"I knew that there were several, among African-American leaders, who had been put out by me because of my failure or reluctance to endorse Sen. Kerry."

"We didn't do anything wrong... Some are frustrated that we did it this way."

"I didn't want to engage in a campaign where I was defending myself on those issues at every turn, so I just decided that I'd switch and run as a Republican."

"I absolutely intend to return every penny given to me by my Democratic colleagues and Democratic leaders."