I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty.

I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in the — after the 2000 election, I earned some capital.

September the 11th changed me. I remember the day I was in the — at Ground Zero, on September the 4th, 2001. It's a day I will never forget.

I have a record in office, as well. And all Americans have seen that record. September the 4th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget.

The last two years, the American people have come to know me. They know my blunt way of speaking.

One of the most amazing events of my life, at least as the presidency, was to go to the NASCAR Race here at the Daytona 500.

JOHN KERRY: Ladies and gentlemen, that's just not true what he said. The Wall Street Journal said 96 percent of small businesses are not affected at all by my plan. And you know why he gets that count? The president got $84 from a timber company that he owns, and he's counted as a small business. Dick Cheney's counted as a small business. That's how they do things. That's just not right.
DUBYA: I own a timber company? [LAUGHTER] That's news to me. [LAUGHTER] Need some wood?

I have — I understand everybody in this country doesn't agree with the decisions I've made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand.

I love the entrepreneurial spirit of America, don't you? Good job. There's nothing better. There is nothing better, is it, to be in an ownership society. Don't you love the idea of somebody saying, this is my business? How about the fact that home ownership rates in America are at an all-time high? More people — and it's a fantastic statistic. It is a fantastic statistic of our society. It means more people are opening up that front door, saying, welcome to my home. Come into my piece of property. See, I love an ownership society.

I want to be the peace president.

In the campaign, you'll hear, we're going only to tax the rich. That's what you'll hear. Now, this is from a fellow who has promised about $2 trillion of new spending thus far. And only taxing the rich, first of all, creates a huge tax gap, which means buyer beware. You see, if you can't raise enough by taxing the rich, guess who gets to pay next? Yes, the not rich. That's all of us.

I'm the kind of person, I don't really try to chase popular polls, or popularity polls. My job is to do my job and make the decisions that I think are important for our country and for the world.

REPORTER: Could you understand — your political action is inspired by God, you say a number of times —
DUBYA: I said what?
REPORTER: Is inspired by God, I mean, your —
DUBYA: My political action? I've never said that.
REPORTER: You've never said that? I mean, I'm not quoting you.
DUBYA: No, I've never said that.
REPORTER: I said, in general, you relate to God as a —
DUBYA: You said, my political action is caused by God, I think.
REPORTER: No, no, no, no, I said your political action is inspired by God.
DUBYA: No, my political action is — my life is inspired by God.

I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today. You're doing a heck of a job. You cut your teeth here, right? That's where you started practicing? That's good. He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me.

You can't tax the rich enough to pay for his promises. Guess who he's going to tax? He's going to tax me and you.

I'm also running [for re-election] because I want to keep us — I want to enable us to be the innovative society that we are.

You know, there's a lot of people in the world who don't believe that — that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free, and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily — are, you know — a different color than white can self-govern. And, the Prime Minister — I don't want to put words in his mouth, but — I think he shares that great sense of optimism and possibility.

I told you I wasn't going to get into details about what they asked me and then I just fell into your trap.

REPORTER: Mr. President, I'd like to follow up on a couple of these questions that have been asked. One of the biggest criticisms of you is that whether it's WMD in Iraq, postwar planning in Iraq, or even the question of whether this administration did enough to ward off 9/11, you never admit a mistake. Is that a fair criticism? And do you believe there were any errors in judgment that you made related to any of those topics I brought up?
DUBYA: Well, I think, as I mentioned, it's — the country wasn't on war footing, and yet we're at war. And that's just a reality, Dave. I mean, that's — that was the situation that existed prior to 9/11, because the truth of the matter is, most in the country never felt that we'd be vulnerable to an attack such as the one that Osama bin Laden unleashed on us. We knew he had designs on us, we knew he hated us. But there was a — nobody in our government, at least, and I don't think the prior government, could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale. The people know where I stand. I mean, in terms of Iraq, I was very clear about what I believed. And, of course, I want to know why we haven't found a weapon yet. But I still know Saddam Hussein was a threat, and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein. I don't think anybody can — maybe people can argue that. I know the Iraqi people don't believe that, that they're better off with Saddam Hussein — would be better off with Saddam Hussein in power. I also know that there's an historic opportunity here to change the world. And it's very important for the loved ones of our troops to understand that the mission is an important, vital mission for the security of America and for the ability to change the world for the better.

We can compete with anybody — at least, I think so.

Congress wouldn't act, so I signed an executive order — that means I did it on my own. It says we're going to open up billions of dollars in grant money competition to faith-based charities.

One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor — the President — governor — President. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him — get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq — and at that same — right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States — a Mexican citizen, now a United States citizen.