And while I know that we may not agree on every single issue, I hope that you know that I have your family's best interests in my heart as I govern this state. My goal is to work as hard as humanly possible to keep
I want you to know that I approach this job with an immigrant's optimism, and a businessman's commitment to fiscal discipline and a father's desire to keep our children safe and healthy. I can honestly say to you tonight that it has been such a joy, such a privilege for me to serve the people of
That's why I am humbled and so grateful to you for your support in the upcoming election.
It is an honor for me to be on the ballot with men like Bruce McPherson, our Secretary of State, and with my friend Tom McClintock, our next Lieutenant Governor. I want to say to both of these men, I am proud to be running with you.
And I want to thank you for your graciousness to me and for all of your support. My fellow Republicans, we have so much to be proud of.
Over these past two years, we have accomplished extraordinary things together. Just think about where we were two years ago - where we were and where we are now.
Our credit rating was worse than
Our budget deficit was so large that no one knew exactly how big it actually was.
Our worker's comp was the highest in the nation.
And in a reverse gold rush, businesses were fleeing our state and taking jobs with them. In one month alone I remember, July 2003, we lost 23,000 jobs. People were struggling just to comprehend, let alone pay for, the outrageous tripling of the car tax.
