• Dog bills are known to rise up and bite you at election time.
• Source: Wall Street Journal   |   Nation   |   May 9, 2012
• Democratic Tenn. state Sen. Douglas Henry, who opposed a Republican-sponsored bill outlawing driving with a dog on the lap. More than half a dozen states have considered laws banning dogs from the driver's seat, but none have passed.

• If a Democrat were here, he'd look around and say, 'No one should live like this.' Republicans come here and say, 'Everyone should live like this.'
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   May 8, 2012
• GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, at the luxurious home of Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter. The house has its own golf course and pool.
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• He’s a lot more accessible than the last two governors -- and that includes him.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Oregon   |   May 7, 2012
• Oregon state Senate Republican leader Ted Ferrioli referring to Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is currently serving his third term (his first two were from 1995 to 2003). In 2010, he was one of three former governors to return to office.

• Every one of us has ‘oops moments’ every day. ... America may not forgive you for it, but God will.
• Source: Politico   |   Texas   |   May 4, 2012
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who memorably muttered “oops” during a nationally televised Republican debate when he couldn’t remember the name of one of three federal agencies he would eliminate if he won the presidency.
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• Everyone thinks it's too big of a problem to be solved by any state.
• Source: Governing.com   |   Alabama   |   May 3, 2012
• Alabama Revenue Commissioner Julie Magee, on the low rate of taxpayers -- a mere 1.6 percent in 2009 -- who pay "use taxes", which levy Internet transactions and other untaxed goods.

• I’ve overreacted in my time. So I know what it looks like when I overreact, and that wasn’t one of them.
• Source: New York Times   |   New York City   |   May 2, 2012
• Christine C. Quinn, the New York City Council speaker who is expected to run for mayor, who was accused of overreacting when she walked out of a rally after a participant called New York’s mayor “Pharaoh Bloomberg.”

• They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them.
• Source: CBS News   |   South   |   May 1, 2012
• Al Armendariz, the top EPA official in the South and Southwest region, saying he would go after companies violating environmental laws like the Romans conquered villages in the Middle Ages. Scrutiny over his videotaped remarks, which were made in 2010, led to his recent resignation.
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• Until we protect the privacy rights of our citizens, the solution is worse than the problem.
• Source: Associated Press   |   April 30, 2012
• U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), regarding the provisions in the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which would encourage companies and the federal government to share information collected on the Internet to help prevent electronic attacks from cybercriminals, foreign governments and terrorists.

• Expecting presidential candidates to be candid with voters is such a quaint idea you'd expect to find it on Pinterest.
• Source: Slate   |   April 27, 2012
• John Dickerson, Slate's chief political correspondent, opening his recent column on the ability of presidential candidates to tell voters truths they may not want to hear.

• This part of pres campaigns is the dumdrums -- like doldrums, only we're trapped in a windless sea of dumb issues.
• Source: The Associated Press/Salon   |   Nation   |   April 25, 2012
• Republican consultant Tony Fratto, in a Twitter post, remarking on the scattered and sometimes trivial issues debated at this point in the presidential race when the candidates -- presumably Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama -- are virtually decided and the political conventions are still way off.

• I've had longtime supporters tell me, 'I don't even know what party you are.' And I like that.
• Source: Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   April 24, 2012
• California Congressional candidate Linda Parks, who is one of 36 candidates with "no party preference" running for state and federal office in California this year, the first time the option is available for primary candidates.

• This bill stinks.
• Source: Montgomery Advertiser   |   Alabama   |   April 23, 2012
• Alabama state Rep. Joseph Mitchell, on why he wore a gas mask the week the House of Representatives discussed and approved legislation that revises the state’s controversial immigration law.

• We like our celebrities. We elected Ronald Reagan and (Arnold) Schwarzenegger. Gavin is trying it while he's in office -- which is a different way.
• Source: San Francisco Chronicle   |   California   |   April 20, 2012
• Patrick Dorinson, a Sacramento-area radio host and political blogger, on California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to host a weekly hour-long show on Current TV.

• Twice run, twice passed, twice vetoed. How many times is it going to take for people to figure it out? This is making our state a laughing- stock.
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   April 19, 2012
• Arizona state Sen. Paula Aboud, referring to Gov. Jan Brewer's recent veto (for the second time) of a bill that would have allowed guns on public property including city halls, police stations, county courts and the state Capitol.

• It’s the appearance of progress rather than actual progress.
• Source: New Jersey Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   April 18, 2012
• Ken Wolski, head of New Jersey’s Coalition for Medical Marijuana, on the state's decision to allow the first medical pot center to start growing the cannabis crop yet none of the centers are operating and not one patient has received access to the drug.