I think the legacy of the civil rights movement is that now whites are more open to being represented by people of color or people who are women or, again, non-traditional candidates.

New Zealand, by the way, where I was ambassador, has had two women prime ministers - one from either party.

We have gone into a war, an unelected president sending us into a war that the Congress frankly had no right, I believe, to authorize.

I believe that our message of rebuilding America is one that will resonate with the American people.

I've always maintained that black people and women suffer from a presumption of incompetence. The burdens of proof are different. It just gets so tiresome.

I was the only person of color in the Senate, and my colleagues were Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms and Trent Lott.

It's hard to be the first. It's almost as if I'm subject to a different level of inspection.