Christine Gregoire

Surely no issue unites us more than our appreciation for our military personnel who are bringing aid to devastated countries, defending us against terrorism, and fighting to make a free election possible in Iraq.

It is time for us to turn a corner and come together, put our differences behind us and focus on the future.

I want to work on respecting individuals' dignity. Equal rights, that's where my heart is. That means equal rights and benefits, and that's what we need.

Truly, the challenges we face are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges. In fact, they are not political challenges at all; they are fiscal challenges, and educational challenges, and the challenges of figuring out how to take care of each other.

We may disagree on some things, but we can do so without being disagreeable.

We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have now to create a vision and become great.

It's been said that government doesn't create jobs, business does. For the most part, this is true. But government creates the environment in which businesses can excel and expand.

We are thinking ahead to long-term care, aware that many folks don't plan ahead and won't be ready. We want to see to it that people will have choices.

We've established a Washington State Academy of Sciences that will enable us to make decisions based on science about what is right for our state, meaning the quality of our lives will get better.

One of the most powerful tools for empowering individuals and communities is making certain that any individual who wants to receive a quality education can do so.

Education can lift individuals out of poverty and into rewarding careers.

Education exposes young people to a broader world, a world full of opportunity and hope.