It's hard to think of anything that is more socially beneficial than raising children well. It needs to be valued and respected, I believe by everyone in public life regardless of your political party.

I don't think it's really good once you've lost an election to sit around, watch your former opponent, and swipe at them.

I think everyone knows how much of a joint effort being in politics is. It requires all kinds of sacrifices and all kinds of support.

I want my kids to be in an environment where they can talk about values in a way that you can't always do in a public school setting.

Is Mitt Romney a bully? And the answer is, no... He does not have a vicious bone in his body.

And Republican women have always been the backbone of our party. We do the work, we are strong believers in conservative values. Having more of those voices in place at a state level is going to be a great improvement for us as a party.

As the daughter of a schoolteacher, I feel very strongly that the most important thing in school takes place right there in that classroom, and the interaction between the teacher and the child.

I've learned that I don't need much sleep, and that I am able to really stand up for the things that I think that are important and that there are a lot of people out there who agree with me.

The press always causes a certain amount of hesitance for people who are considering entering public life. So simply encouraging women to enter politics, on any level, not just on the state level, is extremely important.

Well, I think that abstinence has its place as part of a comprehensive health and sex education curriculum. It would be wrong to exclude abstinence from a health curriculum, because there are some potentially very serious ramifications for early sexual activity.

When Mitt Romney talks about women, when he says he believes that we can do any job a man can do, I know from experience that he's speaking from the heart.

There isn't any distinction between a reader and a writer - reading is so much a part of it.

I write mostly in my office in the shed outside at home, but it can get very cold. I write best on the train, among people. As a writer you spend so much time away from people.

When I was 14 or 15, our teacher introduced us to Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities.' It was just for entertainment - we read it aloud - and all of a sudden it became a treasure.