Four Long Years Ago, Pt. 2

Speaking of the 2000 St. Louis debate, here are some selected Bush statements from the transcript:

A leader also understands that the United States must be strong to keep the peace. Saddam Hussein still is a threat in the Middle East. Our coalition against Saddam is unraveling. Sanctions are loosened. I -- the man who may be developing weapons of mass destruction, we don't know because inspectors aren't in. […]

It must be in our vital interest whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why are we going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I'm concerned that we're over-deployed around the world. See, I think the mission has somewhat become fuzzy. […]

This is a big spender -- he is -- and he ought to be proud of it. It's part of his record. We just have a different philosophy. […] If this were a spending contest, I'd come in second. I readily admit, I'm not going to grow the size of the federal government like he is.