Erskine Bowles

"Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts."

"It will be about which candidate, which of the two candidates remaining, is best suited to make a positive difference in the lives of North Carolina families, and I submit to each of you tonight that I am that candidate and Elizabeth Dole is not."

"You always have certain strengths and certain weaknesses, and you want to compensate for your weaknesses... I have a real duty to earn the trust of the faculty. I don't just deserve it. I have to earn it."