>> announcer: this is an abc news special. >> i will fight and i will leave. we will compete and win. >> right now with so much at stake for our country. >> america is going to come roaring back. our families need it. our kids need it. >>he republicans take center stage to make their case for their man. so what will this rising star and the one person who knows mitt romney best say. this is the republican national convention. it's "your voice your vote." now reporting live from the tampa bay times forum in tampa, florida. diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos. good evening. and welcome tonight, it is day one of the republican national convention. and one of the biggest nights in the election of a president in the united states of america.

2012. 70 days to go. the whole team is here tonight to watch two of the most electric personalities in the republican party appear. as we said, governor chris christie and his wife ann mitt romney hoping to reintroduce him, george. >> firing up, a belief that this is a presidential race the republican party can win. a dead heat, as you said, 70 days to go. the big job ahead selling mitt romney the man and the republican party as a brand. >> and of course, they're having to do it tonight in the face of another big story. we're talking breaking news now. hurricane isaac making landfall at 7:45 p.m. eastern on the gulf coast, louisiana. we want to bring you up to date at what is happening right at this moment at abc's weather editor sam champion is right there in new orleans tracking it all. sam. >> good evening, diane. you're exactly right on that

time. that's about six hours earlier than that the computer models estimated in plaquemines parish, just inside the mouth of the mississippi. we've got some driving wind and rain pouring into new orleans right now. we'll show you some pictures, all along canal street all night long. police have been patrolling to make sure people stay off the streets. there's been a lot of wind and rain and you can see all the surge along the coastline as well. earlier in the day, a lot of curiosity, out towards lake pontchartrain and the area, just to see the lake make its way over the edge. the lip of the seawall. but now, everyone's inside. let's show you the look on this storm. as we pull itust a bit south, as a matter of fact, of the tip of louisiana. there, of the delta. but look at the scope and size of this storm still. this storm will spread driving

wind and rain throughout the night. it has slowed down to a bare crawl. and as a matter of fact, this heavy rain, once it continues inland there spread from the gulf all the way to the great lakes. it's an amazing path for this storm. basically up the mississippi. it's an area that's been in drought all summer long and they desperately need the rain but coming in tropical form with driving winds, george. >> of course, that hurricane has already affected the convention. delayed the start by a day. we're going to cover everything here. david muir, jon karl, cokie roberts on the floor. george will, donna brazile in the booth. one of the big things we want to talk about tonight, the challenge facing mitt romney. shows up in this brand-new abc news/"washington post" poll just out. the unfavorable rating 51%, the highest of any modern nominee of modern time. >> tonight, they begin to turn that around. and is the popular ann romney

the one to get it started? let's go to the convention floor to david muir. >> diane, george, good evening to you. the energy inside this convention hall is palpable tonight. so many here say they can't wait to see mrs. romney. quite frankly, the romney campaign can't wait to introduce mrs. romney to this country. now, i flew down with the romneys on the plane from boston to tampa, with the rest of the press team covering the romney campaign, mrs. romney up front with her glasses on, tweaking the speech. shcame to the back of the plane to talk about this. she talked about practicing in the new hampshire high school auditorium the last couple of days. they had teleprompters set up for her. as george alluded to, showed registered voters, women in particular, women, only 34% have a favorable view of mrs. romney -- mr. romney, i should say. mrs. romney, 63 years old. she's been married to the governor 43 years. she has five sons, 18

grandchildren. several of the sons are right here in the convention hall sitting a few feet away from me. very proud, smiles, they can't wait to see their mother. i can tell you that both the governor and ann romney are here in the convention hall to take the stage to introduce her husband. as george said earlier, introducing him in a new way. >> let's go to jon karl. something new here for ann romney, speaking in front of this crowd with a teleprompter. when she started out 60 years ago, this was not natural for her at all. >> i've got to tell you, she's done nothing remotelye this, she's almost never given prepared remarks, period, let alone on a teleprompter like this. this is a person reluctant to politics. you know, george, twice, she has sworn absolutely no more campaigns.

