Those words were repeated by former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who lost the 1996 election to Bill Clinton, whom he later teamed with on a short-lived point-counterpoint segment on CBS TV's "60 Minutes," and former Vice President Al Gore, the popular tally victor but electoral vote loser in 2000.

Both conceded terrorism is a threat to globalization, and its root causes need to be addressed. "The war on terror is going to take a long time," Dole said, regardless of who wins in November.

"If we're going to be successful in combating terrorism, it will take a bi-partisan approach and look at the causes of terrorism instead of trying to solve it militarily," Gore added.

Likewise, both suggest fears the Chinese economy may be overheated could be overblown. "It's unbelievable how much talent and skill and momentum they have over there," Gore said. "They're becoming the Saudi Arabia of manufacturing. … They're a force to be reckoned with." Dole, who suggested Richard Nixon's greatest legacy may be opening US relations with China, added, "It's beyond your imagination what will happen there."

Gore welcomed CoreNet's prediction that Fortune 500 companies will begin to consider social responsibility as closely as it watches its financial bottom line. "Increasingly, there will be a demand by shareholders and customers to take this 'triple-bottom-line' approach," Gore said. "Over time, businesses that focus on the health and welfare of the communities they are in, and the well-beings of their employees and their families, they will be more successful than their competitors."

However, Dole suggested trends that run counter to social responsibility, such as off-shoring jobs, may have a place in corporate decisions. "This is a very sensitive political issue," he said. "However, there are cases where it may be necessary in the short-term basis to do that."

Clinton was CoreNet's original keynote speaker but later begged off.