Quotes of the Day — ‘We are heading to having the smallest political tent in history’

"Political diversity makes a party stronger, and ultimately we are heading to having the smallest political tent in history." – Moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, of Maine, reacting to Arlen Specter’s jump to the Democratic Party

"I’ve cast 10,000 votes…I don’t expect everybody to agree with all my votes. I don’t agree with them all myself at this point." – Senator Specter himself, asked about past votes that infuriated many Democrats

"This really isn’t swine flu. It’s H1N1 virus. We want to say to consumers here and abroad that there is no risk to you, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that there is any link between consuming pork, prepared pork products, and the H1N1 virus…there are a lot of hardworking families whose livelihood depends on us conveying this message of safety…and we want to reinforce the fact that we’re doing everything we possibly can to make sure that our hog industry is sound and safe and to make sure that consumers in this country and around the world know that American products are safe." – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

"Opium is their financial engine. That is why we think we will fight for these areas." – Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, deputy commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, quoted in New York Times about a new military effort to stop the Taliban’s stranglehold on the $300-million-a-year Afghan opium trade