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November 2, 2004 Excerpts from Alan Keyes' concession speech
But in keeping with the spirit of this campaign, I think that we must face hard truths this evening, and those hard truths include the fact that, however often this one or that one invokes the unity of our nation, that unity was founded and will only be maintained upon our allegiance to the principles that have defined our rights, that have defined our character, that have defined justice for us as a people If I have done but one thing in the course of this campaign, it was done with this purpose: to make sure that from this moment forward, others would move with pride and with courage to stand under the banner of that truth and to invoke in our political life the truth that our rights come not from man, not from constitutions, not from presidents and judges and human choice, but from Almighty God. And that truth has inescapable consequences We are, as a people in America, like the kings in the Old Testament, like indeed all the sovereigns who have ruled nations here and there upon the earth But even as they were, so we can be, corrupted by those who whisper in our ears that only our passions matter, that only our desires matter, that only our choices rule. But those who succumb to those siren-song words of flattery are leading a people down the road of its own destruction. And that, sadly, is, in America now, the road that we are on. I will say now, as I have said throughout this campaign, we will not preserve our freedom until we have restored respect for innocent life in the womb. We will not rebuild the true strength of our communities and of our schools and maintain the true strength of our economy until we have learned, once and for all, that we cannot afford to abandon that plan of procreation which is the only sound basis of marriage and the family. We must stick to our traditions. And tonight, whatever else may seem to be true, this we know: there are those who are willing to lie to the American people, to lie to the people of Illinois, and to say, “Alan Keyes stands for traditional marriage, and stands outside the mainstream of public opinion in America.” But I have news for them all, which we have seen before, and will see again: in every state where this issue is before the people tonight, they stand with Alan Keyes. They stand with the Republican Party. And that is why we shall continue. For, we know this truth: that the heart of America is not corrupted, that the conscience of America is not dead, that even here, here, in what some had called the very depth and heart of corruption and a lack of integrity, we have found that saving remnant that will continue to move forward, until we have taken this state back in the name of conscience, in the name of dignity! |
