Quotes from Harold Ford, Jr.

I am a Yankees fan. I should say - have been to more Yankees games than Mets games.

One bipartisan policy tradition is to deny Americans the use of our own resources.

I think the country is very settled in a lot of ways, and we saw that after the Democratic Convention. I think a lot of the bump that we enjoyed came when John Kerry selected John Edwards as his running mate.

Lawmakers misrepresent the facts when they call the manufacturing deduction known as Section 199 - passed by Congress in 2004 to spur domestic job growth - a 'subsidy' for oil and gas firms. The truth is that all U.S. manufacturers, from software producers to filmmakers and coffee roasters, are eligible for this deduction.

I'm in an interracial marriage.

If you don't meet the standards, then you don't qualify.

I look forward to the day that a lot of the folks that you all talk about and cover on this network will begin to market products for these families and for these kids coming out of junior high school and high school all across the country.

I was for civil unions and believed strongly that the flow of benefits and protections that would be provided in a civil union for same-sex couples, the decisions that have to be made, when health hardships are faced, when economic hardships are faced, I wanted all of those protections. I never strayed from them.

I don't think it's a great leap to go from civil unions to gay marriage - I may be in the minority in believing that.

I am a huge supporter for cash for caulkers - which allows people to make improvement for energy efficient in their homes. We should do the same for Americans purchasing appliances and computers and for that matter, new air-conditioner and heating units.

Republicans believe largely in the market working, Democrats believe stereotypically that you've got to give people something. So why not give people a chance to let the market work for them.

I am not going to stop speaking out on behalf of policies that I think are right - regardless of ideology, party or political expediency.

The idea is a straightforward one. We provide an account for every newborn in America, a $500 account.

I often have said to people that there are really two cities in the country where the outlook is always forward-looking - there is never really a backward-looking tendency. My banking work has taken me out to Palo Alto, what is commonly called Silicon Valley. And you sense out there is always a forward-looking outlook. And New York City.

I'm not comparing myself to Bobby Kennedy by any stretch, but he was opposed by the liberal establishment, too. Eleanor Roosevelt was the biggest opponent to him running.

Public service is a part of who I am, having grown up in a family of politicians.