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Being the Republican front-runner was three of the most exciting hours of my entire life. I've come to grips with it, and the only lasting effect is that I refuse to go on a stage that has more than one podium on it.

I know what motivated you was not just a political campaign. It was your love of our country.

I worked in Maynard Jackson's first campaign, and I remember the excitement we felt when he won.

I always start my campaigns early, and I run hard. Maybe it comes from the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco politics, where it's not even a contact sport - it's a blood sport. This is how I am as a candidate. This is how I run campaigns.

I loved campaigning for Obama.

I got involved because I wanted to help inspire more people to get off their butts and register and vote - not just in this election, but in every other election from now on, you know?

When I finished my term, I thought about running for governor then but decided not to because, frankly, I didn't think I was ready. I wasn't comfortable that I was prepared to do the job.

I'm not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.

I was listening to the guy that represented me in the state Senate, and I just got really frustrated. I called my wife and said, 'I've always wanted to do something that makes a difference.' So I ended up running and won.

I've voted in every election - not always for the same political party and never with any degree of enthusiasm.