I revere the American flag. And I would not be running for president if I did not revere this country. This is -- I would not be standing here if it wasn't for this country.

Well I think there's no doubt that I can see how people were offended. It's not the first time that I have made a statement that was mangled up. It's not going to be the last.

I don't want to go there, basically.

What I have proposed is that we raise the cap on the payroll tax because, right now, millionaires and billionaires don't have to pay beyond... $106,000 a year.

Well, I not only have pledged not to raise their taxes, I have been the first candidate in this race to specifically say I would cut their taxes.

the alternatives, like raising the retirement age or cutting benefits or raising the payroll tax on everybody... those are not good policy options.

But let me be very clear about what I meant because it's something that I have said in public. It's something that I have said on television, which is that people are going through very difficult times right now.

Because the commander-in-chief sets the mission, Charlie. That's not the role of the generals.

... that in no other country on the Earth is my story even possible.

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America.

He spent the day in Washington, D.C., and Washington, Pennsylvania, a medium-sized town just south of Pittsburgh -- most of his remarks today targeting John McCain's economic plan.

I think people can say that my election symbolizes some progress, at least within the small confines of the legal community.

My candidacy for president of the United States of America.

They'll even come around with TV crews in tow and throw back a shot and a beer. But if those same candidates are taking millions of dollars in contributions from the PACs and the lobbyists, ask yourself who are they going to be toasting…

I wasn't born into a lot of money. I didn't have a trust fund. I wasn't born into fame and fortune. I was raised by a single mother with the help of my grandparents who grew up in small-town Kansas and went to school on the G.I. Bill and…

Senator -- Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt, after taking money from the financial services company, and she says I'm out of touch?

what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital-gains tax for purposes of fairness.

But the truth is, is that our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives.