Your week in political quotes

(LIN) – The Republican presidential race turns into a boys club as the Iowa Caucuses force an early exit from a fiery female contender.

" Make no mistake: I will continue to fight for our country. " --Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., after withdrawing from the GOP presidential race after placing sixth in the Iowa Caucuses.

"Ronald Reagan got 29 percent of the votes here and ultimately he was able to become our nominee."--GOP presidential candidate and former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., referring to the 1980 campaign that put Republicans in the White House. Romney brushed aside suggestions Wednesday that his share of the vote in Iowa, less than 25 percent, was a sign of weakness.

"Taking two positions on every issue ... doesn't make you a centrist, it makes you a charlatan…It makes you unreliable."--President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign strategist David Axelrod, in an email sent to supporters about Romney ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.

"With the voters' decision tonight in Iowa, I decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, and determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race." --GOP presidential candidate and Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, after he finished a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses. Perry later tweeted to his followers he would continue the race and campaign in South Carolina.

"We found your one Iowa voter, he's in Linn precinct 5 you might want to call him and say thanks."--GOP presidential candidate and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, tweeting fellow candidate and former Gov. Jon Huntsman, R-Utah, on Huntsman’s low polling numbers.

"All we have to say in a happy and positive way is `Newt believes in the Second Amendment, here's what Romney said about guns. Newt believes in right to life and here's what Romney did with Romneycare’…You can do that pretty happily and have happy music."--GOP presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., on his decision to keep his campaign from going negative against Romney.

"Send [Romney] to South Carolina with such momentum that it cannot be stopped."--Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on his endorsement of former 2008 rival Romney in New Hampshire.

"I have great regard for Sen. McCain. I love the man. But it's another example of the establishment piling on. And it seems the more the establishment piles on — (Bob) Dole, McCain, all the rest — nobody cares."--Huntsman, on McCain’s endorsement of Romney.

"When Congress refuses to act, and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them."--Obama, who bypassed the Senate Wednesday and installed Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The recess appointment immediately irked GOP leaders.

"Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people by ‘recess' appointing Richard Cordray as director of the new CFPB."--Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in an official statement about Cordray’s appointment to the agency.