Barack Obama: “First, it gives those who have paid their debt to society the kind of second chance that they deserve.”

At least one of our major parties has been captured by politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘We the people’ means a certain kind of people.

People aren't looking for perpetual anger and division. They are looking for fairness and common sense and mutual respect, that deep in our gut, we want to find a way to turn towards each other again, not further away.

Every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold the values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did.

In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration's promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property.