United States Presidential Candidates 2008

"The allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a Senator-juror, I swore an oath, before God, to exercise “impartial justice.” I am a profoundly religious person. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the President, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong."

"The historic meaning of the words “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the writings of the Founders and my own reasoned judgment convince me that a president can indeed commit acts against the public trust that are so egregious that while they are not statutory crimes, they would demand removal from office. To maintain that the lack of a codified and comprehensive list of all the outrageous acts that a president might conceivably commit renders Congress powerless to remove such a president defies reason."

"The defense argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution’s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the president. Hamilton explained that the Founders’ decision to invest senators with this obligation rather than leave it to voters was intended to minimize — to the extent possible — the partisan sentiments of the public. This verdict is ours to render. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our duty. The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the President committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a “high crime and misdemeanor.” Yes, he did."

"The President asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The President delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders. The President’s purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust. What he did was not “perfect” — No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security interests, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine."

"I support a great deal of what the President has done. I have voted with him 80% of the time. But my promise before God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and biases aside. Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented, and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience. I am aware that there are people in my party and in my state who will strenuously disapprove of my decision, and in some quarters, I will be vehemently denounced. I am sure to hear abuse from the President and his supporters. Does anyone seriously believe I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?"

"I love our country. I believe that our Constitution was inspired by Providence. I am convinced that freedom itself is dependent on the strength and vitality of our national character. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. We have come to different conclusions, fellow senators, but I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience."

"I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the President from office. The results of this Senate Court will in fact be appealed to a higher court: the judgment of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the President’s lawyers have implored. My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate. But irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me. I will only be one name among many, no more or less, to future generations of Americans who look at the record of this trial. They will note merely that I was among the senators who determined that what the President did was wrong, grievously wrong. We’re all footnotes at best in the annals of history. But in the most powerful nation on earth, the nation conceived in liberty and justice, that is distinction enough for any citizen."

"Democrats’ plan to destroy private investment in order to finance a yet-to-be-written social spending bill is dangerous. Their proposal promotes even more short-term thinking by punishing anyone who makes long-term investments in our economy. That isn’t how we compete with China"

"Today was heart-breaking, and — I was shaken to the core as I thought about the people I met in China and Russia and Afghanistan and Iraq and other places who yearn for freedom, and who look to this building and these shores as a place of hope, and I saw the images being broadcast around the world, and it breaks my heart."

"I was proud to serve with these men and women. This is an extraordinary group of people. I am proud to be a member of the United States Senate and meet with people of integrity as we do here today. Now we gather due to a selfish man's injured pride, and the outrage of supporters who he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning. What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States. Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. Fairly or not, they will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy."

"I salute senator Lankford, Loeffler, Braun, and Daines and I'm sure others who, in the light of the day's outrage, have withdrawn their objection. For any who remain insistent on an audit in order to satisfy the many people who believe that the election was stolen, I'd offer this perspective — no Congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters, particularly when the President will continue to say that the election was stolen. The best way we could show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth. That's the burden, that's the duty of leadership. The truth is that President-elect Biden won the election, President Trump lost. I have had that experience myself. It's no fun."

"Scores of courts, the President's own Attorneys General, state election officials, both Republican and Democrat, have reached that unequivocal decision. And in light of today's sad circumstances, I ask my colleagues, do we weigh our own political fortunes more heavily than we weigh the strength of our republic, the strength of our democracy, and the cause of freedom? What's the weight of personal acclaim compared to the weight of conscience? Leader McConnell said that the vote today is the most important in his 36 years of public service. Think of that. Authorizing two wars, voting in two impeachments. He said that not because the vote reveals something about the election, it's because this vote reveals something about us. I urge my colleagues to move forward with completing the electoral count, to refrain from further objections, and to unanimously affirm the legitimacy of the Presidential election."

