Listen:

I find this presidential race, on both the Republican side and the Democratic side, to be a great example of really practicing democracy in its best form. I am seeing less hatred, I am seeing more diversity, and I am seeing more people talking about issues than I have ever seen. I am seeing more people go from their own dogma of being a Republican or a Democrat, being a conservative or a liberal, and really taking this opportunity to look at a lot of different pieces of information.

Let’s take the Democrats – it is historic what is going on there. We have a black man, and we have a woman who are running for the Presidency of the United States of America, and either one of them have a wonderful shot at accomplishing that goal. On the Republican side, it is interesting, isn’t it? We have a 71 year old, experienced war hero. We have a Baptist preacher out of Arkansas who has come out of nowhere with no money, little organization and he is still in the race. Isn’t it interesting that the people who raise the most money, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, are out of the race already? We always think you can buy an election. The Republicans have proven that you can’t buy an election. Both Romney and Giuliani have gotten out. And what is left are two people that really didn’t have a lot of money. In the case of John McCain, he had to get rid of most of his staff last summer because he was running out of money before the primary even started, and Huckabee never had a staff to begin with.

Now on the Democrat’s side, there are really only two players, and have only been two players, and both have been attractive to a lot of different people. And they have raised a lot of money. But here we have a woman running for President, and I think that’s great. We have an African American running for President, and I think that’s great, too. And people are not just talking about their gender or race – they are talking about issues. They are listening to Barack Obama talk about change and new ideas, and they are hearing Hilary Clinton talk about being prepared and experienced enough to lead the country. There is discussion going on across the board. We’ve got the granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower, the great Republican President and general, icon of the Republican party, supporting the black Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Is that healthy? Absolutely!

We’ve got Joseph Lieberman, Senator Lieberman, well respected lifelong Democrat, Vice Presidential candidate who ran with Al Gore, supporting Republican John McCain. Man, this is what it’s supposed to be about, isn’t it? It’s diversity, it’s different thought processes, it’s people who come from different backgrounds who feel they have the experience and knowledge and integrity to be the President of the United States of America, and it has opened discussion up in every café and every nook and cranny of this country. And that is good.

I haven’t heard hatred, I haven’t heard anger – I haven’t heard “I hate that guy, or I hate that person because they are conservative, because they are liberal, because they are a Democrat or a Republican” – I really haven’t heard any of that. And I don’t want to hear any of that as the Democrats pick their candidate and the Republicans pick their candidate. It’s democracy at its best. And I am happy to be a part of it because I can assure you in all the conversations I have with my friends, we are having open discussions about this same issue.

And you know what else? I haven’t decided who I’m going to vote for yet. It might be any of the four candidates. I’m going to wait to make that decision until I get more information, and I hope you look at this as a very serous decision for you to make as well as I. Do it with your own convictions and go do the research on what these people stand for. Then vote. Vote for your convictions. Not because some movie star told you who they like or because some athlete tells you this is the guy, or because some businessman says you should vote for somebody. Vote for what you believe in, and when every American does that, we’ll make the right decision.