Hillary Clinton was gracious in her concession
Hillary Clinton lost the New Hampshire Primary in a landslide that was predicted in the vast majority of the polls but not believed by most. She was very gracious though unapologetically stern in her concession speech. Here is the text to her speech.
Thank you, all, very, very much. My goodness. I don’t know what we’d have done tonight if we actually won. This is a pretty exciting event, and I’m very grateful to all of you. I want to begin by congratulating Senator Sanders on his victory tonight, and I want to thank each and every one of you. And I want to say I still love New Hampshire and I always will.
And here’s what we’re going to do. Now, we take this campaign to the entire country. We’re going to fight for every vote in every state. We’re going to fight for real solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives.
You know, when I started this campaign last spring, I knew we were facing profound challenges as a country. The way too many things were going just wasn’t right. It isn’t right that the kids I met in Flint on Sunday were poisoned because their governor wanted to save money. It isn’t right for a grandmother here in New Hampshire or anywhere else to have to choose between paying rent and buying medicine because a prescription drug company increased the price 4,000 percent overnight. And it isn’t right that a cashier that I met here in New Hampshire is paid less than her son for doing the same work even though she’s been on the job for more years.
Now, people — people have every right to be angry. But they’re also hungry. They’re hungry for solutions. What are we going to do? And that is — that is the fight we’re taking to the country. What is the best way to change people’s lives so we can all grow together? Who is the best change-maker? And here’s what I promise. Here’s what I promise: I will work harder than anyone to actually make the changes that make your lives better.
In this campaign, you’ve heard a lot about Washington and about Wall Street. Now, Senator Sanders and I both want to get secret, unaccountable money out of politics, and let’s remember, let’s remember, Citizens United, one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our country’s history, was actually a case about a right-wing attack on me and my campaign. A right-wing organization took aim at me and ended up damaging our entire democracy.
So, yes, you’re not going to find anybody more committed to aggressive campaign finance reform than me. We also agree — we also agree that Wall Street can never be allowed to once again threaten main street, and I will fight to rein in Wall Street, and you know what, I know how to do it.
So when I tell you no bank could be too big to fail and no executive too powerful to jail, you can count on it. Now, the real differences in this race are truly over, ‘How do we create a future of prosperity, opportunity, and security for all of us?’ We need to build a growth and fairness economy with higher wages and more good-paying jobs — including a bold, national mission to create millions of jobs in clean energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
And we need — we need to unleash, again, the innovation of our entrepreneurs and small businesses (and) make it easier for parents to balance work and family. Close the loopholes in our tax code. Crack down on corporations that game the system. Stop other countries from taking advantage of us with unfair trade practices.
But even all that is not enough. We also have to break through the barriers of bigotry. African-American parents shouldn’t have to worry that their children will be harassed, humiliated, even shot because of the color of their skin. Immigrant families shouldn’t have to lie awake at night listening for a knock on the door. LGBT Americans shouldn’t be fired from their jobs because of who they are or who they love. And let’s finally deliver something long overdo, equal pay for women in this economy. So here’s how I see it. A president has to do all parts of the job for all Americans to make sure nothing holds you back. Not debt, not discrimination, not a deck that’s always stacked for those at the top.
We need to break down those barriers and build ladders of opportunity for every person. That’s how we will build a better tomorrow together, and that has been the cause and work of my life. You know, my family and my faith taught me a simple thing, do all the good in all the ways you can for all the people you can. That’s what called me to a life of service. Just like millions of teachers and nurses and police officers and firefighters and members of our armed services, who get up every day and do the quiet work, the heroic work for all the rest of us.
But when children anywhere in our country go to bed hungry, or are denied a quality education, or who face abuse or abandonment, that diminishes all of us. That’s why I did start my career at the Children’s Defense Fund. That’s why I went undercover in Alabama to expose racism in schools. That’s why I worked to reform juvenile justice in South Carolina. And that is why I went to Flint, Michigan, on Sunday.
When people anywhere in America are held back by injustice, that demands action. That is why I believe so strongly that we have to keep up with every fiber of our being the argument for, the campaign for human rights. Human rights as women’s rights, human rights as gay rights, human rights as worker rights, human rights as voting rights, human rights across the board for every single American. Now, that is who I am. That is what I’ve always done.
I know I have some work to do, particularly with young people, but I will repeat again what I have said this week. Even if they are not supporting me now, I support them. Because I know — I know I’ve had a blessed life, but I also know what it’s like to stumble and fall. And so many people across America know that feeling.
And we’ve learned it’s not whether you get knocked down that matters: It’s whether you get back up. So, my friends, please join me in building on the progress we’ve made under President Obama. Pushing forward every single day for as long as it takes to break down those barriers that hold us back. We’ve got to believe in the basic proposition of our country when all Americans have the chance to succeed, when each of us has the opportunity to live up to our own God-given potential.
Then and only then can America live up to its potential as well. So let me — let me thank all of you. I am very grateful to my wonderful family, knowing they are by my side. Keeps me going every day. To the thousands of volunteers and organizers who called neighbors and knocked on doors in the New Hampshire snow.
To everyone who went to hillaryclinton.com to give what you could, more than 700,000 people have contributed to this campaign. The vast majority giving less than $100. I know that doesn’t fit with the narrative. I know there are those who want to deny the passion and the purpose you all show every day for this campaign, but you are the reason we are here and you are the reason we are going to win the nomination and then win this election together.