right to freedom and justice - we must return to our best traditions of American leadership, and support those who face down the brutal tyranny of their oppressors and our enemies.

Across the world, people are seizing control of their own destinies. They are liberating themselves from oppressive rulers. And they want America's support.

They want America's assistance as they struggle to live in peace and security, to expand opportunity for themselves and their children, to replace the injustices of despots with the institutions of democracy and freedom.

America must be on the right side of history.

The demand for our leadership in the world has never been greater. People don't want less of America.

They want more.

Everywhere I go in the world, people tell me they still have faith in America.

What they want to know is whether we still have faith in ourselves.

I trust that Mitt Romney has that faith, and I trust him to lead us.

I trust him to affirm our nation's exceptional character and responsibilities.

I trust him to know that our security and economic interests are inextricably tied to the progress of our values.

I trust him to know that if America doesn't lead, our adversaries will, and the world will grow darker, poorer and much more dangerous.

I trust him to know that an American president always, always, always stands up for the rights, and freedoms, and justice of all people.

I trust Mitt Romney to know that good can triumph over evil, that justice can vanquish tyranny, that love can conquer hate, that the desire for freedom is eternal and universal, and that America is still the best hope of mankind.

And now, my fellow Americans: Let's elect our next commander-in-chief, and the next leader of the free world, my friend, Governor Mitt Romney.