* “This was an act of terror and an act of hate.”–President Barack Obama, on the mass shooting in Orlando.
* “If China were eating America’s lunch, its people would not be rushing to buy safe-haven apartments in New York or San Francisco.”–Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
* “The Puerto Rican people are our fellow Americans. They pay our taxes, they fight in our wars. We cannot allow this to happen.”–House Speaker Paul Ryan, in imploring lawmakers to pass a rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico.
* “… I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. She’s got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get this job done.”–President Barack Obama, in endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.
* “She won because she’s a fighter.”–Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in her endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
* “It never feels good to put our heart into a cause or a candidate you believe in and come up short. I know that feeling well. But as we look ahead to the battle that awaits, let’s remember all that unites us.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “Needless to say, I’m going to do everything in my power, and I’m going to work as hard as I can, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.”–Bernie Sanders.
* “I’ll be here so much … Seriously, we need Florida. It’s absolutely imperative. They say if you don’t win Florida, it’s over.”–Donald Trump at his Tampa rally.
* “I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for president.”–Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois.
* “During the circus-like years of Silvio Berlusconi, Italians grew flinchingly accustomed to being the butts of the world’s jokes. Will they have the last laugh? They look toward America and wonder. In Donald Trump, we have a version of their buffoonish former prime minister–a clown all our own. He baffles and appalls much of Europe.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.
* “You win the pennant and now you’re in the World Series–you gonna change?”–Donald Trump.
* “A party’s rules are not a suicide pact.”–Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt.
* “One day, we shall all have to account for what we did and what we said in this scoundrel year. For now, we each have our conscience to attend to.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.
* “(Paul Ryan) spent the first eight months of his speakership shepherding a policy agenda that is already being eclipsed by the rhetoric of a GOP nominee whom Ryan loathes yet feels obligated to support because of the office he holds.”–Tim Alberta, National Review.
* “Republicans have not changed Mr. Trump for the better; he has changed them for the worse.”–Peter Wehner, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
* “We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.”–9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William A. Fletcher, writing for the majority.
* “We are dealing with a crisis situation in our city right now. Look, the sky really is falling.”–Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who is pushing a sales tax to help pay down the city’s $2.8 billion pension debt.
* “If you want to try to defend (Attorney General Pam) Bondi’s actions, try finishing this sentence for me: ‘I think it is perfectly appropriate for a prosecutor to take big chunks of money from someone she has been asked to investigate because …'”–Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel.
* “I’d rather build a Riverwalk than talk about building a wall.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “About 1.3 million people live in Hillsborough County, with that number expected to double within the next 20 years. Without significant investments in transportation options, we are setting ourselves up for a future of traffic jams.”–Bob Rohrlack, president and CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
* “Unfortunately, the commission’s majority continues to lack the courage to let voters decide the way we move forward. Any plan that does not incorporate the needs of the three cities is not a plan and is merely a failed effort by politicians more concerned about the next election rather than the next generation.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the Hillsborough County Commission’s rejection of a half-cent sales tax hike of 20 years on a 4-3 vote.
* “The main issue in Tampa in 2015 wasn’t the bike stops. It was black youth killing black youth. … We can argue bike stops all night long. I want to argue how we can keep our youth safe … .”–Tampa Police Captain Calvin Johnson, at a recent community forum on racial disparities in the city’s issuance of bicycle citations.
* “Obviously, we’ve got an aging (sewer) system. We’re trying to invest in that system. We need City Council to approve those types of investments.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “I agree with the people that don’t want this and they don’t think they should have this in the neighborhood without a complete study done. People just feel like it’s going to destroy their neighborhood. Tampa Heights, Seminole Heights. Even though they’re older, they’re transforming into vibrant communities.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller, on objections to Tampa Bay Express.
* “TBX will not solve congestion. In most universes that should be enough to kill it.”–Tampa Heights Civic Association president Rick Fernandez.