BIDEN: Hello, my fellow Democrats!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And my favorite Democrat.
Jilly, I want you to know that Beau and Hunt
and Ashton and I, we're so incredibly proud
of you.
You know, we admire the way with every single
solitary young person, and they're not all
young, walking to your classroom.
You not only teach them, you give them confidence.
You give me confidence.
And the passion -- the passion she brings
trying to ease the burden on the families
of our warriors.
Jilly, they know you understand them, and
that makes a gigantic difference.
[APPLAUSE]
And folks, I tell you what.
It was worth the trip to hear my wife say
what I've never heard her say before.
She's always loved me.
[LAUGHTER]
If that's the case, why in the heck did it
take five times of asking you?
And that’s true.
Five times!
I don't know what I would have done--kiddo
had you, on that fifth time said no.
I love you.
You’re the love of my life and the life
of my love.
[APPLAUSE]
We've got three incredible kids.
And Beau, I want to thank you for putting
my name in nomination to be Vice President
of the United States.
I accept.
I accept.
[EXTENDED CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
With great honor and pleasure, I accept.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
Thank you, my fellow Democrats.
And I say to my fellow Americans -- my fellow
Americans, four years ago, a battered nation
turned away from the failed policies of the
past, and turned to a leader who they knew
would lift our nation out of the crisis.
A journey -- a journey we haven't finished
yet.
We know we still have more to do.
But today, I say to my fellow citizens, in
the face of the deepest economic crisis in
our lifetime, this generation of Americans
has proven itself as worthy as any generation
before us.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
For we posses that same grit, that same determination,
that, that same courage that has always defined
what it means to be an American, has always
defined all of you.
Together, we're on a mission -- we're on a
mission to move this nation forward.
From doubt and downturn to promise and prosperity.
A mission I guarantee you we will complete.
A mission we will complete.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]
Folks, tonight, what I really want to do is
tell you about my friend Barack Obama.
[APPLAUSE]
No one could tell it as well or as eloquently
as Michelle.
As you did last night, Michelle, on Monday
night.
But I know him.
To state the obvious from a different perspective.
I know him, and I want to show you -- I want
to show you the character of leader who had
what it took when the American people who
literally stood on the brink of a new depression.
A leader that has what it takes to lead us
over the next four years to a future as great
as our people.
I want to take you inside the White House
to see the president as I see him every day.
Because I don't see him in sound bites.
I walk 30 paces down the hall into the Oval
Office and I see him, I watch him in action.
Four years ago, the middle class was already
losing ground.
And then, the bottom fell out.
The financial crisis hit like a sledgehammer.
On all the people I grew up with.
You remember the headlines.
You saw some of them in the previews.
Highlight: highest job losses in 60 years.
Headlines: “Economy on the brink.”
“Markets, plummet worldwide.”
From the very moment President Obama sat behind
the desk, resolute in the Oval Office, he
knew -- he knew he had not only to restore
the confidence of a nation, but he had to
restore the confidence of the whole world.
[APPLAUSE]
And he also knew -- he also knew, that one
-- one false move could bring a run on the
banks or credit collapse, to put another several
million people out of work.
America and the world needed a strong president
with a steady hand, and with the judgment
and vision to see us through.
Day after day, night after night, I sat beside
him as he made one gutsy decision after the
other to stop the slide and reverse it.
[SCATTERED APPLAUSE]
I watched him stand up to intense pressure
and stared down enormous -- enormous challenges,
the consequences of which were awesome.
But most of all, I got to see first-hand what
drove this man.
His profound concern for the average American.
He knew -- he knew that no matter how tough
the decisions he had to make were in that
Oval Office, he knew that families all over
America sitting at their kitchen tables were
literally making decisions for their family
that were equally as consequential.
You know, Barack and I, we have been through
a lot together these four years.
And we learned about one another.
A lot about one another.
One of the things I learned about Barack is
the enormity of his heart and I think he learned
about me, the depth of my loyalty to him.
[APPLAUSE]
And there's another thing -- another thing
that has bound us together these past four
years.
We had a pretty good idea of what all those
families -- all you Americans in trouble were
going through.
In part because our own families had gone
through similar struggles.
