* “Voters fear the imposition of the veil and a harsh penal code if radicals win the election.”–Hala Jaber, London Sunday Times, on concerns about the forthcoming elections in Egypt.
* “Like most neocons, (Marco) Rubio is fixated on Iran.”–Patrick Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.
* “To listen to Obama, the argument for re-election is as much about avoiding that U-Turn as about charting the path ahead. ‘The last thing we can afford to do is to go back to the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place,’ he said at a campaign fundraiser in Michigan the other day.”–Ruth Marcus, Washington Post.
* “We’ve always encouraged young people–take a shot, go for it, take a risk and get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.”–Mitt Romney.
* “I don’t think the Romney campaign will want to make health care a major issue. Every time Romney criticizes the president’s health care reform, he opens himself up to the Etch A Sketch attack.”–Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway.
* “Satire is thriving right now, probably more so than at any time in our culture’s history. Sometimes the smartest political analysis of the day is being done by comedians.”–Robert Thompson, director of the Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.
* “I truly believe Jeb wants to be VP as much as anybody wants to be chosen to compete in The Hunger Games.”–Miami Republican strategist Ana Navarro.
* “As I have repeatedly explained, I believe that drug testing state employees is a common-sense means of ensuring a safe, efficient and productive workforce. … That is why the public and Florida’s taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy.”–Gov. Rick Scott in announcing that he will repeal a federal judge’s decision that an order requiring drug testing for state employees was unconstitutional.
* “We have been solely, and only, a launch site. We want to bring more research and development here and more assembly work.”–Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.
* “People tell me, ‘You can’t legislate morality.’ Yes, you can. Every bill we pass is founded in somebody’s value system.”–Rep. Dennis Bexley, R-Ocala.
* “Central Florida gets anything and everything they want, and we don’t. We don’t have a unified offense. We play defense.”–Ronnie Duncan, TBARTA chairman.
* “He has no pretention. He is just a nice guy who wants to make a difference.”–Metropolitan Ministries President Tim Marks describing Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.
* “We have some great facilities here–the Forum, the amphitheater, Ruth Eckerd, Straz, on and on. But they’re either very large or very small. What the Sun Dome will do is fill a mid-size niche.”–Trent Merritt, general manager of the newly renovated, 10,000-seat, USF Sun Dome.
* “We’ve cut past the bone. We’re in the cremation phase. For this next round, I’ve determined that it’s impossible for this city to meet its needs with the current revenue projections.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster.
* “We know tobacco kills, we know it’s a carcinogen. For us to not encourage them to stop would be silly. … If you have to walk halfway across campus to smoke, you may quit.”–Gina Firth, associate dean of wellness at the University of Tampa, where smoking is banned indoors and within 25 feet of any building or entrance.
* “It’s insane. I’d like to see us work with the Legislature and state organizations to try and bring a little bit of sanity to this thing called ‘testing.'”–Hillsborough County School Board Chairwoman Candy Olson.
* “They’re not in meetings 24 hours a day. What do you think they’re going to be doing at night? You can only eat so many steak dinners. You can only look at so many sunsets.”–Night Moves adult trade magazine publisher Paul Allen on the potential business for local strip clubs during the GOP Convention.