I don't know if anybody has moved up the ladder more quickly than I have.

I believe government should be loyal to parents, teachers and children.

I think the Republican Party should be a pro-life party. I am pro-life. I do not apologize for that. On the flip side of that coin, the Republican Party has been big enough to allow pro-choice advocates to be heard.

I would caution all of us or I would remind all of us that any candidate that we support, they are going to be flawed.

The measure of a man is not how great his faith is, but how great his love is. We must not let government programs disconnect our souls from each other.

Affirmative action is a little like the professional football draft. The NFL awards its No. 1 draft choices to the lowest-ranked team in the league. It doesn't do this out of compassion or guilt. It's done for mutual survival. They understand that a league can only be as strong as its weakest team.

My views on everything from welfare to a balanced budget to affirmative action can be traced to what Buddy and Helen Watts taught me as a young boy growing up poor but proud in Eufaula.