I think that there are certain principles which should guide decision-making for a president. One such principle was that we're all God's children, and every life is precious. To me, that's a moral statement.

Compassionate conservatism [is] most importantly, making sure that government is not the answer to people's problems.

The economy is growing, productivity is high, trade is up, people are working. It's not as good as we'd like, but -- and to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move.

From the beginning, I said that Israel, one, has a right to defend herself, but Israel ought to be cautious about how she defends herself. Israel's a democratically elected government. They make decisions on their own sovereignty. It's their decision-making that is what leads to the tactics they chose.

They have miscalculated me as a leader.

I was also fortunate that I was raised in a part of the world, West Texas, where individualism is strong.

Renewing the promise of America begins with upholding the dignity of human life.