My name is Steve Marchand.  I'm running for the U.S. Senate. We need to end the war in Iraq--right now.
  
We need to end this war because this Administration began it under false pretenses.
 
We need to end it because Osama bin Laden is not and never was in Iraq.
 
We need to end it because despite the sacrifice of 3,500 American lives, the loss of American prestige and respect around the world and despite spending over 300 billion dollars we are no safer today than we were five years ago.
 
Instead this war has become about one thing: George W. Bush.
 
Bush claims he's the decider.  Well, here's the thing.  New Hampshire.  We are the deciders.  Our first in the nation primary, a swing state in the general, We decide and that gives us the power to make the difference.
 
And We are already making the difference in Washington.  We sent Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter to Congress in 2006.  In the campaign, they said they would fight to get us out of Iraq.  In Congress, that is exactly what they are doing.
 
Unlike John Sununu, they are holding George Bush accountable and that is exactly what I'll do in the U.S. Senate.

But defeating Sununu and getting to the Senate will mean a tough fight.  This will not be given to us.  We'll have to earn it.  And I know a little something about earning it.
 
I was born and raised in Manchester, on the city's working-class West Side.
 
I'm a first-generation American.  My parents came to this country to build a better life for their children.  My father was a carpenter.  My mother worked in the old Pandora Mills.

More than anyone, they helped me understand the value and power of hard work.
 
Our life was not easy.  And no one running for U.S. Senate understands the real challenges facing real people every day better than I do.
 
In the early 1990's when the housing market failed, my parents were forced to drop their health insurance so they could afford to feed their family; and then, at 39 years old, my mother suffered a heart attack. 

She's well today, but my Mom and Dad were forced to declare bankruptcy just to keep their home.  These are the consequences of not having health care coverage when you need it most.

John Sununu once said we need to "Stop complaining about Healthcare."
 
John Sununu, I dare you to tell that to Norm and Suzanne Marchand.  I dare you to tell that to the hardworking people of New Hampshire who are living paycheck to paycheck, but still lack health insurance.
 
It's not a complaint.  It's a real problem.  And a failure of leadership.  And it's time someone did something about it.  And as your senator, I will.
 
I've never backed down from the tough fights.  As an underdog, running against opponents with streets named after them, I was elected Mayor with over 67% of the vote.
 
I held the line on tax increases, while working to secure retirement benefits for our police and firefighters.
 
I signed our city onto multiple climate change agreements and worked to build the only LEED-certified green public building in our state.
 
And I fought alongside New Hampshire workers to save the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
 
We need a Senator who will stand up and fight the important battles, no matter how tough they are.
 
One of those battles will be over reproductive rights.  We've seen the recent Supreme Court decisions.  We cannot take Roe v. Wade for granted. As the only 100% pro-choice candidate in this race, Democrat or Republican, I will always defend a woman's right to make her own choices about her own body.
 
We are a pro-choice party.  New Hampshire is a pro-choice state.  And I will always protect a woman's right to choose.
 
We have a great opportunity before us here in New Hampshire, an opportunity to make a The Difference in the future of our entire nation.
 
I'm fired up.  And I need you to be fired up.

We can't wait any longer. We need a change--right now.
 
We need a Senator who understands the healthcare crisis because he's lived through it and will fight to improve it--right now.
 
We need a Senator who understands that global warming is a real problem and we need to do something about it--right now.
 
We need as Senator who is 100% committed to a woman's right to choose--right now.

We need to end the Iraq War--right now.
 
I'm Steve Marchand.  Let's get started--right now.
 

-Remarks as written.