He's a great performer and then he's got the greatest convening power of anyone now in the world, I think, and the greatest capacity to articulate things that matter.

By the end of this century, of course, America is the dominant world power, economically and militarily, and it has not only enlarged the freedoms of its own citizens -- which was very circumscribed in 1889 -- but by 1989 it has enlarged the freedoms of millions and millions of people around the world.

This compromise should be compared neither to the fragile and unsustainable status quo, nor to some idealized, universally comfortable end-state.

I'm gutted and feeling a bit lost, but I'm determined to get through it.

The stakes could hardly be higher. Neither side appears eager for a second war, but the situation is very fragile and to dismiss current tensions as mere saber-rattling would be a serious mistake.

Certainly [opposition candidate Edmund] Stoiber would have been better received by the market because of his plans for structural reform. The government has not got much of a majority so we can't expect much on reform going forward.