Barack, as a young man, he had to sit at the
end of his mother's hospital bed, and watch
her fight with their insurance company at
the very same time she was fighting for her
life.
When I was a young kid in third grade, I remember
my Dad coming up the stairs in my grandpop's
house where we were living, sitting at the
end of my bed, and saying, “Joey, I'm going
to have to leave for a while.
Going down to Wilmington, Delaware with Uncle
Frank, there are good jobs down there honey,
and in a little while, I will be able to send
for you and mom and Jimmy and Val, and everything
is going to be fine.”
For the rest of our lives, my sister and my
brothers -- for the rest of our lives, my
dad never failed to remind us that a job is
about a lot more than a paycheck.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERS]
It is about your dignity.
It's about respect.
It's about your place in the community.
[EXTENDED APPLAUSE]
It's about being able to look your child in
the eye and say, “Honey, it's going to be
OK”, and mean it and know it's true.
[APPLAUSE]
When Barack and I -- when Barack and I were
growing up, there was an implicit understanding
in America.
That if you took responsibility, you’d get
a fair shot at a better life.
And the values behind that bargain, were the
values that have shaped both of us and many,
many of you.
And today those same values are Barack's guiding
star.
Folks, I've watched him.
He has never wavered, he never, never backs
down.
[APPLAUSE]
He always steps up and he always asks in every
one of those critical meetings the same fundamental
question, “How is this going to affect the
average American?
How is this going to affect people's lives?”
That's what is inside this man.
That's what makes him tick.
[EXTENDED CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
That's who he is.
And folks, because of the decisions he's made,
and the incredible strength of the American
people, America has turned a corner.
The worst job loss since the Great Depression,
we've since created 4.5 million private-sector
jobs in the last 29 months.
[APPLAUSE]
Look though, president -- President Obama
and Governor Romney, they're both -- they're
both loving husbands, they're both devoted
fathers.
But let's be straight, they bring a vastly
different vision and a vastly different value
set to the job.
[APPLAUSE]
And tonight -- tonight, although you've heard
people talk about it, I'm going to talk about
two things from a slightly different perspective.
From my perspective.
I like to focus on two crises and show you
-- show you the character of leadership that
each man will bring to this job.
Because as I've said, I have had a ringside
seat.
The first of these, a lot has been talked
about and God love Jennifer Branham.
Wasn't she great?
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Wasn't she great?
I love Jennifer.
But the first story I want to talk to you
about is the rescue of the automobile industry.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah!
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And let me tell you
let me tell you, from this man's ringside
seat, let me tell you about how Barack Obama
saved more than a million American jobs.
In the first -- in the first days, literally,
the first days that we took office, General
Motors and Chrysler were literally on the
verge of liquidation.
If the president didn't act -- if he didn't
act immediately, there wouldn't be any industry
left to save.
So we sat hour after hour in the oval office.
Michelle remembers how it must of -- what
he must have thought when he came back upstairs.
We sat, hour after hour.
We listened to Senators, Congressmen, outside
advisers, even some of our own advisers, we
listen to them to say some of the following
things.
They said, well we shouldn't step up.
The risks -- the risks were too high.
The outcome was too uncertain.
And the president, he patiently sat there
and he listened.
But he didn't see it the way they did.
He understood something they didn't get, and
one of the reasons I love him.
He understood that this wasn't just about
cars, it was about the people who built and
made those cars.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And about the America that those people built.
In those meetings -- in those meetings -- in
those meetings, I often thought about my dad.
My dad was an automobile man.
He would have been one of those guys all the
way down the line, not on the factory floor,
not along the supply chain, but one of those
guys who were selling American cars to American
people.
I thought about -- I thought about what this
crisis would have meant for the mechanics
and the secretaries and the salespeople who
my dad managed for over 35 years.
And I know for certain -- I know for certain
that my dad, were here today, he'd be fighting
like heck for the president, because the president
fought to save the jobs of those people my
dad cared so much about.
[APPLAUSE]
Ladies and gentlemen, my dad -- my dad respected
Barack Obama -- would have respected Barack
Obama had he been around, for having had the
guts to stand up for the automobile industry
when so many others just were prepared to
walk away.
You know, when I look back -- when I look
back now -- when I look back on the president's
decision, I think of another son of another
automobile man.
