Transcript of John Kerry's 2004 presidential election concession speech:
Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. I love you. I love you,
thank you. Thank you, thank you so much.
Thank you so much. You just have no idea how warming and how
generous that welcome is, your love is, your affection. And I'm
gratified by it.
I'm sorry that we got here a little bit late and little bit
short.
I spoke to President Bush and I offered him and Laura our
congratulations on their victory.
We had a good conversation, and we talked about the danger of
division in our country and the need - the desperate need for
unity, for finding the common ground, coming together.
Today I hope that we can begin the healing.
In America, it is vital that every vote count, and that every
vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a
protracted legal process. I would not give up this fight if there
was a chance that we would prevail.
But is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are
counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding
votes for us to be able to win Ohio.
And therefore we cannot win this election.
My friends, it was here that we began our campaign for the
presidency and all we had was hope and vision for a better America.
It was a privilege and a gift to spend two years traveling this
country, coming to know so many of you.
I wish that I could just wrap you up in my arms and embrace each
and every one of you individually all across this nation. I thank
you from the bottom of my heart. ...
I will always be particularly grateful to the colleague that you
just heard from who became my partner, my very close friend, an
extraordinary leader, John Edwards.
And I thank him for everything he did.
Thank you, sir.
John and I would be the first to tell you that we owe so much to
our families. They're here with us today. They were with us every
single step of the way. They sustained us.
They went out on their own and they multiplied our campaign all
across this country.
No one did this more with grace and with courage and candor,
that I love, than my wife Teresa, and I thank her.
And our children were there every single step of the way. It was
unbelievable. Vanessa, Alex, Chris, Andre and John from my family,
and Elizabeth Edwards, who is so remarkable and so strong and so
smart.
And Johnny and Kate, who went out there on their own, just like
my daughters did. And also Emma Claire and Jack, who were up beyond
their bedtime last night, like a lot of us.
I want to thank my crewmates and my friends from 35 years ago,
that great band of brothers who crisscrossed this country on my
behalf for 2004.
They had the courage to speak the truth back then and they spoke
it again this year. And for that, I will forever be grateful.
And thanks also, as I look around here, to friends and family of
a lifetime, some from college, friends made all across the years,
and then all across the miles of this campaign.
You are so special. You brought the gift of your passion for our
country and the possibilities of change. And that will stay with us
and with this country forever.
Thanks to Democrats and Republicans and independents who stood
with us, and everyone who voted, no matter who their candidate was.
And thanks to my absolutely unbelievable, dedicated staff lead
by a wonderful campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, who did an
extraordinary job.
There's so much written about campaigns and there's so much that
Americans never get to see.
I wish they could all spend a day on a campaign and see how hard
these folks work to make America better. It is its own unbelievable
contribution to our democracy and it's a gift to everybody, but
especially to me, and I'm grateful to each and every one of you.
And I thank your families and I thank you for the sacrifices
you've made. And to all the volunteers all across this country who
gave so much of themselves. You know, thanks to William Field, a
6-year-old who collected $680 a quarter and a dollar at a time,
selling bracelets during the summer to help change America.
Thanks to Michael Benson from Florida, who I spied in a rope
line holding a container of money and it turned out he had raided
his piggy bank and wanted to contribute.
And thanks to Ilana Wexler, 11 years old, who started Kids for
Kerry all across our country.
I think of the brigades of students and people, young and old,
who took time to travel, time off from work, their own vacation
time, to work in states far and wide. They braved the hot days of
summer and the cold days of the fall and the winter to knock on
door because they were determined to open the doors of opportunity
to all Americans.
They worked their hearts out. And I wish, you don't know how
much, that I could have brought this race home for you, for them.
And I say to them now Don't lose faith. What you did made a
difference.
And building on itself, we go on to make a difference another
day.
I promise you, that time will come, the time will come, the
election will come, when your work and your ballots will change the
world. And it's worth fighting for.
I want to especially say to the American people In this
journey, you have given me the honor and the gift of listening and
learning from you.
I have visited your homes, I visited your churches, I visited
your community halls, I've heard your stories.
I know your struggles, I know your hopes. They are part of me
now.
And I will never forget you and I'll never stop fighting for
you.
You may not understand completely in what ways, but it is true
when I say to you that you have taught me and you have tested me
and you've lifted me up and you've made me stronger.
I did my best to express my vision and my hopes for America. We
worked hard and we fought hard, and I wish that things had turned
out a little differently.
But in an American election, there are no losers, because
whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we
all wake up as Americans.
That is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good
fortune that can come to us on Earth.
With that gift also comes obligation. We are required now to
work together for the good of our country.
In the days ahead, we must find common cause. We must join in
common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or
rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger
measure of compassion.
I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming
years.
I pledge to do my part to try to bridge the partisan divide.
I know this is a difficult time for my supporters, but I ask
them, all of you, to join me in doing that. Now, more than ever,
with our soldiers in harm's way, we must stand together and succeed
in Iraq and win the war on terror.
I will also do everything in my power to ensure that my party, a
proud Democratic Party, stands true to our best hopes and ideals.
I believe that what we started in this campaign will not end
here.
Our fight goes on to put America back to work and to make our
economy a great engine of job growth.
Our fight goes on to make affordable health care an accessible
right for all Americans, not privilege.
Our fight goes on to protect the environment, to achieve
equality, to push the frontiers of science and discovery and to
restore America's reputation in the world.
I believe that all of this will happen, and sooner than we may
think, because we're America, and America always moves forward.
I've been honored to represent the citizens of this commonwealth
in the United States Senate now for 20 years. And I pledge to them
that in the years ahead, I'm going to fight on for the people and
for the principles that I've learned and lived with here in
Massachusetts.
I'm proud of what we stood for in this campaign and of what we
accomplished.
When we began, no one thought it was possible to even make this
a close race.
But we stood for real change, change that would make a real
difference in the life of our nation and the lives of our families.
And we defined that choice to America.
I'll never forget the wonderful people who came to our rallies,
who stood in our rope lines, who put their hopes in our hands, who
invested in each and every one of us. I saw in them the truth that
America is not only great, but it is good.
So with a grateful heart, I leave this campaign with a prayer
that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our
vast country so much better thanks to all of you and what a
privilege it has been to do so.
And that prayer is very simple God bless America.
Thank you.
-Sen. John Kerry's concession speech on Wednesday, as transcribed
by e-Media Millworks Inc.