At the National Conventions, the Words They Used
by Democrats
by Republicans
by Democrats and Republicans
Excerpts from Democrats
Democrats mentioned various topics
some number of times per 25,000 words
And every one of us — every one of us and every one of them, we're compelled to spend our fleeting lives between those two extremes, knowing we're never going to be right all the time and hoping we're right more than twice a day.
(Cheers, applause.) And Joe Biden — Joe Biden did a great job with both. (Sustained cheers, applause.)
It will cut your gas prices in half, your gas bill. No matter what the price is, if you double the mileage of your car, your bill will be half what it would have been.
It will gobble up a bigger and bigger percentage of the federal budget we'd rather spend on education and health care and science and technology. It — we've got to deal with it.
Now, I think this plan is way better than Governor Romney's plan. First, the Romney plan failed the first test of fiscal responsibility.
— and doubled the debt in the eight years after I left, because it defied arithmetic. (Laughter, applause.) It was a highly inconvenient thing for them in our debates that I was just a country boy from Arkansas, and I came from a place where people still thought two and two was four.
It's arithmetic. We simply cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double down on trickle down.
(Cheers, applause.) Now, I've cut taxes for those who need it — (cheers, applause)
We're not entitled to success. We have to earn it. We honor the strivers, the dreamers, the risk- takers, the entrepreneurs who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system, the greatest engine of growth and prosperity that the world's ever known.
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)
Thank you, God bless you and God bless these United States. (Cheers, applause.)
There are a number that interest me, like why it is that so many Republicans are afraid that my marriage will threaten theirs. (Cheers, applause.)
Romney, because of his private business experience, is a superior job creator and that if we elect him president, he will use those great private-sector skills as the chief executive to bring many more jobs.
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. I want a strong financial community.
— when I look back now, when I look back on the president's decision, I think of another son of another automobile man, Mitt Romney. Mitt — no, no — Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney grew up in Detroit.
But what did you do as Americans? What you've always done. You didn't lose faith. You fought back. You didn't give up; you got up.
(Cheers, applause.) Taxes up, cost of college up, debt up — now, help me out here. New business starts down.
And thanks to the courage of American special forces and the bold leadership of our president, Osama bin Laden's at the bottom of the ocean. (Cheers, applause.)
That's why they didn't talk about their plan to cut taxes for millionaires by raising taxes on middle-class families with kids — on your family — by $2,000.
In the days and weeks ahead, we're going to register more voters, knock on more doors, get out more votes for this party and this president.
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.
It's wrong. But that's the Romney-Ryan budget. It isn't conservative. It's harsh.
You see, this election is a choice, a choice about whether to go backward or forward.
President Obama knows that only by coming together, only by embracing our shared responsibilities can we meet the tough challenges ahead, challenges like mobilizing an advanced energy revolution and creating jobs, like making America an energy leader.
Well, we believe in an economy that grows opportunity out to the middle class and the disenfranchised, not just up to the well- connected. We believe that freedom means keeping government out of our most private affairs, including out of a woman's decision whether to keep an unwanted pregnancy, and everybody's decision about whom to marry.
This is the president who ended "don't ask, don't tell" so that love of country, not love of another, determines fitness for service, who made equal pay for equal work the law of the land. (Sustained cheers, applause.)
Whether they are issues of war and peace or great economic matters, be they popular or unpopular, only a president can make those most difficult choices.
In just four short years, he has worked to avert economic calamity, brought a dignified end to the ill-conceived war in Iraq and signed into law historic health care reform — a dream that was already decades overdue when I called for it at this convention 36 years ago.
And they did. (Cheers, applause.) Come and meet the working families all across America who now have a chance for affordable health care.
Today and every day, our military men and women serve our country with their actions and their deeds.
(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.
And it's the same way we financed my son's college education. It's the same way middle-class parents everywhere do it.
— educating a workforce that fuels our economy. Our country needs that same forward-looking leadership now more than ever. The solutions of yesterday won't get us where we need to go.
(Cheers, applause.) I grew up — I grew up in the Methodist church and taught Sunday school. And one of my favorite passages of scripture is, "In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matthew 25:40.
And that's why we want to be part of an economy built to last. (Cheers, applause.) Some of my friends in corporate America say that they need a government that gets off the backs of businesses.
Now, some companies succeed — some companies succeed, others fail. I know that. But I also know this. We don't need a president who fires steelworkers, or says let Detroit go bankrupt.
A plan to invent — invest in education, a plan to invest in manufacturing and a plan to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.
Now, it's my honor to introduce one of the leaders in my community who is fighting for him. From her televised show to her magazines to her radio network, she is truly an icon.