after mitt romney lost to ted kennedy, she said you couldn't pay me to do this again. she got back in, ran in 2008. after that lost, she said, that's it, no more. now, i just talked to matt romney, one of her sons, he said, mom is all in. mitt romney describes her as my best friend, my closest counselor. the love of my life. and for these people here, ann romney is by far the best character witness, for mitt romney. >> i was here when she walked out here for the first time. i could see her eyes widen. 20,000 people. and she doesn't use a teleprompter, you know. there are two of them. governor romney said imagine a face in each one of those because she's so used to being unscriptsed. and that's why she wants her boys right out there in front of her. let's go to cokie roberts. she's on just the other side of the stage.

cokie, you can hear me there? tell me what you think the role of a spouse is in changing opinion at a convention? >> well, as you've said before, mitt romney has a real like ability problem. and that people trust him on the issues. they think that the president has done a bad job on the economy according to our polls, but they don't like mitt romney. and ann romney is likable. and she likes mitt romney. so she can tell about why she does. and what's so important. about him, as a man. as a flesh and blood human being. but, you know, this started with barbara bush in 1988, when george h.w. bush had a likability problem. and she's the first spouse to make one of these speeches at a convention. because she was already popular with the people. a plain-spoken vice president's wife.

and i think the party thinks it worked very well for george bush. and the hope for the romneys is that it will work very well for mitt romney. >> we'll bring that question to matt dowd as well. 50% of the country going in the wrong direction right now. you've written for mitt romney to catch that wave, he definitely has to turn around his perceptions as a person. >> yes, the environment in this country is enough for barack obama to be defeated. all those factors are set. but what's holding it back for mitt romney, the views of him as a person. that's ultimately holding him back. if he can change that not a lot, but some. basically what happens, the overall dynamic takes effect and then it's very hard for barack obama to win this race. and that's what this election is all about, changing the characteristics of mitt romney. >> and george will, he doesn't have to show that he feels your pain. he has to show that he can fix your pain. but it's not a personal

transformation that has to take place here. >> i think that's right. the republicans are hoping confidence trumps congeniality. but they'd like to make it a less of a stark choice by making it more congenial. those of us marinated in liberal, in the broadcast, eccentric americans. half of americans can't name either senator. but when we say we're introducing mitt romney, even though he's been running for six years, in fact, for a lot of people, this is the first extended look at him. >> donna, that's why the democrats in barack obama's campaign have spent so much money this summer trying to define mitt romney. >> there's no question. president obama has huge advantages on likability, on honesty and trustworthy. but mitt romney has a slight edge on the economy and that's one of the stories the republicans are going to talk about this week. the democrats' focus this week is to refined voters that mitt

romney economic plans will not solve the problems of this country. >> okay. but at the end of the day, tonight, is about a wife going out to try to make a difference in her husband's destiny. and let's take a look at the stage right now. because we're told backstage, the two of them have been in a holding pattern. and we have a report from emily friedman who is our wonderful op-air reporter that the governor said break a leg, ann said, i'm excited. i'm not nervous. let's go to the stage. >> hello.

florida, welcome! >> thank you. and thank you, i can't wait to see what we're all going to do together. this is going to be so exciting. just so you all know, the hurricane has hit landfall, and i think we should all take this motel and recognize that fellow americans are in its path and just hope and pray that all remain safe and no life is lost

and no property is lost. so we should all be thankful for this great country and great hope for our first responders and all that keep us safe in this wonderful country. well, i want to talk to you tonight, not about politics and not about party. and while there are many important issues we'll hear discussed in this convention and throughout this campaign, tonight, i want to talk to you from my heart. about our heart. i want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us. that one great thing that brings

us our greatest joy when times are good. and the deepest solace in our dark hours. tonight, i want to talk to you about love. i want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love i have for a man i met at a dance many years ago. and the profound love i have, and i know we share for this country. i want to talk to you about that love so deep, only a mother can fathom it. the love we have for our children and our children's children. and i want us to think tonight about the love we share for those americans, our brothers and our sisters, who are going through difficult times, whose days are never easy, whose nights are long and whose work never seems done. they're here with us tonight in this hall.