"[Reps.] Marjorie Taylor Greene and [[Paul Gosar|[Paul] Gosar]], I don’t know them. But I’m reminded of the old line from Butch Cassidy where one character says, ‘Morons, I have morons on my team.’ I think anybody who would sit down with white nationalists at their conference is missing a few IQ points."

"After reviewing Judge Jackson’s record and testimony, I have concluded that she is a well-qualified jurist and a person of honor. While I do not expect to agree with every decision she may make on the Court, I believe that she more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity. I congratulate Judge Jackson on her expected confirmation and look forward to her continued service to our nation"

"Well, the Republican Party has long been the party of the Constitution. So when President Trump says he wants to suspend the Constitution, he goes from being MAGA to being RINO"

"A very large portion of my party,” he told me one day, “really doesn’t believe in the Constitution."

"I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I'd be in my mid-eighties. Frankly, it's time for a new generation of leaders. They're the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in. We face critical challenges — mounting national debt, climate change and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China. Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are leading their party to confront them."

"Now, I know that the shock jocks and online instigators have effectively riled up many in the far reaches of my party. But if your position is being cheered by Vladimir Putin, then it's time to reconsider your position."

"He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him!"

"It is about whether we will work together for equality of opportunity, equality under the law, liberty and justice, economic justice, social justice, environmental justice for all, or whether we will, in the face of gross inequalities of opportunity, simply leave everybody to fend for themselves as in a bad Ayn Rand novel or a Mitt Romney speech."

"China should be our biggest worry. In his first-ever speech on the Senate floor, Mitt Romney compared Beijing to "the cook that kills the frog in a pot of boiling water, smiling and cajoling as it slowly turns up the military and economic heat." Mitt is right. The United States is taking its eye off the ball with China, and our national response has been ad hoc and indecisive under President Trump. We have no serious plan to safeguard our "empire of liberty" against China's rise. There is only the ever-changing negotiating positions of a grifter in chief, which will not be enough to win what is fast becoming the next Cold War."

"Mitt Romney understands our special place in the world and knows that a strong America is the greatest deterrent to war and upheaval. He is committed to building up our armed forces, so that no nation will ever dare challenge us. I am proud to support him."

"He wants to unchain the Wallstreet. They're going to put y'all back in chains."

"I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring valuable business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America was built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results. In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the health-care model he signed into law in Massachusetts."

"Mitt Romney had that unique distinction of uniting all of England against him."

"When I think about the kind of individual I want in the Oval Office in that moment of crisis, who has to make those key decisions, some of them life-and-death decisions, some of them decisions as commander-in-chief, who has the responsibility for sending some of our young men and women into harm's way, that man is Mitt Romney."

"There's no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office and, you know, basically performing the essential functions of the office, the man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold, but they have dramatically different proposals. And it's my opinion, anyway, that the Obama proposals and the Obama record will be far better for the American economy and most Americans than those that Governor Romney has laid out."

"Why do people now say "Well, I don't want to have a Mormon as president"? I never even thought of him as a Mormon, I thought of him as the effective best business man in North America, and that's how you should think of him."

"I'm going to vote for Governor Romney. … I think he has the potential to be a very good president in this country."

"As my colleagues Greg Sargent and Paul Krugman have been insisting, Romney is saying things about the president that are flatly, grossly and shamefully untrue."

"We had a fabulous relationship with them. I mean, really, it was very, very positive. They bought us in the beginning of 1998. Governor Romney moved on to run the Olympics I think 6 or 9 months after that so I didn't spend a lot of time with him but the team he’s got there is really terrific. They were great partners for us. Actually, one of them still serves on our board even though they've since disinvested. They really helped shape Domino's over the course of the past decade and make us as successful as we are."

"First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. This doesn't cost the government a single dollar."

"I love this country. I actually love this state. This feels good being back in Michigan. Um, you know the trees are the right height. The, uh, the streets are just right. I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually."

"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich — they're doing just fine."

"I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love."

