The President's speech suggested to me that were we to follow his leadership we will be in Iraq not for months but for years. I also hope I am wrong on this.

To be elected president you have to do more than tear down your opponents. You have to give the American people a reason to vote for you - a reason to hope - a reason to believe that under your leadership America will be better.

We need the kind of leadership exemplified by President Kennedy to just do it! But we must do it as good stewards aggressively exerting control over the moon. We can best do this by going there.

The public sector certainly includes the Department of Labor. Those are jobs that are available. They are open and they are good paying jobs. The government as a whole has been actually retrenching under President Clinton's leadership.

The truth is the Republican leadership has created a credit card Congress that is recklessly selling out the future of America our children and our grandchildren and President Bush is the most fiscally irresponsible President in the history of America.

President Bush offers the American people an optimistic vision and a clear choice in November. The President has provided steady leadership in remarkably changing times. He knows exactly where he wants to lead this country and he has complete confidence in the American people.

So President Obama wants to change America. I understand that. We don't need to change America. We need to change the White House. We need to change the leadership in the White House.

The fact is five months ago this was an issue that people weren't really talking that much about. Because of the president's leadership because he's brought it to people's attention it's now a top issue.

I think that if Republicans are given the reins of leadership in the House or Senate or both we will have to govern in a way - at least put forward solutions whether or not the president goes along with them or not that deal with these long-term challenges.

You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress.

One of the things about leadership is that you've got to show up. And if you want to be president of the United States you've got to make a case to the American people that Barack Obama needs to be dismissed from his position.

Year after year President Bush has broken his campaign promises on college aid. And year after year the Republican leadership in Congress has let him do it.

The conduct of President Bush's war of choice has been plagued with incompetent civilian leadership decisions that have cost many lives and rendered the war on and occupation of Iraq a strategic policy disaster for the United States.

Under the leadership of President Bush and Vice President Cheney the United States has given up the moral high ground that we used to occupy as an international leader.

The important thing is that we recognize our President's leadership that he is not saying: I am going to walk away from this. He is saying: I am going to do the right thing.

I am proud of the President's leadership. I am proud to support him in saying: Yes we are going to do what is necessary now when it is less painful and less expensive.

We shouldn't be debating whether to deal with the current code by allowing it to be extended or not. We should have a president who shows leadership and comes to Congress and says: 'You know what? We need to reform this whole tax code.'

When President Obama was in the Senate when he was a U.S. senator he voted against raising the debt ceiling. And he said it was a lack of leadership that had brought us to this point.

The more I have studied Lincoln the more I have followed his thought processes the more I am convinced that he understood leadership better than any other American president.

The problem is is that President Bush and the Republican leadership in the Congress have resisted attempts to increase dramatically our fuel economy standards over the last five years.

Under the leadership of this President the state of the union is not strong. We are being pulled apart rather than pulling together. Our democracy is suffering from the choices being made and yet we are offered the same tired excuses and unrealistic analyses.

So I think that our foreign policy the president's strong and principled leadership when it comes to the war against terror and foreign policy is going to be an asset.

If Ralph Nader runs President Bush is going to be re-elected and if Ralph Nader doesn't run President Bush is going to be re-elected. We're going to run on the president's strong and principled leadership and his positive agenda for a second term.

All of this suggests that while citizens became more comfortable with President Bush after September 11 and thought him to have the requisite leadership skills they continue to harbor doubts about his priorities loyalties interests and policies.