Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Gabrieli's concession speech

A transcript of Christopher Gabrieli's concession speech:

For the record, I did not take out the trash tonight. So there.

A few minutes ago, I did call Deval Patrick to congratulate him on winning the Democratic Primary for governor. Let's give him a hand. Clearly Deval and his team ran a fabulous campaign and fully earned today's victory. I intend to work hard for Deval in the general election and I call on all of my supporters to rally behind him. A lot's at stake. Now, I did not called Kerry Healey to congratulate her, though she's also feeling victorious tonight. I was saddened, saddened and disappointed by the cynical and dishonest attack ads that Kerry Healey ran to influence the outcome of this Democratic Primary. And all the more so because those ads exploited stem cell research that can really help people, like my friends, the Shays, who are here with us tonight- people with debilitating diseases in their family.

I believe and I know you believe that the people of Massachusetts deserve better than this from anyone who wants to be their governor. Now you might have heard, I'm a results guy, so I have to admit that we did sort of fall short of our goal tonight. But I cannot tell you how grateful and proud I am of all that has been accomplished by you in this room and the great team we built across this state. We got in late, we came on strong, and I feel that we moved the debate. You know, the main result we sought tonight obviously was victory, but none the less, we did get some results. By the end of the campaign, I think many of our ideas and our priorities- even our emphasis on results- started to turn up in some of the other campaigns, and we all know that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Tonight my candidacy ends, but the spirit of this campaign, what you and I have achieved, will live on. A spirit of putting results for people over partisanship. A belief in the creative power of our economy where booming biomedical and energy sectors can simultaneously create jobs and meet pressing human needs. A passionate commitment to promoting innovation and education that will enable our children- all of our children- to succeed in the challenging world ahead.

I have many people to think, starting right now and lasting well beyond this evening. Let me start with my family, represented in part tonight- I don't know if I ever would've gotten Nick's vote- but tonight, they're represented by my wife, whose birthday is today, and also my two oldest children, John and Abigail, by my brother and his wife and if it isn't about life going on, then that little first-born child poking out from that skinny woman tells you what you need to know. And my marvelous in-laws who do what it takes to support every member of our family. I had a great campaign team led by the dynamic duo whose ages added up to just about mine, of Eric and Joe. It was a great blend of youth and experience and you did me and all of us proud. I'm also enormously proud and grateful for the support, incredible support that came from organized labor and a number of them are represented here tonight, and having marched with them in a couple of extraordinary sessions over the last few days and knowing what they did to reach out to their members, I want to single out and mention the car men, and the iron workers and SCIU 888, and the painters and the mail handlers and the Norfolk and Suffolk corrections officers, thank you for your vigorous support. Thank you Bob, thank you Steve, stank you Susannah, thank you.

I didn't have the most elective supporting me, but I had the best and some of them are standing behind me and I want to thank them too. There are more of them than I can name, but the ones standing behind me and the ones who supported me, I thank them very much. And finally, let me thank that amazing group of volunteers and donors- yes, I had donors- you know who you are from across the state who literally, truly you did carry me the whole way. From the battle royale at the convention through the amazing get out the vote efforts of the past few days, your loyalty, your friendship, and trust in me will never be forgotten. I look forward to future times together. So look, yes there's disappointment in my heart and our hearts and I know that. But let's also celebrate the pride in ourselves and our efforts. Let's celebrate the confidence in our purpose. And with those in hand, let us all go back tomorrow to the work of our families, our communities, and our Commonwealth that we love so much. Thank you, my friends, I will never forget what you have done for me. Thank you so much.

Posted by at 10:50 PM

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