Tonight’s theme at the GOP convention -- “We Built It” -- is a direct reference to President Obama’s “You didn’t build that” remark he made in Roanoke, VA on July 13.
Republicans have argued that the line typifies Obama’s disdain for the private sector. An example from excerpts the Romney campaign released of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s speech tonight:
“We need a President who will say to a small businesswoman: congratulations, we applaud your success, you did make that happen, you did build that! Big government didn't build America: You built America!”
Democrats point out that the line was taken out of context – in a discussion about how no one achieved success on their own. In fact, they have argued that “You didn’t build that… Somebody else made that happen” was referring to the roads and bridges that preceded the comment, not someone’s business. Here's what Obama said:
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
