* “(Boris) Johnson’s Brexit would leave Northern Ireland more integrated with Ireland than with the rest of Britain. And as religion becomes less important on both sides of the border, pressure for Irish unification will grow.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.
* “I now do recall.”–Pay-to-play diplomat Gordon Sondland’s CYA reversal in corroborating testimony about the quid pro quo with Ukraine pushed by Trump and Rudy Giuliani.
* “The best argument against Trump is simply this: We can’t tolerate another four years like these. We can’t wake up to crazy tweets and gratuitous taunts. That gets in the way of solving problems that affect people’s lives.”–David Axelrod, former Obama strategist.
* “Under Donald Trump, Republicans have chosen to abandon the American center and its moderates. It would be utterly foolish for Democrats to make the same mistake and move the Democratic Party further leftward. With Trump on the ballot, any semblance of moderation will appeal to these valuable voters in swing states in the general election.”–Justin Gest, George Mason public policy professor.
* “The hyper-focus on Obama voters who defected to Mr. Trump in 2016 obscures the fact that more Obama voters stayed home or defected to the Green Party and Libertarian Party than switched to the Republican Party.”–Melanye Price, political science professor at Prairie View A&M University and author of “The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race.”
* “There is general agreement that black voters, while a small percentage of all voters, could again play an outsized role in determining the Democratic presidential nominee and the outcome of next year’s election. Blacks are concentrated in important primary states, such as South Carolina, as well as the cities of key battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin. Perhaps taking them for granted, Hillary Clinton failed to mobilize enough black voters in 2016, when black voter turnout fell in a presidential election for the first time in 20 years.”–Jason Riley, Wall Street Journal.
* “The big picture is that Trump remains unpopular and Democratic voters are energized to kick him out. The Democratic standard-bearer has to be someone who can harness the passion that already exists to move beyond Trump. Primary voters should be confident enough to vote not out of fear but out of hope.”–Jeet Heer, The Nation.
* “Single-payer health care is, in certain ways, the liberal-activist equivalent of the conservative dream of a flat tax.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.
* “The Florida Democratic Party is seeing an unprecedented amount of volunteer engagement for an off-year. Democrats have completed 1,221 percent more volunteer shifts than we did in 2015.”–Juan Penalosa, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.
* “The Hispanic electorate is not a cohesive vote and never has been.”–Susan MacManus, Florida political analyst and USF professor emerita.
* “I’ve done my public service, and I’ll never run for office again in my life. I don’t have elected official’s disease.”–Ed Turanchik.
* “I’ve been so touched throughout this whole journey with your love, your kindness, your generosity, your loyalty. I will never forget you. You’re in my heart, you’re in every fiber of my being. How could I ever forget?”–Elton John, at his farewell-tour concert at Amalie Arena.