Hypocrisy is the scarlet letter in politics.

Mention the name George W. Bush in mixed company, and you're likely to spark a lot of debate and emotion - hot and cold, good and bad. Not a lot of neutral reaction. He was elected in the most controversial contest in American electoral history and governed during one of the most tumultuous decades.

Presidents should do whatever possible and practical to encourage an environment of cooperation and bipartisanship. And they should maintain a certain level of decorum, diplomacy and decency. But, at the end of the day, presidents get elected to enact change.

Democracy is but an experiment in the long history of the world.

America's commitment to religious freedom and tolerance should not be conditional.

Negativity drove me out of politics in the mid-Nineties.

I've spent the better part of my career in politics and public policy working on and fighting for education reforms.