So he took action. Right away, President Obama cut small business taxes, not once or twice, but 18 times. (Cheers, applause.)
(Cheers, applause.) He provided hope — he provided hope when there was none, and he has transformed that hope into a plan rooted in reality.
He also didn't tell you that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to end the Medicare guarantee and turn it into a voucher, which would leave seniors with the increased costs.
And by cutting waste, fraud and abuse, we've added years to Medicare's life. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the Republicans derisively call that "Obamacare." News flash to the Republicans, Obama does care.
We open-source. They outsource. We welcome the immigrants who build our businesses. Romney wants them to self-deport. We're building an economy to last.
The American dream is why President Obama has enacted 18 small- business tax cuts and numerous measures to help these businesses access the credit they need to invest, hire and grow. The American dream is why President Obama did what no president before has been able to do: ensure health care for all Americans.
Three years ago, the House passed the Paycheck Fairness Act to level the playing field for women in America. The Senate Republicans blocked it.
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.
That's why companies that Romney invested in were dubbed "outsourcing pioneers." Now, you know our nation was built by pioneers, pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home. (Cheers, applause.) Mitt Romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled, let Detroit go — Detroit go bankrupt.
(Cheers, applause.) There was the day the Supreme Court upheld "Obamacare." (Cheers, applause.) Like so many moms with sick children, I shed tears, and I could breathe easier.
And now that I have graduated, I have a job as director of veterans affairs at Xavier. The GI Bill keeps opening doors for me.
It was President Nixon who first talked about the term "energy independence." Yet, until President Obama took charge, no president had been so successful in helping America make real strides towards a secure and independent energy future.
— yes! Yes! (Cheers, applause.) The Fair Pay Act, to give victims of pay discrimination their day in court, was the first bill that President Barack Obama signed into law.
(Cheers, applause.) The Democratic women of the House standing here will honor the service and sacrifice of our troops to move America forward.
When I was governor during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Virginia maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in America. We kept our AAA bond rating.
And that's why firefighters support President Obama and Vice President Biden, because they have our backs, and it's our turn to have theirs.
When it comes to Medicare, the truth is that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to break the fundamental guarantee of Medicare and turn it into a voucher program and ship the cost to our seniors. When it comes to our country's immigration policies, the truth is that Mitt Romney has embraced the racial profiling policies of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
And today — and today our businesses, industries, entrepreneurs and economy realize a return on those investments. Let us not fall prey to the rhetoric that seeks to gut investment and starve our nation of critical, common-sense building for our future.
He invested in clean energy, and enacted the broadest tax cut in history, reducing taxes on the middle class to near historic lows. (Applause.) And he saved the American auto industry.
Excerpts from Republicans
Republicans mentioned various topics
some number of times per 25,000 words
(Laughter.) Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account.
You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with the new law and new taxes on nearly a small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn't have enough money.
So they just took it all away from Medicare — $716 billion funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. (Boos.) An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for anew entitlement we didn't even ask for.
The issue is not the economy that Barack Obama inherited, not the economy that he envisions but this economy that we are living.
We will not duck the tough issues. We will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others. We will take responsibility.
And if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. It's how it is, isn't it?
We were very young, both still in college. There were many reasons to delay marriage. And you know what? We just didn't care.
He has tried to live his life with a set of values centered on family, faith and love of one's fellow man. From the time we were first married, I've seen him spend countless hours helping others.
I've seen him drop everything to help a friend in trouble, and been there when late-night calls of panic come from a member of our church whose child has been taken to the hospital.
I can't tell you what will happen over the next four years, but I can only stand here tonight as a wife and a mother and a grandmother, an American, and make you this solemn commitment: This man will not fail. (Cheers, applause.) This man will not let us down.
They came not just in pursuit of the riches of this world, but for the richness of this life, freedom, freedom of religion — (applause) — freedom to speak their mind — (applause)
When every new wave of immigrants looked up and saw the Statue of Liberty or knelt down and kissed the shores of freedom just 90 miles from Castro's tyranny, these new Americans surely had many questions.
Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order and Seal Team 6 took out Osama bin Laden. (Cheers, applause.) On another front, every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran's nuclear threat.
(Cheers, applause.) They lived and died under a single flag, fighting for a single purpose. They pledged allegiance to the United States of America.
That starts with a strong economy, a smart energy policy, lower deficits and a president who puts America's workers and job creators first. But to have a great future, a secure future, a future that is equal to our potential as a nation, we need to do something else.
Of 34 advanced nations in the world, American students rank 17th in science, 25th in math. Only one quarter of high school graduates are ready for their next steps.
Here in Florida, in 1999 we were at the bottom of the nation in education. For the last decade the state has been on a path of reform.
