#15 – Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.):

"Congress is unable to do the work of the American people because too many politicians believe that compromise means capitulation.  This must change, because just as bees cannot sting and make honey at the same time, members of Congress cannot simultaneously make passionate enemies and expect political progress."

 

#14 – Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.):

"When it comes to Wall Street reform, you'd think Republicans have amnesia. Like they've forgotten how we got into the Great Recession in the first place. Did they forget they were in power leading up to the crisis? That it was their plan that set Wall Street free and crashed the economy? Did they forget that this whole crisis started because banks gave out loans they knew people couldn't pay? That those banks were gambling with our money? Using the kinds of financial tricks only Mitt Romney's accountant would understand?"

 

#13 – Newark Mayor Cory Booker:

"When your country is in a costly war with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation is facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare. It's patriotism."

 

#12 – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick

"Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn't one of them. He's a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it."

 

#11 – Former Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Christ:

"Half a century ago, Ronald Reagan, the man whose relentless optimism inspired me to enter politics, famously said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party; the party left him. I can certainly relate. I didn't leave the Republican Party; it left me. Then again, as my friend Jeb Bush recently noted, Reagan himself would have been too moderate and too reasonable for today's GOP."

 

#10- Massachusetts Senatorial Candidate Elizabeth Warren:

"After all, Mitt Romney's the guy who said corporations are people. No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters. That matters because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people."

 

#9 – First Lady Michelle Obama:

"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it…and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love. And he believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity…you do not slam it shut behind you…you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed."

 

#8- HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:

"What's missing from the Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare is Medicare. Instead of the Medicare guarantee, Republicans would give seniors a voucher that limits what is covered…."

 

#7 – Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.):

"President Obama is protecting immigrants. Mitt Romney wants to send them back. This election will determine whether high school valedictorians, football team captains, and student council presidents will be treated with respect – or treated like suspects."

 

#6- Musician James Taylor:

"It's an empty chair, it makes you nervous, don't worry — I'm going to sit on it. I'm not going to talk to it."

 

#5 – Former President Bill Clinton:

"In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president's re-election was actually pretty simple – pretty snappy. It went something like this: 'We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in.'"

 

#4- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley:

"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan now say they want to take America back. And so we ask: Back to what? Back to the failed policies that drove us into a deep recession? Back to the days of record job losses? Back to the days when insurance companies called being a woman a 'pre-existing condition'?  No, thank you. I don't want to go back."

 

#3- The late Senator Ted Kennedy (clip from 1994 debate with Mitt Romney):

"I have supported Roe v. Wade. I am pro-choice. My opponent is multiple-choice."

 

#2 – Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm:

"Mitt Romney loves our lakes and our trees. He loves our cars so much, they even have their own elevator. But the people who design and build and sell those cars? Well, in Romney's world, the cars get the elevator, and the workers get the shaft!"

 

#1- Ted Strickland, former Ohio governor:

"If Mitt was Santa Claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves."

 

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA) and editorial director of Heart & Soul magazine.