they're here in neighborhoods across tampa and all across america. the parents who lie awake at night, side by side, wondering how they'll be able to pay the mortgage or pay the rent. the single dad who is working hours tonight so that his kids can buy clothes to go back to school. or play a sport. so his kids can feel just like other kids. and the working moms who love their jobs but would like to work just a little less to spend more time with the kids. but that's just out of the question with this economy. or how about that couple who would like to have another child but wonder how they'll afford it? i have been all across this country, and i know a lot of you guys. and i have seen and heard stories of how hard it is to get ahead now. you know what, i've heard your voices.

they've said to me, i'm running in place, and we just can't get ahead. sometimes, i think that late at night, if we were all silent for just a few moments and listened carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from the moms and dads across america who made it through another day. and know that they'll make it through another one tomorrow. but the end of that day moment is just not sure how. and if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the man. it's how it is, isn't it? it's the moms who have always had to work a little harder to make everything right. it's the moms of this nation, singled, married, widowed who really hold this country together. we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers. we're the big sisters. we're the little sisters, and we are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you?

i love you, women! ani ar your voices. there are my favorite fans down there. you are the ones that have to do a little bit more, and you know what it's like to work a little harder during the day to earn the respect you have at work. and then you come home at night and help with the book report just because it needs to be done. and you know what those late-night phone calls with an elderly parent is like. you know the fastest route to the emergency room and which doctors answer the phone calls when you call at night. by the way, i know all about that. you know what it's like to sit in that graduation ceremony and wonder how it was that so many long days turned to years that went by so quickly. you are the best of america.

you -- you are the hope of america. there would not be an america without you. tonight, we salute you and sing your praises. i'm not sure if men really understand this, but i don't think there's a woman in america who really expects her life to be easy. in our own ways, we all know better. you know what, that's fine. we don't want easy. but the last few years have been harder than they needed to be. it's the little things, the price at the pump you just can't believe. the grocery bills that just get bigger. all of those things that used to be free, like school sports and now one more bill to pay.

it's all the little things that pile up that become big things. the chance at college, the home you want to buy just get harder. everything has become harder. we're too smart to know there aren't easy answers, but we're not dumb enough to acct that there aren't better answers. and that is where this boy i met at a high school dance comes in. his name is mitt romney. and you should really get to know him. i can tell you why i fell in love with him. he was tall, laughed a lot. he was nervous. girls like that. it shows a guy's a little intimidated. he was nice to my parents but he was also really glad when they weren't around. oh, i don't mind that, but more than anything, he made me laugh.

some of you might not know this, but i am the granddaughter of a welsh coal miner. he was determined -- he was determined that his kids get out of the mines. my dad got his first job when he was 6 years ago old in a little village in wales called nancy huffland. cleaning bottles. when he was 15, dad came to america, in our country, he saw hope and opportunity to escape from poverty. he moved to a small town in the great state of michigan. michigan. there, he started a business, one he built by himself, by the way. he raised a family and he became

mayor of our town. my dad would often remind my brothers and me how fortunate we were to grow up in a place like america. he wanted us to have every opportunity that came with life in this country. so he pushed us to be our best and give our all. inside the houses that lined the streets of our town there were a lot of good fathers teaching their sons and daughters those same values. i didn't know it at the time, but one of those dads was my future father-in-law george romney. mitt's dad never graduated from college. instead, he became a carpenter. he worked hard, became the head of a car company and then the governor of michigan. when mitt and i met and fell in love, we were determined not to let anything stand in our life together. i was episcopalian, he was mormon. we were very young. both still in college, there were many reasons to delay marriage, you know what, we just didn't care. we got married and moved into a

basement apartment. we walked to class together. shared the house. ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish. our desk was a door propped up on sawhorses. our dining room table was an ironing board in the kitchen. but those were the best days. then our first son came along. all at once, i'm 23 years old with a baby and a husband who's going to business school and law school at the same time. and i can tell you probably like every other girl who finds herself in a new life far from family and friends with a new baby an a new husband, that it dawned on me that i had absolutely no idea what i was getting into. well, that was 42 years ago. i survived. we now have five sons and 18 beautiful grandchildren.

i'm still in love with that boy i met at a high school dance, and he still makes me laugh. i read somewhere that mitt and i have a storybook marriage. well, let me tell you something. in the storybooks i read, there never were long, long rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. and those storybooks never seem to have a chapter calls m.d. or breast cancer. a storybook marriage, nope, not at all. what mitt romney and i have is a real marriage.

