To my mind, the most fundamental role for government in a democratic society is to extend equality of opportunity, to insure that each individual has the tools necessary to take control and choose the course of his or her life.

I am running for President because I believe that we as a nation are losing sight of this role for government, and our government is starting to fall short of fulfilling this most basic responsibility. If we continue down our current path, the rare level of freedom and control that this country has achieved will slowly seep away, likely never to return. If we allow this to happen, we, this generation, will have failed as stewards of our country - through neglect, we will have ceded our special place in history, and the United States will go the way of Ancient Rome or the British Empire.

The foundation of our system of government is the belief that all men and women are created equal. For all of the soaring language we use, this is not really a grand idea. It does not suggest that all individuals have equal skills, work ethic or motivations. Instead it suggests that each person has an individual character, with different drives and motivations, and that it is each individual who can best know what will satisfy their individual character. Not that we will necessarily achieve our satisfactions and not that we as individuals always make the best choices for ourselves, just that we are better qualified than any other person or the instrument of government to know what will bring satisfaction to our lives. This includes choosing who we think will do the best job of governing our country.