Now that we have put a man on the Moon, let’s commit to keeping everyone in school. Let’s commit that, within a decade, every American will have the tools for, and financial access to, some kind of postsecondary education — whether it is vocational school, community college or a four-year university. Because without some higher education that makes you “work ready” for one of today’s good jobs and a lifelong-learner for one of tomorrow’s, you’ll never secure a decent job or realize your full potential here on Earth.

Or let’s make America for the world what Cape Canaveral was to America — the world’s greatest launching pad for new companies. Let’s commit that, in the next decade, we’ll create the dynamics to double the number of new companies started in America each year — from 500,000 to 1 million. That means combining immigration reform, new investments in research to push out the boundaries of science, vastly increasing the speed of our Internet, rebuilding our infrastructure and reforming the tax code. Whatever it costs, we will make it back times 10.

Romney and Ryan denounced Obama for not touting “American exceptionalism.” That’s actually how a great country becomes unexceptional. You give up the great journeys and just assert your exceptionalism louder. Exceptionalism has to be earned by each generation, and, when that happens, it speaks for itself.