Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The words ring out from The Party of Lincoln and The Party of JFK:

- "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here." (George W. Bush)

- "I always had a very vivid and clear sense that men and women were entirely and completely equal -  if not more so." (Al Gore)

All together now, Republicans and Democrats: Open mouth, insert foot. You've done it enough times for author Ted Rueter to compile a collection of the "185 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said" and, in the interest of fairness, "185 Stupid Things Republicans Have Said" (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $5.99 each).

Actually, these guys probably have a million of `em, so it must have been tough to limit the number of really goofy gaffes. But the quotes that made it into these books are real winners, including:

- "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the President." (Hillary Clinton)

- "One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise about that which expected." (George W. Bush)

© 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.