When you run on something definitive and then win by a significant margin, you have a mandate.

I didn't run for office to make friends.

There was a time that I questioned the government's role in abortion.

I have not always held the position I do today on the life issue.

In the Republican Party, we talk all the time about the importance of free markets and open competition. It seems to me that if we don't practice what we preach, we won't have much credibility with others.

Let's help take back our country with our wallets, and don't forget to contact your senators and congressman to let them know that you don't want amnesty for illegal aliens, that you want them to restore our borders and our sovereignty.

There's nothing conservative about allowing ourselves to become so inured to a 'tough on crime' frame of mind that we would abandon tested alternatives that can yield better outcomes.

Even without mandatory sentences, judges are still capable of levying tough penalties for serious offenses - and just as in states like Texas that have 'tough on crime' reputations, this can be done without jeopardizing public safety.

Incarcerating non-violent offenders in the same population as more dangerous criminals has the effect of inculcating the former into a culture of criminality common among the latter, making them more of a risk to public safety upon release than when they originally went in.

What to do about these increases in crime? Plenty of laws already exist to punish violent criminals, and research questions the level of correlation between longer sentences and lower crime rates.

Strategies that do show evidence of effectiveness include policing that's focused on high-risk individuals or geographic areas, and/or deterrence-based approaches that hold entire gangs accountable should individual members engage in criminal behavior.

I'm the most pro-liberty elected official statewide in my lifetime. It isn't even a close call, so for people who care about protecting liberty, there's never been - again, in my lifetime in Virginia - a statewide elected official who's been as aggressive and consistent about doing that as I have.

It is my opinion that a local school board cannot impose a mandatory fee on students taking advanced placement courses for the required taking of the Advanced Placement Examination.

We need all the transportation options that we can get in Virginia - especially options where the private sector carries all the risk and all the cost.

I learned as a mascot that rules don't really apply to you. As long as you don't go crazy with that. You want to go be the 12th man on a football play, they might have an objection, but otherwise, if you stay out of the way of the game, you can do most anything.

One of the reasons Americans hold Washington in such low regard is the perception that nothing ever gets done. Whatever the issue - no matter how urgent - they always seem to be 'working on it.'

My wife's a gardener. I'd put Astroturf down everywhere, but I get outvoted one to one every year.

I love algebra. Love it.

Competition's a good thing.

I don't mind knife fights. I just want the knives to come to the front.

For all the criticism of me, there's one thing you won't hear anybody say, and that's that I've pulled the wool over anyone's eyes.

I ran for attorney general to be attorney general.

There's some bells you can't unring.

When you file an amicus brief, and you represent a state, the court reads your brief. It is a powerful position to make the legal assault from.