We've never been people that go around and confront people that have been financially successful and say, 'We hate you. We envy you because of how well you're doing.'

America is still the land of opportunity for most, but it is not a land of opportunity for all. If we are to remain an exceptional nation, we must close this gap in opportunity.

Big government helps the people who have made it. It doesn't help the people who are trying to make it; it crushes the people who are trying to make it.

All of these things we're talking about now, it will take time to sink in. But when voters begin to realize what we're really up against here, and what he's trying to do, I think you're going to see a sea shift here pretty quickly.

I've seen how the left has used it to accuse opponents of their version of reform of being bigots and racists.

If someone can produce the law that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals but protects the right of law-abiding citizens to possess them, and doesn't infringe on those rights, I would consider that. But all the proposals I've seen do not achieve that goal. And we are missing a golden opportunity to have an important debate about violence in the USA. Violence in our society is the problem.

I run for president because I believe that we can't just save the American dream; we can expand it to reach more people and change more lives than ever before.