On John Kerry's 2004 campaign:"The decision of the Kerry campaign to back off any real criticism of Bush was one of the biggest acts of political malpractice in the history of American politics."
On fighting back:"For Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and myself, if you're going to go ahead and punch us, that's fine. But we're going to smack you back harder."
On Bill Clinton and Ireland:"Bill Clinton was mocked and scorned early on for having the vision to work towards peace in Northern Ireland . . . Ireland's booming economy became one of the great success stories in the world, giving people the chance to improve their lives, and it never would have happened if Clinton had not staked his presidency on finding a solution to The Troubles."
On the Bush administration's foreign policy:"George Bush - he doesn't even know where Ireland is. When he came into office, he had no idea where the Middle East is. For two years, the Middle East never even existed."
On Barack Obama and John Edwards:"I think it's better to have many candidates out there talking about the Democratic Party, what their vision is. I think it allows you to reach so many more people. At the end of the day, they're going to go with Hillary because I think she has the most experience and she will be the best person for president of the United States of America. But I'll tell you this. If any one of them wins the presidency, America is in very good hands."
On Iraq and the 2008 election:"Until our troops are out of there, until our troops stop being killed over there, with billions of dollars being wasted, Iraq is always going to be an issue . . . This is not going to be over clearly by the primaries or the general election. So it's going to be a huge issue."
On Hillary Clinton:"She is a real family person. She's warm, she's caring . . . It doesn't come across primarily because the Republicans have spent so much money trying to define her in an unflattering way."