Michael Steele at the Rhode Island Republican State Convention

Remarks from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, speaking at Wednesday Night's Rhode Island Republican Party state convention...

"...You cannot lose sight of the fact that where we are now is not where we started, '06, '08, elections where we got our clocks cleaned, where the people turned their backs on us, because we turned our backs on them, by walking away from the Contract With America, by walking away from those principles that we believed in..." (Audio: 2 min 34 sec)

"We love our country. We are, as citizens, fearful for its future. We are concerned about the Obama experimentations on healthcare, and the economy, the poor ability to handle relations in the Middle East or Eastern Europe..." (Audio: 2 min 22 sec)

"This is the one place where promise meets potential, and it creates this thing called the American Dream. That's something special. Why is that. Is it because our soil grows great corn? Is it because we've got something in the water that makes it different from others? Is it because as individuals we are so unique and so special? No, I don't think its that. I think it's freedom..." (Audio: 1 min 15 sec)

"Opportunity is an enemy of government control. Freedom is an enemy to government control..." (Audio: 2 min 6 sec)

"At a time when Americans are losing their jobs, with no end in sight, when great American companies are under siege, our leaders in Washington should be focused on how they can help create a better pathway to opportunity, not how they can close off that opportunity with more taxes, more regulation, more constriction on capital and credit and opportunity..." (Audio: 2 min 33 sec)

"You and I figured out some time ago that talking smack to corporations doesn't solve problems. Pointing fingers at the last administration doesn't solve problems. Inviting rock stars to the White House, playing seven rounds of golf, and taking two vacations in the middle of an environmental disaster doesn't solve problems..." (Audio: 1 min 48 sec)

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a community organizer in the White House who ain't much at organizing anything..." (Audio: 3 min 0 sec)

[Addressing Teen-age Republicans, College Republicans and Young Republicans] "As the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I hereby give you permission to no longer have to ask for permission to be involved in your party..." (2 min 36 sec)

"...this is not the future. This is the here and the right-now...You can't afford for these young men and women to become 40 and 50 years old before we consider involving them in what we do..." (Audio: 1 min 58 sec)

"If you look closely through the dim light of the dawn, you can see what's going on in America, you can see what's going on across this country, at Tea Parties and in the polls...God bless the Tea Parties. What you see is our flag, what you see is the symbol of who we are and what we espouse as Americans..." (Audio: 2 min 53 sec)

"So let's make a pact together...that tonight is just the beginning of our fight, that we are going to stick together and fix our sights on the Democrats who are ruining our economy, weakening our national defense, and robbing the future from our kids..." (Audio: 1 min 12 sec)

"Ronald Reagan had a famous saying, when he was asked about his strategy for the Cold War. He said simply, we win, they lose..." (Audio: 2 min 22 sec)