Stop illegal immigration. Stop these trade deals that are taking jobs from Americans. Build an economy that works for the people at the bottom, not just the ones at the top.

If I had quietly retired as governor in 2007 and went into banking or something of that nature, I would have been, at most, a footnote in the story and probably never mentioned.

The problem is we have a Wall Street-to-Washington access of power that has controlled the political climate. The donor class feeds the political class who does the dance that the donor class wants. And the result is federal government keeps getting bigger.

You learn to handle the big moments in life by practicing on the little ones.

I truly believe that America's best days are still ahead of her. And for this, I am thankful to God. I am thankful that one day the war on terror will end, not because we have lost, but because we have won! I am thankful that one day our economy will rebound, not because of governmental micro-management, but as a result of America's entrepreneurial resolve. I am thankful that one day the born and the unborn will be equal under the eyes of the law in every state.

I want to say with the utmost of sincerity, not as a Republican, but as an American, that I have great respect for Senator Obama's historic achievement to become his party's nominee, not because of his color, but with indifference to it.

I think that I would have made a fine president. But it really came down for me to a very personal, a very intimate and a spiritual decision. I don't rule anything out for the long-term future.