Contentious Issue Quotes

I've always had both sides mad at me on this issue [abortion].

Whenever the abortion issue is raised, people are asked to compromise their principles in order to reach some sort of political accommodation.

Just how many infants we will put to the sword is not yet clear. There is dickering to do. Those involved will take this disgrace to their graves.

The topic of slavery is like an electric fence. Touch it and people will react.

Race is such a contentious issue because of the painful history of racism. Race didn't create racism, but racism created race.

Even as a supporter of Roe v. Wade, I am compelled to acknowledge that the language both sides use on this subject can be unfortunately misleading and unconstructive.... Everyone is worse off for it.

You don't make a case for reparations thinking, 'Oh yeah, people are gonna love this.' I didn't see that coming.

I am not going to wait and have us plunge back into a contentious national debate that has very little chance of succeeding. Let's make the Affordable Care Act work for everybody.

The ratification of the Constitution was a slugfest.

I will not get into a pissing contest with that skunk [Joseph McCarthy].

Abortion is not an issue with the American people. It is a figment of your imagination if you think that this is an issue that is talked about a lot.

This is probably as bad a day as the court has had on social issues since Roe vs. Wade.

Land is a very broad as well as a complex issue, and it has to be handled very delicately because around land, there is quite a lot of emotion.

For the life of me, I don't understand what honest motive there is in putting this in front of this body to philosophically debate marriage on a constitutional amendment that is not going to happen, and which is enormously divisive in all of our communities.

Barbecue is the third rail of North Carolina politics.

A damned bad treaty.

A lot of people have been bent one way or the other on that. I'm not going to weigh in on that; I'm happy to still be at large, I'll just put it that way.

We have not fully pleased anybody and that's a good sign.