"That's what freedom of speech is all about. ... People have the right to run ads. They have the right to do what they want to do, under the -- under the First Amendment in America."
From the March 5, 2000, edition of CBS's Face the Nation:
"There are people spending ads that say nice things about me. There are people spending money on ads that say ugly things about me . . . That's part of the American process. There have been ads, independent expenditures, that are saying bad things about me. I don't particularly care when they do, but that's what freedom of speech is all about."</i>
...which, incidentally, is precisely why the Republicans and Democrats chose to protect 527 ads in the campaign finance laws.