Worse, they've lost their hope. And their lost hope is why we need a big change this November.
Republican governors lead seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates. And 12 of the 15 states that have been ranked best for business have Republican governors.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce one of those hardworking job creators that I was just talking about. Bev Gray is president and CEO of Exhibit Edge in Chantilly, Virginia.
There's so many to choose from: the stimulus, his energy policy, "Obamacare," taxes, Joe Biden. (Laughter.) Now, I hear Joe's particularly interested in tonight's proceedings.
When I traveled the country these past few years, I met Americans from all different walks of life. If you ask middle-class Americans about their hopes and their dreams, they'll share their heart but also their concerns.
Folks, we are as beholden to China for bonds as we are to the Middle East for oil. This will end under Mitt Romney. (Cheers, applause.)
(Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, we need new leadership and new policies to bring back the dream and renew America's promise.
Now out-of-control spending, crushing debt, job-destroying regulations — they threaten our children's future. We have more government than ever before.
Thank you so much, and God bless. (Cheers, applause.)
We're special — we're special because we've never made the mistake of believing that we are so smart that we can rely solely on our leaders or on our government — our national motto, "In God we trust," reminding us that faith in our creator is the most important American value of them all.
Our journey began when Mitt asked a small group of us to help him start an investment firm called Bain Capital. (Cheers, applause.)
(Applause.) We must not allow the chance to attain energy independence to slip from our grasp. We are blessed with a gift of oil and gas resources here in North America, and we must develop them.
But it was an experiment in recognizing God-given individual liberty and creating a government in which no one is deemed better than another and in which all of us are equal, not equal in abilities but equal in intrinsic worth and value.
The court agreed that the Constitution does not allow the federal government to force states to adopt a budget-busting expansion of Medicaid.
I hate to say it, but that dream is in serious jeopardy. We have a sluggish economy burdened by Obama administration policies that are weighing down our job creators.
Twenty-seven years ago, this California boy was introduced to ski racing at the first Veterans Administration winter sports clinic. I decided then and there to dedicate to my life to racing and coaching other injured veterans.
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.
Tell it to you this way: In the automobile of life, dad was just a passenger. Mom was the driver.
(Cheers, applause.) And not too long ago, The Wall Street Journal said anyone still thinking the U.S.
Unfortunately, President Obama's campaign is trying to divide America, to separate us into groups, telling seniors Medicare will be taken away, telling Hispanics that we're not welcome here and sending the vice president to preach a message of division.
I have heard the same story from other small businesses all over the country. President Obama talks like he supports small businesses, but his actions are destroying us.
Let us tell them that we helped elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to save America. Thank you. (Cheers, applause.)
Can you even believe it? We not only need to balance budgets, we need to cut taxes, not raise them, to get on the right track.
We make umpire vests for Little Leagues, products for the men and women that serve our country, restaurant seats for pizza chains and protective gear for our allies in the Israeli military. (Cheers, applause.) We're actually taking work away from Chinese and Mexican competitors and bringing it back to Delaware.
Yes, like grow the government to unbelievable and unsustainable heights, and accumulate historic and catastrophic debt. Patrick Henry said, "give me liberty, or give me death." (Applause.)
We are paying more for health care and getting less choice. There is a war on young people, a war on paychecks and a war on our ability to succeed.
Well, which war? Which women? Is it the 850,000 women who have lost their jobs under President Obama? Or the women whose family household income has dropped by $4,300 since this president — (audio break).
Our job is to encourage American citizens to register and vote Republican. (Cheers, applause.) With over 4 million Americans living overseas, it is often a challenge to convince overseas voters that their vote matters.
Along the nearly 800 miles of U.S.-Mexico border that I serve, farmers, small businesses and families are striving to live the American dream. Whether you are a seventh-generation American or a first-generation immigrant coming to seek a better life, like my parents were, we all want the opportunity to succeed. Unfortunately, Barack Obama is burdening us with destructive debt, punishing taxes and rubbing — robbing us of the opportunity to succeed.
(Cheers, applause.) And together, we are going to fight to save your job. Thank you very much. (Cheers, applause.)
We have more doubt, families don't know how much "Obamacare" will cost them, and businesses don't know what new regulations will burden them and we have more despair.
And Washington can do the same. By cutting spending, reducing the red tape, we can unleash our small businesses to create jobs.
He believes that the path forward is more important than the place where we began.
I'm a wife. I'm the mother of three grown sons. I'm a rancher and a small-business owner and a citizen legislator. Becoming U.S.
I am thrilled to add Utah's voice in support for Mitt Romney. (Cheers, applause.)