Both candidates in this election [2004] pledge to end this war and bring our troops home. The great difference - the great difference is that I intend to win it first.

The first thing we have to do is get spending under control in Washington. It's completely out of control. We Republicans came to power to change government, and government changed us.

My hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt used to say, walk softly, talk softly but carry a big stick.

America has the strongest, best-trained, best-led military force in the world, and we have failed them. Our military today is struggling in virtually every category that measures preparedness.

Just because they broke the law doesn't mean they're condemned forever to a twilight status. So, I think that most Americans, if these people who have come illegally, as long as they pay back taxes, pay a fine, learn English and get behind everybody else, that's a key element of it. And most Americans now realize we can't have 11 million people sit in the twilight - the shadows of America, forever.

I will not agree to have this bill [to repeal DADT ] go forward, because our economy is in the tank.

I am a Republican. I'm loyal to the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. And I believe that my party, in some ways, has strayed from those principles, particularly on the issue of fiscal discipline.