"I've said that I'll uphold a woman's right of choice, that I will fund abortion so that a poor woman is not deprived of a right that others can exercise, and that I would oppose going back to a day in which abortions were illegal. I do that in spite of my own personal reservations... But if the ultimate choice of the woman - my daughter or any other woman - would be that in this particular circumstance [if she had] to have an abortion, I'd support that. I'd give my daughter the money for it." - Source

"I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade." - Source

“No, I have not supported [a ban on partial-birth abortions], and I don’t see my position on that changing.” - Source

"I would vote to preserve the option [to have partial birth abortions] for women." - Source

"I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights." - Source

"Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it." - Source

"I was at Ground Zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them." - Source

"On June 20th, I was pleased to announce that the City of New York filed a lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors. This is an industry which profits from the suffering of innocent people. The lawsuit is intended to end the free pass that the gun industry has enjoyed for a very long time, which has resulted in too many avoidable deaths." - Source

"Hello, dear. I`m talking to the members of the NRA right now. Would you like to say hello? I love you, and I`ll give you a call as soon as I`m finished, OK? OK. Have a safe trip. Bye-bye." - Source

"The quote that I have from the time I was mayor is that the conditions in New York and the things you do in New York about guns may be different than Texas. And the reality is I've always looked at it that way." - Source

"If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair." - Source

"[School vouchers] would bleed the public schools of needed funds [and be] a terrible mistake." - Source

"Oh, you dirty boy! Donald, I thought you were a gentleman." - Source

[Nelson Rockefeller represented] "a tradition in the Republican party I’ve worked hard to rekindle — the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition." - Source

[Barry Goldwater was an] "incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man." - Source

"I do not look to see what the catechism of conservatism says about how to solve a problem." - Source

"Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." - Source

"From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, ‘Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?' Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo." - Source

"There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader." - Source

- JP