i know this good and decent man for what it is. he's warm and loving and patient. he's tried to live his life with a set of values centered on family, faith and one of love's fellow man. from the time we were first married i've seen him spend countless hours helping others. and late-night calls, a member of our church whose child has been taken to the hospital. you may not agree with mitt on issues or politics. by the way, massachusetts is only 13% republican so it's not like it's a shock to me. but -- but, let me say this, to every american who is thinking about who should be our next president, no one will work harder. no one will care more. and no one will move heaven and earth like mitt romney to make this country a better place to

live. >> it's true that mitt's been successful at each new challenge he's taken on. you know what, it actually amazes me seeing his history of success being attacked. are those really our values that

made our country great? as a mom of five boys do we want to raise our children to be afraid of success? >> all: no. >> do we send our children out in the world try to do okay? let's be honest, if the last four years had been successful, do we really think there would be this attack on mitt romney's? of course not. mitt will be the first to tell you that he's the most fortunate man in the world. he had two loving parents who gave him strong values and taught him the value of work. he had the chance to get education his father never had. but as his partner on this amazing journey, i can tell you mitt romney was not handed success. he built it.

he stayed in massachusetts after graduate school and got a job. i saw the long hours that started with that first job. i was there when he had a small group of friends talking about starting a new company. i was there when they struggled. and wondered if the whole idea just wasn't going to work. mitt's reaction was to work harder and press on. today, that company has become another great american success story. has it made those who started the company successful beyond their dreams? yes, it has. it allowed us to give our sons a chance at good educations and made all those long hours and book reports and homework worth every minute. it's given us the deep satisfaction of being able to help others in ways that we could never have imagined. this is important.

i want you to hear what i'm going to say. mitt doesn't like to talk about how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege. not a political talking point. we are no different than the millions of americans who quietly help their neighbors. their churches and their communities. they don't do it so that others will think more of them. they do it because there is no greater joy. give, and it should be given unto you.

but because this is america, that small company which grew and helped so many others lead better lives, the jobs they took and risks they took have become college educations and first homes. that success has helped fund scholarships, pensions and retirement funds. this is the genius of america. dreams fulfilled, help others launch new dreams. at every turn in his life, this man i met at a high school dance has helped lift up others. he did it with the olympics when many wanted to give up. he did it in massachusetts where he guided the state from economic crisis from unemployment at 4.7%. under mitt, massachusetts' schools were best in the nation. the best. he started something that i

really love. he started the john and abigail adams scholarship which gives the top 25% of high school graduates a four-year tuition-free scholarship. this is the man america needs. this is the man who will wake up every day with a determination to solve the problems that others say can't be solved. to stick with others is beyond repair. this is the man who will work harder than anyone so that we can work a little less hard. i can't tell you what will happen over the next four years, but i can only stand here tonight as a wife and mother and a grandmother, an american, and make you this solemn commitment. this man will not fail.

this man will not let us down. this man will lift up america. it has been 47 years since that tall, kind of charming young man brought me home from our first dance. not every day is easy, but he still makes me laugh. and never once did i have a single reason to doubt that i was the luckiest woman in the world tonight. i said tonight, i wanted to talk to you about love. look into your heart. this is our country. this is our future. these are our children and

grandchildren. you can trust mitt. he loves america. he will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance. give him that chance. give america that chance. god bless each and every one of you and god bless the united states of america. >> and there she is, ann romney, mitt romney's wife of 43 years. and there is the candidate himself. >> a little kiss, a big hug.

ann romney called him a charming young man. >> a kind of charming. >> a pretty charming speech tonight. >> she did. i noticed how she was talking directly to a mom worried about her children, to the doctor, answering the phone call. looking for answers. >> that was the thing about the speech, she said her theme was love. a love letter to mitt romney to be sure. but also a love letter to america's moms. and that is how she started, basically talking to the moms out there, i feel your pain. >> she was speaking directly to the women. the big news for that two-thirds of the people undecided in this race are women. she knows that, they know that. the obama campaign knows that. and she was not too shubtle abot who she was talking to.