"Jorge Ramos: You just released your tax returns. In 2010 you only paid 13% of taxes while most Americans paid much more than that. Is that fair? Mitt Romney Well, actually, I released two years of taxes and I think the average is almost 15%. And then also, on top of that, I gave another more 15% to charity. When you add it together with all of the taxes and the charity, particularly in the last year, I think it reaches almost 40% that I gave back to the community. One of the reasons why we have a lower tax rate on capital gains is because capital gains are also being taxed at the corporate level. So as businesses earn profits, that's taxed at 35%, then as they distribute those profits as dividends, that's taxed at 15% more. So, all total, the tax rate is really closer to 45 or 50%. Jorge Ramos: But is it fair what you pay, 13%, while most pay much more than that? Mitt Romney Well, again, I go back to the point that the, that the funds are being taxed twice at two different levels."

"I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."

"I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn't give me a good service that I need, I want to say I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me."

"I think people recognize that I'm not a partisan Republican—that I'm someone who is moderate, and that my views are progressive."

"[M]any Tea Party folks are going to find me, I believe, to be the ideal candidate."

"Rick Perry: But, you know, I'm just saying, you were for individual mandates, my friend. Mitt Romney: You know what, you've raised that before, Rick, uh, and you're still wrong. Rick Penny: It was true then. And it's true now. Mitt Romney: Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet?"

"Mitt Romney: Well, but will the people in Nevada not have to pay Nevada sales tax and in addition pay the 9% tax? Herman Cain: Governor Romney, you're doing the same thing that they're doing. You're mixing apples and oranges. You're going to pay — Mitt Romney: I'm — Herman Cain: No, no, no, no. You're going to pay the state sales tax, no matter what. Mitt Romney: Right. Herman Cain: Whether you throw out the existing code and you put in our plan, you're still going to pay that. That's apples and oranges. Mitt Romney: Fine. And I'm going to be getting a bushel basket that has apples and oranges in it because I've got to pay both taxes, and the people in Nevada don't want to pay both taxes."

"Rick, I don't think I've ever hired an illegal in my life... We had a lawn company to mow our lawn, and they had illegal immigrants, and when that was pointed out to us, we let them go... So we went to the company and we said, "Look, you can't have any illegals working on our property. I'm running for office, for Pete's sake. I can't have illegals.""

"As to what to do for the housing industry specifically and are there things that you can do to encourage housing: One is, don't try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom."

"I think it was last weekend, I was watching C-SPAN, and I saw Vice President Dick Cheney, and he was being asked questions about a whole host of issues — following 9/11, the affairs in various countries in the world. And I listened to him speak and said whether you agree or disagree with him, this a man of wisdom and judgment, and he could have been president of the United States. That's the kind of person I'd like to have — a person of wisdom and judgment."

"Corporations are people, my friend … course they are!"

"John King: FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. How do you deal with something like that? Mitt Romney: Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut — we should ask ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don’t have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot — John King: Including disaster relief, though? Mitt Romney: We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all."

"Barack Obama has failed America. When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer. Three years later, over 16 million Americans are out of work or have just quit looking. Millions more are underemployed. Three years later, unemployment is still above 8%, a figure he said his stimulus would keep from happening. Three years later, foreclosures are still at record levels. Three years later the prices of homes continue to fall. Three years later, our national debt has grown nearly as large as our entire economy. Families are buried under higher prices for food and higher prices for gasoline. It breaks my heart to see what's happening in this country. These failing hopes make up President Obama's own misery index. It's never been higher."

"Barack Obama is facing a financial emergency on a grander scale. Yet his approach has been to engage in one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history."

"Welfare without work erodes the spirit and the sense of self-worth of the recipient. And it conditions the children of nonworking parents to an indolent and unproductive life. Hardworking parents raise hardworking kids; we should recognize that the opposite is also true. The influence of the work habits of our parents and other adults around us as we grow up has lasting impact."