At times, conservatives become defined by their volume rather than by their ideas.
The different Washington, D.C.-based groups and the different special interest groups, they all want to be able to pick who they want to be a senator. They don't speak for everyone, and they definitely don't speak for Oklahomans.
It's ironic, isn't it, that one day you're one of the most conservative members, and then some individual gets mad at you, and they decide to throw millions of dollars against you because you didn't vote exactly the way they want every day.
I just don't believe that being conservative means all you do is throw stones and poke people in the eye.
I believe that being conservative means you try to get in to the middle of the fight and try to solve the problem.
I believe that conservative solutions can help families of every race, every economic background, and every town in Oklahoma.
We still have a major problem in debt with America that we have to find efficiencies in government to get us back to a balanced budget.
I understand the significance of being one of 18 senators in Oklahoma history.
What they have done, ISIS is very well outspoken about how much they hate our freedom, who we are as Americans.
Al Qaeda likes to coordinate, have a central command to be able to send out emissaries around that they have highly trained and say, 'This is the moment we're going to do a large-scale attack.'
ISIS has leadership, just like al Qaeda has leadership. It's important to be able to eliminate the individuals that are leading the organization.
We're facing serious issues. We can either complain about it or try to step in and solve it.
The only way to make government more efficient is to make it smaller and to make it more local.
The Health Care Compact is a way for states to protect their residents from the top-down, one-size-fits-all health care 'solutions' that have been imposed from Washington D.C., including Obamacare.
I still strongly support a full repeal of Obamacare.
The Health Care Compact simply gives a state like Oklahoma the option to create a customized system that better meets the needs of Oklahoma families.
You talk about leading Republicans. That's no easy task on just like you were trying to lead Democrats on the other side. We all have independent thoughts and independent ideas.
I see myself as more of a student, that I love to get down into the weeds of different problems and try to go through that. I don't mind messaging, but I'm going to default back to the research side of things.
This is why it's bad to run a country by executive order: because our nation runs on laws - when everyone knows the law, and everyone knows what it is, you know both the law and the consequence, and you get that.
When a president makes up law as he goes, no one knows what the law is anymore.
