I don't usually comment on columnists' ideas of what I'm thinking. That's a dangerous game to get into.

Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it's much more partisan and much more divided.

If we don't do something to simplify the tax system, we're going to end up with a national police force of internal revenue agents.

Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.

Frankly, my fundamental beliefs have not changed.

You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on.

We have throughout our history been tested when it comes to the institutions of our democracy. And thank God our forefathers were smart enough to establish a government of checks and balances to make sure that power cannot be centralized in any one branch of government. And those institutions have proven themselves.