by Patrick J. Buchanan – February 20, 1996
“Four years ago, four years ago I stood in this very room when we made history and we have made history again tonight my friends here in New Hampshire.
[Applause]
This is the second time my heart is filled with gratitude tonight, gratitude for the many who helped with this campaign over a long, long year of effort and labor and sacrifice and commitment. It is full of gratitude for the wonderful people of new hampshire, who resisted negative campaigning and nasty attack ads and smears, and all that nonsense. Let them do their worst, we shall do our best.
People in New Hampshire, they voted their hopes, not their fears, their aspirations and dreams, when they stood up to the negativists from inside the Beltway.
[Applause]
and all those fellows with those attack ads, take them on back down to the beltway, we don’t need them up here.
[Applause]
My heart is, we love you, my friend, let me tell you. My heart, my heart is filled with gratitude for another person tonight, another person up here in New Hampshire, Nacky Loeb, Nacky loeb
[cheers]
Nacky Loeb is the political godmother of Pat Buchanan without here and her fighting Union Leader of Joe McQuaid we would not be here tonight, but we are here and we thank them both, my friends.
[Cheers]
Friends, this is not a victory for a man. Again, this a victory for cause. It is the cause of a brand new bold conservatism in American politics; conservatism that gives voice to the voiceless, that speaks up for the right to life of the innocent unborn;
[cheers]
A conservatism, the conservatism that looks out for the men and women of this country whose jobs have been sacrificed on the altars of trade deals done for the benefit of trans-national corporations who have no loyalty to our country, and no loyalty to anybody.
[Cheers]
“This is a victory, a victory for the good men and women of middle America who cannot understand why there is deafness in washington and silence about the fact the standard of living of our working men and women in middle class have been stagnating, while profits have been soaring. They call me names, somebody tonight called me a socialist, they call me “the right,” they can’t figure out where we are: right, left, new deal, where is that fellow?
(Laughter)
he’s some strange creature from the 30’s, no, he’s 60’s, 1700’s, we don’t know where he’s from. Well listen, where we’re coming from, we’re conservatives of the heart, we care about the people. We’re going to give voice to the voiceless. We speak up for those who have no representative. We’re going to go to Washington. We will be a lobbyist for those who don’t have a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
[Cheers]
This new conservatism this is dedicated, this new conservatism is committed to many things, and one thing we’re going to do, we’re going out and after GATT and NAFTA, and we’re going to recapture the lost sovereignty of our country, and we’re going to bring it home.
[Cheers]
We’re going to make America, we’re going to make America the constitutional republic again of our founding fathers’ dreams.
[Cheers]
We speak, we speak for a new generation of Americans, a new generation which is about to take office and assume the leadership of this country, which it does not apologize for the fact that we will defend America’s borders. We do not apologize for the fact that we’re going to take control of our own national destiny, and we do not apologize for the fact that never again will young Americans be put under U.N. command.
[Cheers]
We’re taking back
[Audience: Go Pat go, go Pat go….
You know Pat’s got to get going, we could have those anchors up till midnight if we keep this up fellas.
[Cheers]
Listen, we’re taking back our party, we are on the verge of taking it back as prelude to taking back our country, as prelude to taking back the destiny of America. And I’m, when we get there, my friends, we will only be obedient to one sovereign America, and that is the sovereign of god himself and his laws. God only rules over this country.
[Cheers]
I believe, I believe those of us in this room are the true sons and daughters I believe of the founding fathers. We are their legitimate and rightful heirs. We have never forgotten where we came from. Our heritage goes back to Lexington and Concord and Yorktown and Saratoga, and my friends in this campaign, we have conducted a three-week political campaign that will go down in legend in American political history.
[Applause]
They wrote us off — three weeks ago, “Pat, when are you going to get out of single digits, pat? When are you going to get out of single digits? Bob Dole’s at 50-percent.” We told them, three weeks, stunned them in Alaska. We came out of Alaska, we came out of the tundra, we went down to the bayou of Louisiana, we did it again.
[Applause]
when we drove across those frozen cornfields of Iowa, they said his trade message will never be heard out here. It was heard. And then we came up here, along that river with those red mills there we won it all in Manchester. We’re going on to San Diego, we’re going on to the nomination, we’re going on to the White House.
[Cheers]
You know, we have shown something here tonight, we have shown something here tonight. We have proven to the country. We have proven that passion, let me tell ya we will offer our hand, we will say “Listen, we will keep the doors to this campaign open to only to we keep them to those who do not shut any doors to us.” But we have proven something in this campaign. We have shown that ideas and ideals and conviction, and passion, and fire, and energy, they can beat big money any time.
[Cheers]
they can beat all the money they’ve got.
[Cheers]
That’s what America’s all about.
So tonight, so tonight, we are headed down to South Carolina, from there, we are going out to the Dakotas, I’m gonna go visit Mt. Rushmore, and there’s a spot up on that mountain I’m going to take a look at.
[Laughter and cheers]
Then we’re going on we’re going on to Arizona, where I’m going to conduct a few burials out in Monument Valley.
[cheers]
Decent burials but listen my friends, we have won a tremendous victory here tonight, but we no longer have the element of surprise. We had it in Alaska and Louisiana. All the forces of the old order are going to rally against us. The establishment is coming together, you can hear them right now. The fax machines and phones are buzzing in Washington D.C. We’ve got to get together, somebody’s got to get out and take on this guy, we gotta have one guy take him on. But I’ll tell you what we don’t have time, we need the troops we need the troops we need the troops But I’m telling the folks out in the country. They’re going to come after this campaign with everything they’ve got. Do not wait for orders from headquarters, mount up everybody and ride to the sound of the guns.
[Cheers]
Thank you
[Audience: Go Pat go. Go Pat go]
Listen my friends, I didn’t think there’d ever be a night, I didn’t think I’d ever have a night in American politics like that incredible night in 1992 when we met King George’s army all along the Nashua Manchester Concord line. I didn’t think it would ever be like that again. I thought it was the high water mark of the cause I believed in. We got a higher water mark friends and I’m serious, we got to buckle down and we got to move forward. We got to move forward with strength and courage and conviction and take what they’re going to deliver to us. We know what they’re going to do to us. They’re coming at us every way, but you stay with me say your prayers about this cause and campaign. I promise you I will lead as long as can and as hard as I can and as far as I can, until we drop the torch and someone else picks it up.
Thank you all and god bless you”
[Cheers from audience: Go Pat go…..]