In the running...

The final contenders for Quote of the Year 2008:

"Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood; I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book." — Charlotte Bobcats owner and Hillary Clinton supporter Robert Johnson at a campaign rally in Columbia, S.C. on Jan. 14, 2008. Johnson at first claimed he was referring to Obama's time as a community organizer, though many understood it was a reference to drug use. Johnson later apologized.

"You don't trust them. You don't look at them and say, 'That's somebody that would manage to feed them on time, that would change the litter box.'" — Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger, saying he wouldn't leave the Republican candidates in charge of his cats while on vacation in a profile published on Feb. 14, 2008. It was the first of a number of colorful comments by the third-party candidate in the race.

"This lady makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy." — Gov. Mike Easley at a press conference endorsing Clinton on April 29, 2008. Over the next two days, he received 683 e-mails about the endorsement, including many critical of the use of the word "pansy."

"I don't answer that question anymore. I answered it one time and it got me in tremendous trouble. I've got a job I enjoy and I'm not in search of a new job. Period." — U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, when asked by a Washington-based newspaper if he would agree to run as John McCain's vice president, in a story published May 12, 2008.

"Her unconventional beauty, her sense of humor and her blinding intelligence are engraved in my mind." — J. Lee Harris, a nurse supervisor at John Umstead Hospital, on hospital director Patsy Christian, who paid her $250 from a donation for an oil painting. From a statement issued by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on May 29, 2008.

"I'd rather be a bum on the boxcar of the Obama train than at the front of the bus with John McCain." — Governor Easley, introducing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama at a speech in Raleigh on June 9, 2008. Easley, who had previously endorsed Hillary Clinton, said he knew he was "late to the train" and famously bumped fists with Obama at the event.

"It's a lot better than what's going on in Iraq, where people shoot each other to settle things." — John K. Wiles, an attorney for the State Employees Association of N.C., denying that a proposal to drop a lawsuit against state Treasurer Richard Moore was bribery and also setting a very low bar for political standards, on June 12, 2008.

"Let's be honest about it, a cheeseburger and onion rings is $60 over there." — Governor Easley, defending the cost of overseas trips paid by the state government, at a press conference on July 1, 2008.

"I am happy to have my position, duties and responsibilities reviewed." — First Lady Mary Easley, after her $79,000 raise at N.C. State University raised questions about the college's habit of approving large pay raises without the approval of the UNC Board of Governors. Quoted on July 10, 2008.

"We want not just Barack Obama to be president of the United States, we want Bev Perdue as the next governor of the state of Colorado!" — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, getting confused about his geography during a campaign stop in Raleigh on July 25, 2008.

"The story is false. It's completely untrue, ridiculous." — Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, calling a report about an affair false in an interview with the Associated Press on Oct. 12, 2007.

"Being 99 percent honest is no longer enough." — Edwards, in a statement admitting to the affair on Aug. 8, 2008.

"Hi, I'm John Edwards." — Late-night talk show host David Letterman, joking about the No. 1 pickup line at the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 28, 2008.

"Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God." — U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, addressing the crowd before a Concord rally for Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Oct. 4, 2008.

"Being here with all of you hard-working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, praising North Carolina during a fundraiser in Greensboro on Oct. 16, 2008.

"I'll beat Michael Phelps in swimming before Barack Obama wins North Carolina." — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, introducing McCain at a rally in Fayetteville on Oct. 28, 2008.

"By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten." — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, criticizing McCain's attacks at a Raleigh rally on Oct. 29, 2008.

"There is no God!" — An unidentified female voice in an ad criticizing Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan for attending a fundraiser hosted by a member of the Godless Americans PAC that first aired Oct. 29, 2008. Many viewers mistook the voice for Hagan's, but it was actually the PAC's executive director Ellen Johnson speaking at a rally.

"When you're making ads that say 'There is no God,' it usually means your campaign doesn't have a prayer." — Republican political consultant Alex Castellanos, creator of the infamous "White Hands" ad for Sen. Jesse Helms, criticizing Dole on CNN on Oct. 29, 2008.

"Lord have mercy...I'm trying to win the governor's race," Beverly Perdue said when a reporter asked on Sept. 23, 2008 if she intended to reappoint fundraiser Louis Sewell to the Board of Transportation. Sewell steered road work near property he co-owned. Sewell resigned from the board days after Perdue's statement.

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