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

The Islamic community today is faced with a new version of an old struggle. My late mother used to say it doesn't matter whether you came to this country on the Mayflower or on a slave ship, through Ellis Island or the Rio Grande. We're all in the same boat now.

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

I think its time to get a reapportionment process that frankly takes out the incumbency protection and the raw politics of the process.

I think that we have a responsibility to make certain that we are fiscally responsible in order to assure, frankly, future generations don't have to pay our bills.

There are those who would keep us slipping back into the darkness of division, into the snake pit of racial hatred, of racial antagonism and of support for symbols of the struggle to keep African-Americans in bondage.

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