“It sucks. I used to be governor of New York.”

“In politics you learn to always smile.”

“After 25-plus years as a lawyer, prosecutor, and defense attorney, I have developed a deep appreciation for both the wisdom of the law and the role that jurists play in framing the rights and responsibilities that define our society.”

“The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon shook our nation to the core. Americans were deeply frightened, sad, and angry, and they rallied around a President who, at the time, showed impressive certitude and calm.”

“I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas.”

“Health care reform, the marquee legislative accomplishment of the Obama administration's first term, was passed before we entered the world of divided government.”

“I think President Obama could have handled politics and policies differently. But he has been decisive, strong, and consistent - important qualities in a president. Mitt Romney is indeed an Etch A Sketch, the antithesis of leadership.”

“Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.”

“Yes, people pull the trigger - but guns are the instrument of death. Gun control is necessary, and delay means more death and horror.”

“Some say that I should settle down, go slower and not push so hard, so quickly for such transformational change. To them, I say that you misunderstand the size of the problems we face, the strength of the status quo and the urgency of the people's desire for change.”

“It's time to let science and medicine, not politics and rhetoric, lead us to good, sound policy.”