Mitt Romney gave his first post-election political speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, calling on conservatives to learn from his campaign’s mistakes.
“It’s up to us to make sure that we learn from our mistakes, and my mistakes, and that we take advantage of that learning to make sure that we take back the nation, take back the white House, get the Senate and put in place conservative principles,” Romney said.
The former Massachusetts governor added that even though Republicans suffered a loss on Election Day, the U.S. is still strong.
“Now, it’s fashionable in some circles to be pessimistic about America, about conservative solutions, about the Republican Party. I utterly reject pessimism,” Romney said. “We may not have carried on Nov. 7, but we haven’t lost the country we love. And we have not lost our way. Our nation is full of aspirations and hungry for new solutions. We’re a nation of invention and re-inventing. My optimism about America wasn’t diminished by my campaign, in fact it grew.”