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Q: Are you happy with the way you are characterized by your political adversaries and enemies?

A: Much of my definition occurred while I was in the White House. If I had to define happiness or contentment with what other people think or seem to think -- that's not the way to live your life. Particularly when you work in the White House, how you get defined is outside your control. The president used to jokingly say, "Better you than me" when there was some ugly story. That's just the way it is.

Q: How do you define your personal politics?

A: Well, I'm a compassionate conservative. I believe in limited government. I believe in markets. I believe in a robust and strong defense. I believe in traditional values. And I believe that the conservative movement is best served by depicting our philosophy the way that it is -- which is a compassionate and optimistic and hopeful agenda that by emphasizing personal freedom and emphasizing liberty and responsibility gives people the best chance in life to be all they can be -- to develop themselves, to grow, to prosper, to seek their own path in life.

Q: What do you say when someone says to you that "politics is a dirty, rotten, slimy business and it causes all the problems in the country"?

A: Well, democracy is at the heart of our system. The "American Experiment" is based around democracy, which requires elections. Have elections always been pristine and sacrosanct? No. In fact, read the rhetoric of the 1800 campaign and you'll be shocked. It would make the Swift Boat veterans and Americans United for Change look like pansies by comparison.

Q: Did the Bush years damage the Republican Party and hurt its credibility in terms of those old-fashioned GOP principles -- limited government, fiscal prudence, etc.?

A: Look, I would say, less the Bush administration. ... Again, I repeat, yeah, we're spending more on the military. But we were the guys who ratcheted down discretionary domestic spending. We're not the guys who believed in earmarks. Now I understand there is always a tension between what Congress wants and what an executive wants. And I would readily concede that the earmarks hurt us, no ifs, ands or buts about it. But that wasn't the administration. "The Bridge to Nowhere" took all the good that we had done in ratcheting down discretionary spending and washed it all away, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Q: Can the Republican Party regain its stature and power?

A: Oh absolutely. Oh absolutely.

Q: But there are some like David Frum who say the GOP has to give up on its limited-government, small-"g" government attitude and become more Democrat lite.

A: Yeah, there are people who believe that -- I recognize it. There are also people who would be enthusiastic if we did it -- namely a lot of Democrats

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