Mitt Romney -- no, no-- Mitt Romney -- Mitt
Romney grew up in Detroit.
My dad managed, his dad owned -- well his
dad ran an entire automobile company, American
Motors.
Yes, what I don't understand – is that and
in spite of that, he was willing to let Detroit
go bankrupt.
I don't think he's a bad guy.
No -- no, no, I don't think he's a bad guy.
I am sure he grew up loving cars as much as
I did.
But what I don't understand -- what I don't
think he understood -- I don't think he understood
that saving the automobile worker, saving
the industry, what it meant to all of America,
not just autoworkers.
I think he saw it the Bain way – no I mean
this sincerely.
I think he saw it in terms of balance sheets
and write offs.
Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the
highest profits, but it is not the way to
lead our country from the highest office.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
When things -- when things -- when things
hung in the balance -- when things hung in
the balance, I mean literally hung in the
balance, the president understood this was
about a lot more hope than the automobile
industry.
This was about restoring America's pride.
He understood -- he understood in his gut
what it would mean to leave a million people
without hope or work if he didn't act.
And he also knew -- he also knew, he intuitively
understood the message that it would have
sent around the world if the United States
gave up on an industry that helped put America
on the map in the first place.
[APPLAUSE]
Conviction.
Resolve.
Barack Obama.
That is what saved the automobile industry.
[APPLAUSE]
Conviction.
Resolve.
Barack Obama.
Look, you heard my friend John Kerry.
This president -- this president has shown
the same result, the same steady hand in his
role as commander in chief.
Look -- which brings me to the next illustration.
The next crisis he had to face.
In 2008, before he was president, Barack Obama
made a promise to the American people.
He said, ``If I have -- if we have bin Laden
in our sights, we will -- we will take him
out.''
He went on to say -- he went on to say, ``That
has to be our biggest national security priority.''
Look, Barack understood that the search for
Bin Laden was about a lot more than taking
a monstrous leader off the battlefield.
It was about more than that.
It was about righting an unspeakable wrong.
Literally, it was about healing an unbearable
wound -- a nearly unbearable wound in America's
heart.
And he also knew -- he also knew the message
we had to send around the world.
If you attack innocent Americans, we will
follow you to the end of the earth!
[APPLAUSE]
Look, most of all, President Obama had an
unyielding faith in the capacity and the capability
of our special forces.
Literally, the finest warriors in the history
of the world.
[APPLAUSE]
The finest warriors in the history of the
world.
So we sat -- 
we sat originally only five of us.
We sat in the situation room beginning in
the fall of the year before.
We listened, we talked, we heard, and he listened,
to the risk and reservations about the raid.
He asked again the tough questions, he listened
to the doubts that were expressed.
But when Admiral Mcraven looked him in the
eye and said, ``sir, we can get this job done''.
I sit next to him and I looked at your husband.
And I knew, at that moment, he had made his
decision.
And his response was decisive.
He said, ``do it'', and justice was done.
[APPLAUSE]
Folks -- folks, Governor Romney didn't see
things that way.
When he was asked about Bin Laden in 2007
here's what he said, he said, “It is not
worth moving heaven and earth and spending
billions of dollars just to catch one person”.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Boo.
BIDEN: But he was wrong.
He was wrong.
Because if you understood that America's heart
had to be healed, you would have done exactly
what the president did and you would move
heaven and earth to hunt him down and to bring
him to justice.
[APPLAUSE]
Look, four years ago -- four years ago -- only
thing missing at this convention this year
is my mom.
Four years ago, my mom was still with us,
sitting up in the stadium in Denver.
I quoted her -- I quoted her one of her favorite
expressions.
She used to say to all her children, she said,
“Joey, bravery resides in every heart, and
the time will come when it must be summoned”.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you
what I think you already know.
I watch it up close.
Bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama.
And time and time again, I witnessed him summon
it.
This man has courage in his soul, compassion
in his heart, and a spine of steel.
[APPLAUSE]
And, and because -- because of all the actions
he took, because of the calls he made, because
of the determination of American workers,
and the unparalleled bravery of our special
forces, we can proudly say what you've heard
me say the last six months: Osama bin…
AUDIENCE AND BIDEN TOGETHER: …Laden is dead
and General Motors is alive.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
BIDEN: That's right.