>> i thought it was a good speech. she was a bit nervous in the beginning. she was introducing mitt romney to a large group of people. i don't think that speech will move many women voters, though. >> the point is trying to make mitt romney for people who think his life was unreal. she talked about breast cancer. she talked about m.d. she said we don't have a storybook marriage. we have a real marriage. reality was the theme. >> she wasn't afraid of the political lines. the other line i was really struck by, we're too smart to think there are easy answers but we're not dumb enough to think there aren't better answers. >> that's right. again, looking at her sons sitting out there watching her, we're told a couple of them were in tears as she did it. of course, they've been so worried about her on the campaign trail because of her illness. but we should tell everybody what's happening now because they have decided to go straight to the governor of new jersey. we were talking about the

two-fisted, funny-talking, take no prisoners chris christie. 49 years old. he's coming in as one column said is he going to open a can of new jersey on barack obama. >> my guess is, he's not, you might see him playing in tight as well as ann romney. i would think that chris christie might be a little less. jon karl, i want go to you on the floor. if ann romney's theme is love, chris christie's theme is spreekt respect. >> no doubt. talk about contrast, i was talking to chris christie earlier today, he was joking he might put a heckler in the front row so he can be the foil. i think what we'll hear from chris christie is a little different side. he wants to talk about the success he's had in new jersey. remember, george, this is somebody conservatives basically

begged to run for president. a hero for those on the right. for liberals, moderates, independents in the state of new jersey. he's about to come out. listen to this reaction. they love this guy. ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. well, this stage and this moment are very improbable for me. a new jersey republican. delivering the keynote address

to our national convention. from a state -- from a state with 700,000 more democrats than republicans. a new jersey republican. stands before you tonight, proud of my party. proud of my state. and proud of my country. now, i am the son of an irish father and a sicilian mother. my dad, who i'm blessed to have here with me tonight, is gregarious, outgoing and lova e lovable. my mom i lost years ago was the enforcer. now, she made sure we all knew who set the rules. i'll tell it to you this way, in the automobile of life, dad was just a passenger. mom was the driver.

now, they both lived hard lives. dad grew up in poverty. and after returning from army service, he worked at the breyer's ice cream plant in the 1950s. now with that job and the g.i. bill, he put himself through rutgers university at night to become the first in his family to earn a college degree. and our first family picture, our first family picture was on his graduation day with my mom beaming next to him, six months' pregnant with me. now, mom also came from nothing. she was raised by a single mother who took three different buses every day to get to work. and mom spent the time but she was supposed to be a kid, actually raising children, her younger brother and younger sister. she was tough as nails, didn't

suffer fools at all. the truth was, she couldn't afford to. she spoke the truth. lovely, directly and without much varnish. i am her son. i was her son -- i was her son as i listened on the edge of town with my high school friends on the jersey shore. i was her son when i married into that studio apartment with mary pat and a son who is now 26 years old. i was her son as i coached our sons andrew and patrick on the fields of mendham, and as i watched with pride as our daughters sarah and bridget marched with their soccer teams on the labor day parade. and i'm still her son today as governor, following the rules

she taught me to speak from the heart and to fight for your principles. you see, mom never thought you'd get extra credit just for speaking the truth. and the greatest blessing that mom ever taught me, though, was this one. she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. now, she said, to always pick being respected. she told me that love without respect was always fleeting. but that respect could grow into real and lasting laugh. now, of course, she was talking about women. but i've learned over time, that it applies just as much to leadership. in fact, i think that advice applies to america more than ever today. you see, i believe we have become paralyzed. paralyzed by our desire to be

loved. for our founding fathers had the wisdom to know that social acceptance of popularity were fleeting. and that this country's principles needed to be rooted in strength greater than the passions and the emotions of the time. but our leaders today have decided it's more important to be popular -- to be popular, to say and do what's easy and say yes rather than to say no, when no is what is required. in recent years -- in recent years, we as a country have too often chosen the same path. it's easy for our leaders to say not us. not now. in taking on the really tough issues. and unfortunately, we've stood silently by and let them get away with it. but tonight, i say, enough. tonight -- tonight, i say together, let's make a much different choice. tonight, we are speaking up for

ourselves and stepping up. tonight, we're beginning to do what is right and what is necessary to make america great again. we are demanding that our leaders stop tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing america. tonight, we're going to do what my mother taught me -- tonight, we're going to choose respect over love. see, we're not afraid. we are not afraid. we're taking our country back because we are the great grandchildren of the men and women who broke their backs in the name of american ingenuity. the grandchildren of the greatest generation. the sons and daughters of immigrants. the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes.

the neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters. teachers and farmers, veterans and factory workers and everyone in between. who shows up not just on the good days or the bad days and hard days, each and every day. all 365 of them. you see, we are the united states of america. now -- now, now, it's up to us, we must lead the way our citizens live. to lead as my mother insisted i live. not by avoiding truth, especially the hard ones, but by facing up to them and being better for it. we can't afford to do anything less. now, i know this because this was the challenge in new jersey. when i came into office, i could

continue on the same path that led to wealth and job us and people leaving our state. or i could do the job people elected me to do, do the big things. now, there were those who said it couldn't be done, that the problems were too big, too politically charged and too broken to fix. but we were on a path we could no longer afford to follow. now, they said it was impossible. this is what they told me, to cut taxes in a state where taxes will raise 115 times in eightbe. that it was not only to balance the budget at the same time with an $11 billion deficit, but three years later, we have three balanced budgets in a row with lower taxes. we did it. they said it was impossible to

touch the politics, to take on the public sector younes and to reform a health sector that was in bankruptcy. by bipartisan we saved $142 million over 30 years and to save the retirees their benefits. we did it. they said -- they said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. they were just too powerful. a real teacher tenure that demands accountability and ends the guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance, they said it would never happen. but for the first time in 100 years, with bipartisan support, you know the answer, we did it.

now, the disciples of yesterday's politics, they always underestimate the will of the people. they assumed our people were selfish. that when told of the difficult problems, the tough choices and the complicated solutions that they would simply turn their backs. but they would decide it was every man for himself. they were wrong. the people of new jersey stepped up. they shared in the sacrifice. you know what else they did, they rewarded politiauolitician led, instead of politicians who pandered. but, you know, we shouldn't be surprised. we shouldn't be surprised. we've never been a country to shy away from the truth. our history shows that we stand up when it counts.

and it's this quality that has defined america's character and our significance in the world. now, i know this simple truth, and i am not afraid to say it, our ideas are right for america and their ideas have failed america. let me be clear with the american people tonight. here's what we believe as republicans and what they believe as democrats. we believe in telling hard-working families the truth about our country's fiscal realities. telling them what they already know. the math of federal spending does not add up. with $5 trillion in debt added over the last four years we have no other option but to make the hard choices, cut federal spending and fundamentally reduce the size of this government.

want to know what they believe? they believe that the american people don't want to hear the truth about the extent of our fiscal difficulties. they believe the american people need to be coddled by big government. they believe the american people are content to live the lie with them. they're wrong. we believe, in telling our seniors the truth about our overburdened entitlements. we know seniors not only want these programs to survive, but they just as badly want them secured for their grandchildren. our seniors are not selfish. here's what they believe. they believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren. here's what they do. they prey on their vulnerabilities and scare them with misinformation for the single, cynical purpose of

winning the next election. here's their plan. whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power when we fall. now, we believe that the majority of teachers in america know our system must be reformed. to put students first so that america can compete. but teachers don't teach to become rich and famous. they teach because they love children. we believe -- we believe that we should honor and reward the good ones while doing what's best for our nation's future. demanding accountability. demanding higher standards. and demanding the best teacher in every classroom in america.

get ready. get ready. here's what they believe. they believe the educational will always put themselves ahead of children. that self-interests will trump success. they believe in pitting educators over students, lobbyists against children. they believe in teachers' unions. we believe in teachers. we believe -- we believe that if we tell the people the truth, that they will act bigger than the pettiness we see in washington, d.c. we believe it's possible to forge bipartisan compromise and stand up for our conservative principles.

