Quotes from the Third Presidential Debate

[Chreteau]

Lynne Cheney Angry at Kerry Remark
"Now I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more. And the only thing I could conclude is this is not a good man. This is not a good man. And of course, I am speaking as a mom and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man -- what a cheap and tawdry political trick."
Lynne Cheney, discussing Senator Kerry's remarks regarding her daughter, at a debate watch party, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, October 13, 2004.

Bush Asked if Homosexuality is a Choice
"You know, Bob, I don't know. I just don't know. I do know that we have a choice to make in America, and that is to treat people with tolerance and respect and dignity. It's important that we do that. I also know, in a free society, people, consenting adults, can live the way they want to live. And that's to be honored.

But as we respect someone's rights, and as we profess tolerance, we shouldn't change, or have to change, our basic views on the sanctity of marriage. I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I think it's very important that we protect marriage as an institution between a man and a woman."
President Bush, responding to a question regarding the cause of homosexuality.

Kerry Responds to the Homosexuality Question
"We're all God's children, Bob, and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not choice. I've met people who've struggled with this for years, people who were in a marriage because they were living a sort of convention, and they struggled with it. And I've met wives who are supportive of their husbands, or vice versa, when they finally sort of broke out and allowed themselves to live who they were, who they felt God had made them. I think we have to respect that."
Senator Kerry, responding to a question regarding the cause of homosexuality.

I'm all for respecting the rights of homosexuals, but the Bible is very clear that homosexuality is a sin. Does Kerry, who claims to be Catholic, seriously believe God makes people homosexual, that He causes people to sin? Sin is a condition of human nature, it is not something God causes us to do.

Role of Faith in Bush's Decisions
My faith plays a lot -- a big part in my life. And that's -- when I was answering that question, what I was really saying to the person was that I pray a lot. And I do. And my faith is a very -- it's very personal. I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm's way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls. But I'm mindful in a free society that people can worship if they want to, or not. You're equally an American if you choose to worship an Almighty, and if you choose not to. If you're a Christian, Jew or Muslim, you're equally an American. That's the great thing about America, is the right to worship the way you see fit.

Prayer and religion sustain me. I -- I've received calmness in the storms of the presidency. I love the fact that people pray for me and my family all around the country. Somebody asked me one time, well, how do you know? I said, I just feel it. Religion is an important part. I never want to impose my religion on anybody else, but when I make decisions, I stand on principle. And the principles are derived from who I am. I believe we ought to love our neighbor like we love ourself. That's manifested in public policy through the faith-based initiative, where we've unleashed the armies of compassion to help seal -- heal people who hurt.

I believe that God wants everybody to be free. That's what I believe. And that's part of my foreign policy. In Afghanistan, I believe that the freedom there is a gift from the Almighty, and I can't tell you how encouraged I am to see freedom on the march. And so my principles that I make decisions are a part of me, and religion is a part of me."
President Bush discussing the role of faith in his life.

Role of Faith in Kerry's Decisions
"Well, I respect everything that the President has said, and certainly, I respect his faith. I think it's important and I share it. I think that he just said that freedom is a gift from the Almighty -- everything is a gift from the Almighty. And as I measure the words of the Bible, and we all do, different people measure different things -- the Koran, the Torah, or Native Americans who gave me a blessing the other day have their own special sense of connectedness to a higher being. And people all find their ways to express it.

I was taught -- I went to a church school, and I was taught that the two greatest commandments are "Love the Lord, your God, with all your mind, your body, and your soul," and, "Love your neighbor as yourself." And, frankly, I think we have a lot more loving of our neighbor to do in this country and on this planet.

We have a separate and unequal school system in the United States of America. There's one for the people who have, and there's one for the people who don't have. And we're struggling with that today. The President and I have a difference of opinion about how we live out our sense of our faith. I talked about it earlier when I talked about the works, and faith without works being dead. I think we've got a lot more work to do. And as President, I will always respect everybody's right to practice religion as they choose, or not to practice, because that's part of America."
Senator Kerry discussing his views on religion.

Bush's Love for His Family
"I can't tell you how much I love my wife and our daughters. I am -- you know, it's really interesting, I tell the people on the campaign trail, when I asked Laura to marry me, she said, fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech. I said, okay, you got a deal. Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that deal, and she's out campaigning, along with our girls, and she speaks English a lot better than I do. I think people understand what she's saying.

But they see a compassionate, strong, great First Lady in Laura Bush. I can't tell you how lucky I am when I met her in the backyard at Joe and Jan O'Neill in Midland, Texas. It was the classic backyard barbeque. O'Neill said, come on over, I think you'll find somebody who might interest you. So I said, all right, popped over there. There's only four of us there, and not only did she interest me, I guess you could say it was love at first sight."
President Bush discussing the love he has for his family.