Outside events can change a presidential campaign, a president, and the history of the nation: the Iranian hostage crisis, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the downing of the helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia, the suicide attack on the USS Cole, and, of course, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

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

If we cannot come together to pause, to respect our dead and the heroic lives of meaning they led, then ours is truly a civilization lost.

My brother is one of my true heroes. Steady and sober where I am impulsive and emotional.

I'm saying it loud: I'm a Republican who supports gay rights.

As a husband and as a father of girls, I cannot imagine any woman in my family making the sacrifice of sanity required to run for office. The limited reward for public service cannot blunt the cost.

Technology and social media have brought power back to the people.