Well: Sometimes our best plans don’t work out exactly how we want, but I can always count on you Columbia to welcome me home.

Thank you all so much. Thank you friends and family, volunteers and staff. You have brought us so far and you are the soul of our campaign.

I have been so lucky to be given this great gift of this extraordinary journey.

This campaign has taught me how important public service is and how important it is to take a chance and run for what believe in.

I have also been taught by some very important people in my life the gift’s I needed for this journey. To my father thank you for teaching me leadership. To my mother, thank you for teaching me charity and compassion. To my sister thank you for granting me the lessons of humility.

To my brother, thank you for bestowing on me a model of loyalty. To my children, thank you for giving me hope and purpose. And to my husband, John, thank you for teaching me the sense of service we embrace together.

Well tonight we know two things. One: Though we might have fallen short at the finish line, change charged across that line.
My future, your future, our nation’s future is bright because Barack Obama is our next president and that is change we can count on.

Two: We know Missouri’s Fighting Ninth lived up to its name and together, I promise you, we will live to fight again.
The past eleven months haven’t been about our campaign or about me.

So let’s remember tonight whom we fought for:

Remember we fought for the autoworkers in Franklin and Warren counties and for all of America’s working families that deserve good jobs and good wages so they can pay the mortgage and pay for college and to still have a little money left over at the end of each month.

Remember we fought for the proud men and women that wear our uniform and return home and when they return home should be honored with the best veterans’ benefits possible, because they have earned them.

Remember we fought for the mother that got a promotion but is stuck in a dead end job because her child has a pre-existing condition and she can’t take the new job because she fears for the health of that child.

You know health care isn’t a buzzword for me. It has been a career and it is a calling and I will not rest until every Missourian has health care covered.

Let us also remember those whom we fought side-by-side with:

The nurses and the doctors, the farmers and the small business owners, the teachers and the union members, the college students and other young people—all that led us with their enthusiasm and their passion.
Thank you.

To my opponent: Our constituents have granted you an honor and I am honored to have been part of this contest with you and with them. Congratulations.

To my army of volunteers and supporters: our grassroots campaign was built and sustained by your sweat, your muscle, your dedication and your resources.

You have created an organization that enlivened our district, reignited the passion for democracy and put power back in the hands of everyday Missourians.

It is an organization that I pledge to you will not expire today or tomorrow or for a generation.

To my incredible staff, my new family: I will never forget what you have done for me, the sacrifices both big and small you have made for our campaign, and I look forward to your campaigns, your graduations, your weddings, your future milestones that I will be there to witness with you.

To family and friends from the entire span of my life and my experiences. Thank you. All I can say is I am forever grateful.

And I end tonight where I am certain it all began for me. When I started this journey I said I thought this was not the time to be shy about what we stood for. I said it was not the time to back down from the serious challenges we faced then—and still do today. I said that if you wanted change you had to show up. Well tonight our race ends, but our time has just begun.

Thank you. God Bless you. God Bless Missouri. And God Bless the United States of America.