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.

Too many Americans live by Republican principles of faith, family, hope and opportunity, but vote for Democrats out of sheer habit.

Everyone tries to define this thing called Character. It's not hard. Character is doing what's right when nobody's looking.

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.

To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.

I am willing to compete on my merits and on my character - not with the color of my skin. We talk about being a color-blind society, but I don't think the political process could actually handle that.

Americans are hungry for a discussion on policy solutions to the problems in their communities that work.