Barack Obama
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
- In a speech to supporters on February 5, 2008.
“In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity — it is a pre-requisite.”
- Address to Joint Session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009
“From the day I took office, I’ve been told that addressing our larger challenges is too ambitious; such an effort would be too contentious. I’ve been told that our political system is too gridlocked, and that we should just put things on hold for a while. For those who make these claims, I have one simple question: How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?”
- State of the Union Address, January 27, 2010
“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
- 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
“This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favours the few, and not the many.”
- Speech in Berlin, in Change We Can Believe In, Jul 24, 2008
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”
- ‘Bloomington Pantagraph’, February 25, 2005
“If you turn away now — if you buy into the cynicism that the change we fought for isn’t possible, well, change will not happen.”
- Nomination acceptance speech, Democratic National Convention in North Carolina, September 2012
“Why can’t I just eat my waffle?”
- In response to a question from a reporter while on the campaign trail, April 2008.
Joe Biden
“A gaffe in Washington is someone telling the truth, and telling the truth has never hurt me.”
- In a ‘Newsweek’ interview, spring 2009
“All our differences hardly measure up to the values we all hold in common.”
- Promises to keep
“The greatest sin a man or woman can commit is the abuse of power.”
- ‘Esquire’, January 2012
“Our military might and economic resources are necessary but not sufficient to lead us into this new century. It is our ideas and ideals that will allow us to exert the kind of leadership that persuades others to follow and to deal effectively with these forces of change.”
- Speech, April 15, 2008
“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey.”
- To Representative Paul Ryan, vice-presidential debate, October 2012. Malarkey, as was explained, is an Irish term.
Mitt Romney
“Leadership, leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.”
- After winning the Florida primary in February 2012.
“I think it’s frankly not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we take in knowing that the burden is going to be passed on to the next generation and they’re going to be paying the interest and principal all their lives.”
- First presidential debate in Denver, October 2012
“Dependency is death to initiative, to risk-taking and opportunity. It’s time to stop the spread of government dependency and fight it like the poison it is.”
- In his speech accepting the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention, September 2012
“Free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty, to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids, and to make our lives better than all the programmes of government combined.”
- In his speech after winning the Wisconsin primary, April 2012
“Freedom. Freedom of religion. Freedom to speak their mind. Freedom to build a life. And yes, freedom to build a business. With their own hands. This is the essence of the American experience.”
- In his speech accepting the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention, September 2012
“When it comes to the economy, my highest priority as President will be worrying about your job, not saving my own.”
- In an address intended as a “prebuttal” to President Obama’s State of the Union address in January 2012.
“I went to a number of women’s groups and said ‘Can you help us find folks?’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.”
- During the second presidential debate, October 16, 2012, when discussing staffing his cabinet as Massachusetts governor.
“I don’t doubt for a second that Neil Armstrong’s spirit is still with us: that unique blend of optimism, humility and the utter confidence that when the world needs someone to do the really big stuff, you need an American.”
- In his speech accepting the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention, September 2012
“Washington has to become an ally of business, not the opposition of business.”
- In his speech after winning the Wisconsin primary, April 2012
Paul Ryan
“A free economy and strong communities honour the dignity of every person, rewarding effort with justice, promoting upward mobility, and building solidarity among citizens”
- In an article written for ‘The American Spectator’, August 13, 2012
“Big-government economics breeds crony capitalism. It’s corrupt, anything but neutral, and a barrier to broad participation in prosperity.”
- In an article written for ‘The American Spectator’, August 13, 2012
“We believe, as our founders did, that ‘the pursuit of happiness’ depends upon individual liberty; and individual liberty requires limited government.”
- In his response to President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address.
“I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.
- In a 2005 speech to a group of Rand devotees called the Atlas Society. Ryan later denied that he was influence by Rand, saying he rejected her philosophy as atheistic.
“With respect to that quote, I think the vice-president very well knows that sometimes the words don’t come out of your mouth the right way.”
- Vice-presidential debate, October 11, 2012, when Biden referred to Romney’s “47 per cent” comment
