Carol Shea-Porter Victory Speech - Nov. 12, 2006

I see tears out there. Please don’t cry, this is a really, really powerful moment for all of us. And as I said earlier, we could not have done this without all of you. I think that it is so clear the love in this room and the dedication for a country, for our state and for one another. And we have shown tonight, as indeed we’ve shown through the past year, that working together we can make this change. That we can turn the direction of this country back to the place where we want to be. So I thank you all so much. I would like to thank Jeff Radley. There’s a time to win, and a time to lose, we know that. And I appreciate the fact that this has to be a difficult night for him, as for his family. I appreciate the fact that when he stood up there just now, he conceded very, very gracefully. I do appreciate that. We have said all along that we need to work together. We’re in crisis right now, but crisis is also an opportunity. When we’re both sinking, you don’t point fingers, you just start bailing. So that’s what I’m going to do. We are all going to work together and I will tell you something, we’re going to make a difference down in Washington, because we have our own voice here. I’m going to Washington and doing exactly what I promised. I’ll speak up for the rest of us. Now, I have to introduce a person that I have absolutely tortured for the past year. Sue Mayor who has stood beside me as we have travelled this route together, and god bless our husbands. I’m going to tell you something, that my husband’s here and very grateful for what he’s done for me. Her husband’s away on business right now, otherwise he’d be standing here and I’d want him to take the credit. Because, it really takes the whole family, and I’m very proud that my two children are standing here also. And my mother in law. So many wonderful people in this room, so many incredible people across the district. So I want to thank everybody around the district for giving me this opportunity to serve all of you. I thank all of you for working so hard, and I’m grateful beyond words, and I promise you that I’ll do exactly what I said to you, when I looked in all of your eyes, which was, I was going to work very hard and go to Washington to make that difference for us all. So thank you, thank you. I have a lot of sisters and brothers, and I was a little bit worried about letting them loose at the polls, but it’s been wonderful. We’ve all pulled together and it’s been a moment that all of us can savor. Like I said before, this is not a soloist here, this is a choir, and we’ve got great voices together. So let’s turn the direction of this country, let’s work on the issues that are pressing, and let’s have hope and optimism, there’s every reason to. Because like I said to all of you, we are a very good people. Thank you again.

Speech from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBkYGrA-CJ4.