Advance excerpts of Romney's convention speech

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The following is a selection of advance excerpts of Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday to the Republican National Convention accepting his party's nomination to face President Barack Obama in the November 6 election:

* Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. ... I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. With your help we will do something. ... Americans have a choice. A decision.

* To make that choice, you need to know more about me and about where I will lead our country. ... Unconditional love is a gift that Ann and I have tried to pass on to our sons and now to our grandchildren.

* My mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. When my mom ran for the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. I can still hear her saying in her beautiful voice, "Why should women have any less say than men, about the great decisions facing our nation?" ... As governor of Massachusetts, I chose a woman lieutenant governor, a woman chief of staff, half of my cabinet and senior officials were women.

* Like a lot of families in a new place with no family, we found kinship with a wide circle of friends through our church. ... 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.

* When I was 37, I helped start a small company. My partners and I had been working for a company that was in the business of helping other businesses. ... That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story.

* Hope and Change had a powerful appeal (on Election Day in 2008). But tonight I'd ask a simple question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's President Obama? You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had, was the day you voted for him.

* Today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us. ... 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.

* 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.

* 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. I am running for president to help create a better future.

* I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs. It has 5 steps. ... By 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables. ... We will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. ... We will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. And when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences. ... We will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget. ... We will champion SMALL businesses.

* President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. MY promise...is to help you and your family.

* We will honor America's democratic ideals because a free world is a more peaceful world.

* The America we all know has been a story of the many becoming one, uniting to preserve liberty, uniting to build the greatest economy in the world, uniting to save the world from unspeakable darkness. ... That America, that united America, will preserve a military that is so strong, no nation would ever dare to test it.

* If I am elected President of these United States, I will work with all my energy and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jim Loney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/advance-excerpts-romneys-convention-speech-034929343.html

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