At the National Conventions, the Words They Used

That ideal is written into our laws, the rules of the road that create a level playing field in this country. Those are the rules I became attorney general to uphold.

President Obama won Wall Street reform to prevent any more tax-funded bailouts. President Obama won credit card reform so you don't get stuck with hidden fees and sudden rate hikes.

Well, I'll tell you who the American dream belongs to. It belongs to the student in Sacramento who doesn't have much money but who goes to bed each night dreaming big dreams.

It belongs to the men and women across this country who know it shouldn't be against the law to marry the person you love. (Cheers, applause.)

That's not our future. That is not our future. (Cheers, applause.) A government has a role in this. But teachers must inspire.

And tonight we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm's way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected.

You're the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home — (cheers, applause)

It saved — it saved more than a million jobs, and not just at GM, Chrysler and their dealerships but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country.

— if they stay with their $5 trillion tax cut plan — in a debt reduction plan? — the arithmetic tells us, no matter what they say, one of three things is about to happen.

They'll cut way back on Pell Grants, college loans, early childhood education, child nutrition programs, all the programs that help to empower middle-class families and help poor kids. Oh, they'll cut back on investments in roads and bridges and science and technology and biomedical research.

You see, you, we, most Americans have incredible faith in the decency and hard work of the American people.

(Cheers, applause.) God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. (Cheers, applause.) God bless you.

(Cheers, applause.) When everything is gone, you continue to hope. As long as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — (cheers, applause)

Hope is the motivation that empowers the unemployed, enabling them to get out of bed every single morning with unbounded enthusiasm as they look for work.

By the time Joaquin and I came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to read and write in both Spanish and English.

We all understand that freedom isn't free. What Romney and Ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity.

He actually understands that all parents want their children to have even better opportunities than they had as a child. This president's education initiatives are helping North Carolina schools and schools across America soar.

He has helped women across this country fight for equal pay for equal work. He understands that women must be guaranteed access to quality, affordable health care and make sure that their insurance coverage pays for those costs with no out-of- pocket costs.

When I look at Dr. Jill Biden, I see someone making the kinds of impact that I want to make.

(Cheers, applause.) Last year he challenged American businesses to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses. He and the first lady got businesses across the private sector to sign on, supported by tax credits for hiring our veterans and wounded warriors.

And President Obama kept his promises. He promised to end the war in Iraq, and he has, and our heroes have come home.

The Romney-Ryan Republicans, however, have walked away from bipartisan efforts to responsible approaches to move this country forward, bringing only more darkness. The architect of the Republicans' backwards blueprint is none other than vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. The Romney-Ryan plan will cut taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent, end the guarantee of Medicare, and it will try to balance the budget on the backs of hardworking Americans.

That's what President Barack Obama did, saving 400,000 educators' jobs and giving states the flexibility to shape their schools.

They heard solutions. They heard an honest description of the choice we face. And tonight they'll hear from a president who's fighting for all of us.

But the choice in this election has nothing to do with parties and everything to do with people — people who believe that a senior needs Medicare more than a millionaire needs a tax cut — (cheers, applause) — and people who believe our president's message to the middle class should be: We're on your side, not: You're on your own.

— and fought alongside of this country's bravest soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. And like all veterans, I swore an oath and promised to defend this great country.

(Boos.) They are changing — they are changing the rules, cutting polling hours and imposing requirement intended to suppress the vote. The Republican leader in the Pennsylvania House even bragged that his state's new voter ID law is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state.

The single biggest cause of our economic collapse was the failure of the Republican right wing — unfortunately, some Democrats joined in — to allow the public sector appropriately to regulate the private sector.

Growing up, I learned from my mama and my neighbors and my church members a certain set of values: Respect your elders; help your neighbors; honor your commitments; stand up for education.

Talk to the student in Worcester who worked hard to finish his degree, and now he's drowning in debt. Their fight is my fight. And it's Barack Obama's fight too. (Cheers, applause.)

And then three decades ago, a friend and I had a big idea for a small business, one that we would start in Seattle, Washington.

It reduces the deficit by more than $4 trillion, cutting spending and asking those at the top to pay the same rates they did under President Clinton — when we created nearly 23 million jobs and balanced the budget.

(Boos.) And too often, the workers ended up in the streets even as Romney and his partners made millions of dollars.

(Cheers, applause.) The president deserves credit for this extraordinary success, and I'm determined to see that he gets it.

(Cheers, applause.) President Obama made the tough call and saved the auto industry.

They say just cut taxes for the wealthiest, get rid of regulations, and job growth — job growth will happen like magic.

In order to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, Governor Romney will cut education for our nation's children.

In the 21st century global economy, prosperity requires leaders committed to creating good jobs by investing in our future: in our ports, roads, bridges, airports; in energy and telecommunications; and in our public schools.

Medicare would become a voucher program, effectively ending the guarantee of health coverage for millions of senior citizens. (Boos.) Medicaid would be slashed, jeopardizing coverage for millions of children, people with disabilities and family members in long-term care.

He would gut President Obama's investments in clean energy. He wants to keep giving 4 billion taxpayer dollars to oil companies every year, the very same companies pouring millions into the outside groups backing his campaign.

Instead of protecting consumers from health insurance abuses, they tried 33 times to repeal those protections even as they kept congressional health care for themselves.

In fact, for half our nation's seniors, it's the only thing standing between them and poverty.

In large part it's because this president, this administration gave ordinary people a leg up: construction jobs afforded by recovery act dollars, better schools pushed by the president's education reform, growing hospitals and health centers and booming life science companies born from national research support.

(Cheers, applause.) Reproductive freedom means economic freedom. (Cheers, applause.) And that's what this debate is all about.

(Cheers, applause.) Our immigration system creates stories like this everyday, good people torn apart, kept from working, paying taxes, serving in the armed forces, keeping us safe.

That's why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help women get equal pay for equal work.

They are slowly but surely lending again, and never again will taxpayers pay — foot the bill for Wall Street's excesses. (Cheers, applause.) In case we forgot, that was the change we believed in, that was the change we fought for, that was the change President Obama delivered.

President Obama is one of those people. A leader with uncommon compassion and uncommon courage, he's earned more than our gratitude.

Knowing we have that net below us to catch us if we fall or if, God forbid, Zoe needs a heart transplant, "Obamacare" provides my family security and relief.

He got us out of Iraq. He got bin Laden. There are thousands more college students who can pay for school because our president got middlemen out of college loans.

Under President Obama's leadership, the United States moved forward with an all-of-the-above energy strategy. Oil and gas, nuclear, hydro, biofuels, wind, geothermal, solar — all of it.

Moving America forward means never going backward on America's great promise of health care for our seniors, Medicare. As a daughter who cared for an elderly parent, I know medical care is not optional for our seniors.

President Obama has walked with our small businesses, our job creators. He knows small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

And so our president has already doubled Pell Grants, raised education standards, invested in research and development at our universities and early childhood education in our neighborhoods. (Cheers, applause.)