One man.
Folks, we know -- we know we have more work
to do.
We know we're not there yet.
But not a day has gone by in the last four
years when I haven't been grateful, as an
American, that Barack Obama is our president
because he always has the courage to make
the tough decisions!
[APPLAUSE]
Speaking of tough decisions -- speaking of
tough calls, last week, we heard at the Republican
convention, we heard our opponents, we heard
them pledge that they, too, had the courage
to make the tough calls.
That's what they said.
[LAUGHTER]
But folks…
[RISING LAUGHTER]
…in case you didn't notice, I say to my
fellow Americans, in case you didn't notice,
they didn't have the courage to tell you what
calls they'd make.
They never mentioned any of that.
[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]
Mrs. Robinson, you -- watched from home, I
guess.
You heard them talk about how they cared so
much about Medicare.
How much they wanted to preserve it.
That's what they told you.
Well, let's look at what they didn't tell
you.
What they didn't tell you is that the plan
to have already put down on paper would immediately
cut benefits for more than 30 million seniors
already on Medicare.
What they didn't tell you -- what they didn't
tell you is the plan they are proposing would
cause Medicare to go bankrupt by 2016…
[AUDIENCE BOOS]
…and what they really didn't tell you is,
they -- if you want to know -- if you want
to know, they're not for preserving Medicare
at all.
They're for a new plan.
It's called voucher care.
AUDIENCE: Boo!
AUDIENCE MEMBER: No vouchers!
BIDEN: Look folks, that's not courage.
That's not even truthful.
That's not even truthful.
In Tampa they talked with great urgency about
the nation's debt and the need to act, to
act now.
But not once -- not one single time did they
tell you that they rejected every plan put
forward by us, by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles
Commission they referenced or by any other
respected group.
To reduce the national debt not for any of
them.
Why?
Because they're not prepared to do anything
about the debt if it contained even one dollar
-- I'm not exaggerating, even one dollar or
one cent in new taxes for millionaires.
Folks, that's not courage.
And that's not fair.
Look -- look...
[APPLAUSE]
...in a sense this can be reduced to a single
notion.
The two men seeking to lead this country over
the next four years.
As I said at the outset, fundamentally visions
and got completely different values.
Governor Romney believes in this global economy,
it doesn't matter much where American companies
invest and put their money, or where they
create jobs.
As a matter of fact, in his budget proposal
-- in his tax proposal he calls for a new
tax.
It's called a territorial tax, which the experts
have looked at and they acknowledged it will
create 800,000 new jobs.
All of them overseas.
All of them.
AUDIENCE: Boo!
BIDEN: And what I found -- what I found fascinating,
the most fascinating thing I found last week
was when Governor Romney said that as president,
he would take a jobs tour.
Well with his support for outsourcing, it’s
gonna have to be a foreign trip.
[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]
It will!
Look, President Obama knows that creating
jobs in America, keeping jobs in America,
bringing jobs back to America is what the
president's job is all about.
That's what presidents do, or at least supposed
to do.
[APPLAUSE]
Folks, Governor Romney believes it's OK to
raise taxes on middle- class by $2,000 in
order to pay for another -- literally another
trillion dollar tax cut for the very wealthy.
President Obama knows that there's nothing
decent or fair about asking people with more
to do less and with less to do more.
Governor Romney believes, he believes that
kids -- kids like our Dreamers, those immigrant
children –
[AUDIENCE CHEERS]
-- those immigrant children who were brought
to America's shores through no fault of their
own, he thinks they're a drag on the American
economy.
President Obama believes that even those those
Dreamers, those kids didn't choose to come
here, they have chosen to do right by America
and it’s time for us to do right by them.
[EXTENDED CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Governor Romney...
[APPLAUSE]
Governor Romney -- Governor Romney looks at
the notion of equal pay in terms of a company's
bottom line.
President Obama, he knows that making sure
that our daughters get the same pay for the
same jobs as our sons is every father's bottom
line.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Folks...
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
I kind of expected all that from him, but
one thing truly perplexed me a their convention,
the thing that perplexed me most was this
idea they kept talking about, about the culture
of dependency.
