But I think there was a sense amongst the House Republicans especially that we didn't just want to be opposed to Bill Clinton that we wanted to tell the country what we were for and to brand ourselves in a more positive manner.

Political consultants are pugilists masters in the dark art of negativity. Which is why it's surprising to hear Democrats such as Steve McMahon and Republicans like Rich Galen urging their presidential candidates to be more well positive.

I was in the room with you know more than a dozen Republicans trying to negotiate the stimulus. Most of them decided the politics of the situation meant they should walk away even if it wasn't responsible in terms of what our country needed right then.

This is not the time for partisan bickering. This is not the time for politics as usual. Some of us are Democrats. Some of us are Republicans. Some of us are Independents. Above all we must be Oklahomans first.

Once the cry and the cause of a generation of progressives to make America safer fairer and cleaner 'regulation' is now a dirty word in our politics. Even Democrats are quick to talk about cutting regulations Republicans hate them with - how to put it? - evangelical fervor.

Democrats always like to brag that their guys are smarter than the opponents and Republicans always like to brag that their guys are more moral than the opponents. But if you're looking for morals in politics you're looking for bananas in the cheese department.

The largest party in America by the way is neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. It's the party of non-voters.

The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt too.

Republicans have nothing but bad ideas and Democrats have no ideas.

But if republicans are to prevail if the peace process is to be successfully concluded and Irish sovereignty and re-unification secured then we have to set the agenda - no-one else is going to do that.

Obama has been attacked repeatedly for not wearing a flag pin with Republicans claiming that his patriotism is in question. It's all a bit silly.

There are a lot of conservative people a lot of moderate people Republicans Democrats in Hollywood. It is just that the conservative people by the nature of the word itself play closer to the vest. They do not go around hot dogging it.

I hate movies that tell people what to think. I'm proud that Democrats thought 'Thank You For Smoking' was their film and Republicans thought it was theirs. I'm proud that pro-choice people thought 'Juno' was their film and pro-life people thought it was theirs.

I grew up in a family of Republicans. And when I was 18 and registering to vote my mom's only instruction was 'You just go in and pull the big Republican lever.' That's my welcome to adulthood. She's like 'No don't even read it. Just pull the Republican lever.

The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans or women and men but between talkers and doers.

If Republicans want to be seen as more compassionate they should continue to stand proudly for the sanctify of life and marriage. And they should do so without apologizing.

House Republican leadership have refused to allow a clean minimum wage vote. Close to 15 million Americans will be affected if we did this. Do Republicans really expect a family to live on less than $11 000 a year?