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Transcript of Ann Romney's speech at the Republican National Convention

Excerpts from the full transcript published at FoxNew

Published August 28, 2012

   …Well, I want to talk to you tonight not about politics and
not about party.  And while there are many important issues that
we will hear discussed in this convention and throughout this
campaign tonight, I want to talk to you from my heart about our
hearts.

   (APPLAUSE)

   I want to talk about not 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 that 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, nights are
always long, and whose work never seems done.

   They're here among us tonight in this hall.  They are here
in neighborhoods across Tampa and all across America.  The
parents who lie awake at night, side by side, wondering how they
will be able to pay the mortgage or make the rent.

   The single dad who is working extra hours tonight so that
his kids can buy some new clothes to go back to school, can take
a school trip or play a sport so his kids can feel, you know,
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 is just out of the question with this economy.

   Or how about that couple who would like to have another
child but wonder how they will afford it?  I have been all
across this country and I know a lot of you guys.

   (APPLAUSE)

*****

   You are the ones that have to do a little bit more and you
know what it is like to earn a little bit harder earn the
respect you deserve at work and then you come home to help with
the book report just because it has to be done.

   You know what those late-night phone calls with an elderly
parent are like, and those long weekend drives just to see how
they're doing.

   You know the fastest route to the local emergency room and
which doctors actually answers the phone call when you call at
night, and by the way, I know all about that.

   You know what it is like to sit in that graduation ceremony
and wonder how it was that so many long days turned into years
that went by so quickly.  You are the best of America.

   (APPLAUSE)

   You...

   (APPLAUSE)

   You are the hope of America.  There would not be an America
without you.  Tonight, we salute you and sing your praises!

   (APPLAUSE)

   I am not sure if men really understand this, but I don't
think there is a woman in America who really expects her life to
be easy. In our own ways, we all know better.  You know what,
and that's fine. We don't want easy.  But the last few years
have been harder than they needed to be.  It is all the little
things, the price of the pump you could not believe and the
grocery bills that just get bigger, all those things that used
to be free, like school sports are now one more bill to pay.

   It's all the little things become the big things.  And the
big things, the good jobs, the chance at college and the home
you want to buy just get harder.  Everything has become harder.
We're too smart and know that there are no easy answers, but
we're not dumb enough to accept that there are not better
answers.

   (APPLAUSE)

*****

   It's true -- it's true that Mitt's been successful at each
new challenge he has taken on.  You know what, it actually
amazes me to see his history of success being attacked.  Are
those really the values that made our country great?

   (AUDIENCE MEMBER):  No.

   ROMNEY:  As a mom of five boys, do we want to to raise our
children to be afraid of success?

   (AUDIENCE MEMBER):  No.

   ROMNEY:  Do we send our children out in the world with the
advice try to do OK?

   (AUDIENCE MEMBER):  No.

*****

   But because this is America, that small company which grew
has helped so many lead better lives, the jobs that grew from
the risk they took have become college educations and first
homes.  That success has helped scholarships, pensions and
retirement funds.  This is the genius of America.  Dreams
fulfilled, help others launch new dreams.

   (APPLAUSE)

   At every turn in his life, this man that 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 to
unemployment at just 4.7 percent. Under Mitt, Massachusetts'
school for the best in the nation.  The best.

   (APPLAUSE)

   He started something that I really love.  He started the
John and Abigail Adams scholarship which gives the top 25
percent of high- school graduates a four-year tuition-free
scholarship.

   (APPLAUSE)

   This is the man America needs.

   (APPLAUSE)

   This is a man who will wake up every day with the
determination to solve the problems that others say cannot be
solved, to fix what others say 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 a mother and a
grandmother, an American, and make you this solemn commitment.

   This man will not fail.

Message clipped…

Get the full transcript plus other convention news at Fox News.com