"I think that it's a two-edged sword and candidates can't touch it without getting sliced by one
"I think that it's a two-edged sword and candidates can't touch it without getting sliced by one side of the blade. Whatever side they're on, there are voters who are passionately opposed to that view."
Political scientist Jeffrey Berry
On gay marriage simply not being a winning campaign issue in deeply divided Massachusetts.
"I will be disappointed. But democracy is democracy. If that's what the people choose, that's what the people choose."
President Bush
When asked by The Associated Press how he would feel if free elections in Iraq led to the seating of a fundamentalist Islamic government.