I do oppose repealing Obamacare, because it's working for growing numbers of previously uninsured Americans.

If we have intelligence on the location of terrorist training centers, it is insane not to act.

We need to gather intelligence, but we need to do so legally.

Ever since 9/11, our intelligence agencies, as part of the 'war on terror,' have expanded their operations to include American citizens. I was 'terrorized' when I learned that the National Security Agency was intercepting information on Americans.

I have a tight-knit Southern family.

I think about my own sons and my own daughters, and I'm sure that many parents are concerned about what their children are exposed to.

I can't apply $3 billion in capital to the tech industry. It wouldn't work. But in infrastructure, education, I can make a real difference. I can change someone's life, for the better, permanently. If I can improve a kid's education, I can increase their salary later on and for decades.

As a novelist, I mined my history, my family and my memory, but in a very specific way. Writing fiction, I never made use of experiences immediately as they happened. I needed to let things fester in my memory, mature and transmogrify into something meaningful.