They seem to think you create a culture of
dependency when you provide a bright, young,
qualified kid from a working-class family,
a loan to get to college.
Or, when you provide a job-training program
in a new industry for a dad who lost his job
because it was outsourced.
Folks -- folks, that's not how we look at
it.
That's not how America's ever looked at it.
What he doesn't understand is that all these
men and women are looking for is a chance,
just a chance to acquire the skills to be
able to provide for their families so they
can once again hold their heads high and lead
independent lives with dignity.
That's all they are looking for.
Look.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And it literally amazes me they don’t understand
that.
You know, I told you at the outset the choice
is stark.
Two different visions, two different value
sets.
But at its core, the difference is ably reduced
to be a fundamental difference.
You see, we, most Americans have incredible
faith in the decency and hard work of the
American people, and we know what has made
this country.
It's the American people.
As I mentioned at the outset, four years ago
we were hit hard.
You saw -- you saw your retirement accounts
drained, the equity in your homes vanish,
jobs lost or on the line.
But what did you do as Americans?
What you've always done.
You didn't lose faith, you fought back.
You didn't give up, you got up.
You're the ones.
The American people -- you're the reason why
we are still better positioned than any country
in the world to lead the 21st century.
You'd never quit on America, and you deserve
a president who will never quit on you.
[EXTENDED CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Folks, there is one more thing -- one more
thing that our Republican opponents are just
dead wrong about.
America is not in decline.
America is not in decline.
I've got news for Governor Romney and Congressman
Ryan.
Gentlemen, never, ever -- it never makes sense,
it's never been a good bet to bet against
the American people.
Never.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES WHILE BIDEN
SPEAKS]
My fellow Americans, America is coming back,
and we're not going back.
And we have no intention of downsizing the
American dream.
AUDIENCE: Joe!
Joe!
Joe!
Joe!
BIDEN: Never.
Never a good bet.
Ladies and gentlemen, in a moment we are going
to hear from a man whose whole life is a testament
to the power of that dream…
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Say it, Joe!
…and whose presidency is the best hope to
secure that dream for our children.
For you see -- we see a future -- we really
honest to god do -- we see a future, where
everyone, rich and poor does their part and
has a part.
A future where we depend more on clean energy
from home, and less on oil from abroad.
A future where we're number one in the world
again in college graduation.
A future where we promote the private sector,
not the privileged sector.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And a future where women once again control
their own choices, their destiny, and their
own health care.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And Ladies and gentlemen, Barack and I see
a future, it's in our DNA, where no one -- no
one is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Tell ‘em, Joe!
BIDEN: Folks, we see a future where American--
where America leads not only by power of our
-- the example of our power, but by the power
of our example.
Where we bring our troops home from Afghanistan
just as we proudly did from Iraq.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
A future, a future where we fulfill the only
truly sacred obligation we have as a nation
-- the only truly sacred obligation we have
is to prepare those who we send to war and
care for them when they come home from war.
And tonight -- tonight I want to acknowledge
– [voice breaking from emotion] I want to
acknowledge as we should every night the incredible
debt we owe to the families of those 6,473
fallen angels, and those 49,746 wounded.
Thousands critically.
Thousands who will need our help for the rest
of their lives.
Folks, we never – [clears throat, stifles
sob] we must never ever forget their sacrifice,
and always keep them in our care and in our
prayers.
My fellow Americans, we now -- we now find
ourselves at the hinge of history.
And the direction we turn is not figuratively,
it is literally in your hands.
It has been a truly great honor to serve you
and to serve with Barack who has always stood
up with you for the past four years.
I have seen him tested and I know his strength,
his commands, his faith.
I also know his incredible confidence he has
in all of you.
I know this man.
Yes, the worker recovery is not yet complete,
but we are on our way.
The journey of hope is not yet finished, but
we are on our way.
And the cause of change is not fully accomplished,
but we are on our way.
So I say to you tonight, with absolute confidence,
America's best days are ahead of us and, yes,
we are on our way.
[ENDURING CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And in light of that horizon, for the values
that define us, for the ideals that inspire
us, there is only one choice.
That choice is to move forward -- morally
forward, and finish the job and re-elect President
Barack Obama.
[EXTENDED CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
God bless you all, and may god protect our
troops.
God bless you.
Thank you.
