You talk about the values that you have whether they're in favor or not in favor. That's how you lead. The reality is, we're losing more and more elections.

This time, instead of moving oceans and healing planets, let's get our bills in order and pay down the debt so we control our own future.

I think the most overused words in our vocabulary in the South are black and white.

John F. Kennedy asked us what we could do for America. This Democratic Party asks what can government give you. Don't worry about paying the bill, it's on your kids and grandkids.

Mitt Romney, happens to have the exact skill set that the next president's going to require.

Sometimes running for Congress is a four-year strategy in terms of getting out there and building a network.

The repeal of racist language in the Constitution of Alabama was and still is a necessary step in the state's ability to progress.

This is just not the Democratic Party we used to know.

And in terms of their crown jewel legislative achievement: who knew that when asked, 'will government impose a new federal mandate requiring middle class Americans to buy health insurance whether they can afford it or not?' The answer would be 'Yes we can!'

And of course, we know that opportunity lies outside the reach of some of our people. We don't need flowery words about inequality to tell us that, and we don't need a party that has led while poverty and hunger rose to record levels to give us lectures about suffering.

As I prepare for this next phase in my life, I ask that people continue to offer the prayers that have protected me thus far. I also pray that I will always see those who are not seen and easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of Washington politics.

Ask yourself if these Democrats still speak for you. When they say we have a duty to grow government even when we can't afford it, does it sound like compassion to you - or recklessness?

Maybe we should have known that night in Denver that things that begin with plywood Greek columns and artificial smoke typically don't end well. Maybe the Hollywood stars and the glamour blinded us a little: you thought it was the glare, some of us thought it was a halo.

Now, America is a land of second chances, and I gather you have room for the estimated 6 million of us who know we got it wrong in 2008 and who want to fix it.

Sometimes in this country, we don't focus a lot on people's experience and their resume. Mitt Romney would be the most experienced executive to be nominated since 1952. The fundamental task for the next president is going to be fixing things, cleaning things up, being a turnaround artist, if you will.

Sure, there's a chunk of African-Americans out there who associate the Republican Party with racism, frankly particularly in the Deep South. It's an unfair perception, but it exists. Over a period time, that perception will die away if Republicans are focusing on issues that happen to impact African-Americans.

The Democratic Party has gotten narrower and it's gotten smaller and it's fundamentally wrong on all the key questions involving the economic future of this country and our hopes of prosperity. And many Americans are beginning to realize that.

The Democrats' ads convince me that Governor Romney can't sing, but his record convinces me he knows how to lead, and I think you know which skill we need more.

This sweet, blessed, God-inspired place called America is a champion that has absorbed some blows. But while we bend, we don't break. This is no dark hour; this is the dawn before we remember who we are.

This week you will nominate the most experienced executive to seek the presidency in 60 years in Mitt Romney. He has no illusions about what makes America great, and he doesn't confuse the presidency with celebrity, or loftiness with leadership.