Christie's Big Night: Excerpts From Keynote Speech

There’s only one thing missing now. Leadership. It takes leadership that you don’t get from reading a poll. You see, Mr. President – real leaders don’t follow polls. Real leaders change polls.

So proud of New Jersey and our non-nonsense Governor. Everywhere I go people ask me about him; tell me they admire him; say they want him to run for higher office. When I tell them that I know him, they want to know all about him. Everywhere I go I hear this. In my lifetime, there's never been so much interest in and focus on New Jersey. It's great for our state.
Here are some more cogent excerpts from the Governor's speech last night:

In the automobile of life, Dad was just a passenger. Mom was the driver.

The greatest lesson Mom ever taught me, though, was this one: she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. She said to always pick being respected, that love without respect was always fleeting -- but that respect could grow into real, lasting love.

Our leaders today have decided it is more important to be popular, to do what is easy and say “yes,” rather than to say no when “no” is what’s required.
In recent years, we as a country have too often chosen the same path.
It’s been easy for our leaders to say not us, and not now, in taking on the tough issues. And we’ve stood silently by and let them get away with it.
But tonight, I say enough.

Now we must lead the way our citizens live. To lead as my mother insisted I live, not by avoiding truths, especially the hard ones, but by facing up to them and being the better for it.

They believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren. So they prey on their vulnerabilities and scare them with misinformation for the cynical purpose of winning the next election.
Their plan: whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power.

They believe in teacher’s unions.
We believe in teachers.

It’s simple.
We need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something.

It’s time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House.
America needs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and we need them right now.

We have never been victims of destiny.
We have always been masters of our own.
I won’t be part of the generation that fails that test and neither will you.
It’s now time to stand up. There’s no time left to waste.