My fellow Americans, the President of the United States is a great
man. His story is the American Dream. I am proud he is my President,
and proud to live in these glorious United States of America where his
story is possible.
More important than him being a great man, he is a good man. His love
of country and his love of his beautiful family speak to traditional
American values that conservatives sometimes, wrongly, try to claim as
only their own. Any of us would do well to live up to the example he
has set.
The story of this President is a signal for the whole world, of the
greatness of America. For this, the United States will forever be in
his debt.
All of this is undeniable. So why am I running for President? It is
not to replace him; it is to replace his policies.
While we as Americans may forever be in his debt metaphorically,
because of his policies I am afraid we as Americans may literally be
indebted for generations. The massive borrowing that we are leaving
behind for all our children -- his, mine, and yours -- is a moral
outrage. This President will not change those policies; I will.
The President makes the point that he took over when the economy was
in freefall and that it was impossible to right the ship of state in
just a few years. He is probably right, but that doesn't give him a
free pass. We have to judge whether his decisions and his policies are
the best path to recovery. They are not.
In 2008, the President promised hope and change. Some in my party
ridicule that idea, but I am not one of them. In my favorite movie,
The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufrense tells us "Hope is a good
thing. Maybe the best of things." I wholeheartedly believe that.
Unfortunately, the President has gone from promising hope and change,
to today, just hoping things will change.
But hope is not a plan. Andy Dufresne had hope, but he also had a
plan. When we have 25 million Americans out of work, looking for a
job, you can't just say to them "have hope".
I have a plan to put America back to work. I have a plan to bring the
economy out of its nosedive faster and make it stronger than ever
before. I have a plan, and I have the experience to get it done.
That's why I'm running for President, to replace this good man... with a
good plan. That's real change you can believe in and that is why I am
asking for your vote. Thank you very much.