Mitt Romney Florida Primary 2012 Victory Speech [FULL TEXT & VIDEO]

By Sara Dover: Subscribe to Sara's RSS feed

February 1, 2012 10:28 AM EST

Mitt Romney cemented his front-runner status with his Florida 2012 primary win Tuesday night, coming ahead of Newt Gingrich with almost half of the vote.

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The former Massachusetts governor garnered 46.4 percent of the vote. Newt Gingrich came in second with 31.9 percent, Rick Santorum in third with 13.4 percent and Ron Paul came in fourth place with 7 percent.

Speaking from Tampa, Romney focused on the policies of President Barack Obama.

"This campaign is about more than replacing a President. It is about saving the soul of America," he said.

Below is the full transcript of his victory speech, as well as video courtesy of The Associated Press.

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Thank you all. To the people of Florida tonight, thank you for this great victory. There are fewer candidates than when the race began, but the three gentlemen left are serious and able competitors. And I congratulate them on another hard-fought contest in this campaign.

Primary contests are not easy - and they're not supposed to be. As this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching. They like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak.

But I've got some news for them: A competitive primary does not divide us; it prepares us. And when we gather here in Tampa seven months from now for our convention, ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for America!

Three years ago this week, a newly elected President Obama faced the American people and said that if he couldn't turn the economy around in three years, he'd be looking at a one-term proposition. We're here to collect.

Since then, we've had 35 months of unemployment over 8 percent. Under this President, Americans have seen more job losses and more home foreclosures than under any President in modern history.

In the last ten days, I met a father who was terrified that this would be the last night his family would sleep in the only home his son has ever known. I've met seniors who thought these would be their best years and now live day to day worried about making ends meet. I've met Hispanic entrepreneurs who thought they had achieved the American Dream and are now seeing it disappear.

In his State of the Union Address, the President actually said, "Let's remember how we got here." Don't worry, Mr. President, we remember exactly how we got here! You won the election!

Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. In another era of American crisis, Thomas Paine is reported to have said, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Mr. President, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it's time for you to get out of the way!

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