Romney Concedes Defeat in White House Race

Republican challenger Mitt Romney conceded defeat in the US election early Wednesday, telling supporters that he had called President Barack Obama to congratulate him on his victory.

Published

7 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

US Politics, United States

People

Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Places

United States of America, Boston, Massachusetts

Transcript

SHOTLIST: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, NOVEMBER 6, 2012, SOURCE: POOL **NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** - Romney family on stage SOUNDBITE 1 Mitt Romney (man), defeated Republican presidential candidate (English, 15 sec): "I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory. His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. I wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the First Lady and their daughters." - Romney family on stage SOUNDBITE 2 Mitt Romney (man), defeated Republican presidential candidate (English, 20 sec): "To job creators of all kinds: we're counting on you to invest, to hire this step forward. And we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics. I believe in America. I believe in the people of America." BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, NOVEMBER 6, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 3 Kristen Jowers (woman), Romney supporter and Stay-at-home mother from Salt Lake City, Utah (English, 27 sec): Well, we're devastated, we really thought Mitt was the man for the moment to fix the problems in the country. He really had a skill set that we felt addressed all of the problems that our nation is facing right now. And I really feel like the very people who didn't vote for him are the ones that he actually could have helped the most. - VAR of Romney delivering speech after defeat SOUNDBITE 4 Jordan Parke (woman), stay-at-home mother from Phoenix, Arizona (English, 22 sec): I know Mitt's a good man, I've met him personally and spent time with him and I'm really proud of them. I think they've worked so hard, I think they put their whole hearts into this campaign and I think he really did deserve to win this and should have won but I know that they should hold their heads high because they should be proud of what they accomplished in representing our country. - VAR of Romney delivering speech after defeat - Romney family on stage ------------- AFP TEXT STORY: US-vote-Romney,lead Romney concedes defeat in White House race =(GRAPHIC+PICTURE+VIDEO)= BOSTON, Massachusetts, Nov 7, 2012 (AFP) - Republican challenger Mitt Romney conceded defeat in the US election early Wednesday, telling supporters that he had called President Barack Obama to congratulate him on his victory. "His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations," he said, in a brief address at his election watch party in Boston. "I wish all of them well but particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters." It was a quick, underwhelming end to an 18-month campaign that began on a farm in New Hampshire, survived brutal Republican infighting during the party primaries early this year and a barrage of negative attack ads by the Obama camp, and rose to give the incumbent a serious scare weeks before the election. Romney was neck and neck with the president for a considerable part of the campaign, but despite repeated trips to swing states like Colorado Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa, Obama held on to leads in the battlegrounds, which eventually became the challenger's undoing. As of 1:20 am Wednesday, Obama won 303 electoral votes, compared to 203 for Romney, with only Alaska and the key battleground of Florida outstanding. "This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation," he said, to modest cheers and applause. Several members of Romney's senior staff stood next to the stage, many stone-faced and somber, as the Republican nominee addressed his supporters. Romney returned to a theme that he began injecting into his stump speeches in the closing two weeks of the campaign: the need for greater bipartisanship in Washington. "At a time like this we can't risk partisan bickering and posturing," he said. "Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work and we citizens have to rise to the occasion." Romney also thanked his wife Ann, his tireless surrogate on the campaign trail whom he called "the love of my life." "She would have been a wonderful first lady," he mused, to loud applause. Romney's comments were brief and basic, and it was not immediately clear if he had written a concession speech. Earlier in the day, when asked by reporters on his campaign plane whether he had two speeches ready to go for Tuesday night, he said he was confident of defeating Obama and had penned an 1,118-word victory speech.