After years spent in Washington, I have become more aware than ever of the government's ineptness and the likelihood of its making mistakes. I no longer trust the U.S. government to invoke and carry out a death sentence under any conditions.

We have a greater responsibility to act than those who live in ignorance. Once you become knowledgeable, you have an obligation to do something about it.

We should respect each other as rational beings by trying to achieve our goals through reason and persuasion rather than threats and coercion.

I believe that Israel is one of our most important friends in the world.

How did we win the election in the year 2000? We talked about a humble foreign policy: No nation-building; don't police the world. That's conservative, it's Republican, it's pro-American - it follows the founding fathers. And, besides, it follows the Constitution.

Ideas are very important to the shaping of society. In fact, they are more powerful than bombings or armies or guns. And this is because ideas are capable of spreading without limit. They are behind all the choices we make. They can transform the world in a way that governments and armies cannot. Fighting for liberty with ideas makes more sense to me than fighting with guns or politics or political power. With ideas, we can make real change that lasts.

Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.