Vote: The New Economy's First Campaign

There's a similar shift in our attitude toward Social Security. Again, the new economy is busting the old paradigm. The new economy trusts people. It focuses on people. The new thinking about Social Security also focuses on individuals and trusts people to manage some of their own money. So you can see the new economy having an effect not only on how wealth is generated but also on people's attitudes. The new economy is beginning to change the politics of America.

Does the new economy change the job of the president?

I view the president as someone who sets the tone and goals for the country. A president, however, cannot set numerous goals. There is only so much political capital to spend. So the president has to set just a few powerful goals. One such goal is reforming Social Security. Another is educating every child. These are very powerful goals.

Another goal that fits into the new world has to do with the military. We have a chance to redefine war -- the terms of war, the grounds on which war will be fought -- and therefore to redefine how peace is kept. The new economy is driving much of the technology that can yield a different type of military 30 years from now -- if we have adequate money for focused research and development. But now's the time to start.

The president has to be steady and accurate -- to make decisions that are consistent in nature, regardless of the political consequences. A president has to make decisions on principle; he can't chase public opinion. At the same time, a president has to listen and delegate to people he trusts -- a cabinet, a White House staff -- people with different points of view. I've always had a relatively flat organization chart, with six or seven people reporting directly to me. So not only do they have access but also the access that they have encourages the flow of ideas and new information. These people bring interesting ideas to me, knowing that it's part of their job and that I've got the capacity to decide things.

How do you see the Web creating changes that you, as president, would have to deal with?

When I think about the power of the Web, I immediately think of people with disabilities and the Web, of rural America and the Web, of libraries and the Web, of education and the Web. I come from a state where the old ways of life -- oil and cotton -- are starting to pass on. The old staples of economic growth are either gone or going. There are remote communities full of good people who, because of the Web, have an opportunity to make a living again.

In fact, I predict that once the Web takes hold, the migrations of the past will be reversed. People won't have to move to the city, and the Web will be a boon for rural economic development. The Web will help solve health-care problems for people in remote locations. The promise of educating every child, the philosophy of making sure that each child knows what he or she is supposed to know, will be enhanced by the Web. The Web is freeing people. During the Republican debates, I got hit pretty hard on the issue of opening trade with China. But my response was this: Imagine if the Web were to take hold in China, how free people would be. Let the Web take hold in China, and it becomes a powerful diplomatic tool for freedom. At that point, freedom's genie will be out of the bottle.

What about the dark side of the Web? As president, what would you do to bridge the digital divide?

There's no doubt that the Web also has the potential to create an economic gap. But I think that the digital divide is conquerable. I will caution America, though, that step one is to teach children to read English, because otherwise, the Web is irrelevant. In order for that to happen, the federal government must provide school districts with maximum flexibility to design programs that meet their particular needs.

We also need to develop a certain amount of patience, because in just two years, technology-delivery systems are going to be much different than they are today. It's very likely, for example, that we'll put a little receiver on top of a school that will enable the school to exchange information with sources all over the world -- and to do so without having to wire anything.

There are other elements: a tax code that does not have high marginal rates on people at the bottom of the economic ladder; a health-care system that provides refundable tax credits, so that the working uninsured have health care for their families; changes to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 housing program, so that it can be used to buy and rent homes; a Social Security system that lets people who make $20,000 a year put aside 2% of their total payroll tax and invest it, so that over the course of a lifetime, they could end up with $100,000, coupled with what's left in the Social Security trust.