you see, because it's always been the power of our ideas, not our rhetoric that attracts people to our party. we win, but we make it what about needs to be done. we lose when we play along with their game of scaring and dividing. make no mistake about it, everybody, the problems are too big to let the american people lose. slowest economic recovery in decades, a spiraling out of control deficit and an education system that's failing to compete in the world. it doesn't matter how we got here. there's enough blame to go around. what matters is what we do now. see, i know -- i know we can fix our problems. when there are people in the room who care more about doing the jobs they were elected to do

than worrying about winning re-elections, it's possible to work together, achieve politicalle compromise and get results from the people who gave us this in the first place. the people have no patience for any other way anymore. it's simple. we need politicians to more about doing something and less about being something. and believe me, believe me, if we can do this in a blue state like new jersey with a conservative republican governor, washington, d.c. is out of excuses. leadership delivers.

leadership counts. leadership matters. and here's the great news i came here tonight to bring you. we have this leader for america. we have a nominee who will tell us the truth and who will lead with conviction. and now he has a running mate who will do the same, we have governor mitt romney and congressman paul ryan, and we have as president and vice president of the united states. see, you see, because i know mitt romney. i know mitt romney. and mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear. but us back on a path to growth and grate good-paying private sector jobs again in america. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the torrent of debt that is compromising our future and

burying our economy. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an american citizen and her doctor. now, we ended an era about to see leadership without principle or purpose in new jersey. i'm here to tell you it is time to end this era in the oval office and send leaders back to the white house. america needs mitt romney and paul ryan, and we need them right now.

now, we've got to tell each other the truth, right? listen, there is doubt and fear for our future in every corner of our country. i've traveled all over the country. i've seen this myself. these feelings are real. this moment is real. it's a moment like this where some skeptics wonder if american greatness is over. they wonder how those who have come before us had the spirit and tenacity to lead america to a new year of greatness in the face of challenge. not to look around and say not me. but to look around and say, yes, me. i have an answer for the skeptics and naysayers, the dividers and the defenders in the status quo. i have faith in us. i know. i know we can be the men and women our country calls on us to be tonight. i believe in america and her history. and there's only one thing missing now.

leadership. it takes leadership that you don't get from reading a poll. you see, mr. president, real leaders don't follow polls. real leaders change polls. and that's what we need. that's what we need to do now. we need to change polls through the power of our principles. we need to change polls through the strength of our conviction. tonight, our duty is to tell the american people the truth. our problems are big and the solutions will not be painless. we all must share in the sacrifice, and any leader that tells us differently is simply not telling the truth. now, i think tonight -- i think tonight is the greatest generation, we'll look back and marvel at their courage. overcoming the great depression.

fighting nazi tyranny. standing up for freedom around the world. well, now it's our time answer history's call. for make no mistake, every generation will be judged, so will we. what will our children and grandchildren say of us? will they say we buried our heads in the sands, we swayed ourselves with creature problems but our problems were too big and we were too small and someone else should make a difference because we can't. or will they say of us that we stood up and made the tough choices that needed to be made to preserve our way of life? you see, i don't know about you, but i don't want my children or grandchildren to read the history book to read what it was like in the american century in an enormous government that was overtaxed, overspent and overborrowed in a second-class citizenship. i want them to live in a second american century. a second american century.

a second american century of strong economic growth where those who are willing to work hard will have good-paying jobs to support their families and reach their dreams. a second american century will real american exceptionalism is not a political punchline. but it's evident to everyone in the world just by watching how we conduct our business every day and the way americans lend their lives. where values are sure and work ethic is unmatched and our constitution remains a model for anyone in the world struggling for liberty. let us choose a path that will be remembered for generations to come. standing strong for freedom will make the next century a great

american century as the last one. you see, this is the american way. we have never been victims of destiny. we have always been the masters of our own. and i know, i know you agree with me on this, i will not be part of the generation that failed that test, and neither will you. all right. it's now time to stand up. let's stand up. stand up. because there's no time left to waste. if you're willing to stand up with me for america's future, i will stand up with you. if you're willing to fight with me for mitt romney, i will fight with you. if you're willing to hear the truth, hear the truth about the hard road ahead and the rewards

for america, that truth will bear, i'm here to begin with you this new era of truth-telling. tonight, we choose the path that has always combined our nation's history. tonight, we finally and firmly answer the call that so many generations have had the courage to answer before us. tonight, we stand up for mitt romney as the next president of the united states, and together. and together -- and together, everybody, together. we will stand up once again for american greatness for our children and grandchildren. god bless you and god bless america.