Half a century ago, Ronald Reagan, the man whose relentless optimism inspired me to enter politics, famously said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party; the party left him. I can certainly relate. I didn't leave the Republican Party; it left me.

I'll continue to fight for school choice and home schooling. Do I believe in accountability? You bet I do.

I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing, it was intolerable to me.

When I was a Republican governor, he was obviously a Democratic president, but on issue after issue after issue, President Obama was very helpful to us in education, in the environment, with the handling of the BP oil spill.

As Realtors, you live and breathe the American dream.

As a former lifelong Republican, it pains me to tell you that today's Republicans - and their standard-bearers, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan - just aren't up to the task. They're beholden to 'my way or the highway' bullies, indebted to billionaires who bankroll ads and allergic to the very idea of compromise.

I've decided to do it, for the pure and simple reason that I just think it's the right thing to do.