Matthew Dowd Quotes

Nothing is as good as it seems and nothing is as bad, but somewhere between reality falls.

The polls tell us something, but they don't tell us everything. They don't tell us how people are going to show up on Election Day.

I like debating policy.

For all the talk about, and appeals to, Trump fans who wanted to watch the press corps bullied and bashed, most Americans don't want that. They never did. Most Americans want to know what is real and true so that they can make the best decisions for their families.

Looks are just something on the surface. I think the electorate is more discerning than that. They want to know your stand on policies.

One cannot judge the poll outcome by the crowds one draws at public meetings.

When you micro-analyze the approval ratings, there's aspects, and the questions come in, 'I love the president, but I dislike X, Y, Z,' or 'I like the president but dislike X, Y, Z.'

The real world is much smaller than the imaginary

Well, maybe it was just that I wasn't going to like anybody because I had to work and I had to explain to my teachers why I wasn't keeping up. I'd fall asleep and things in class and they'd lecture me about the reality of their classroom. I said, 'You want to see my reality?' I opened up my backpack to where you usually keep your pencils. That's where I kept my bills... electric bills, rent... That was my reality.

This is reality. If [the American officials] want to believe, that's good, that will help them understand the region and be more successful in their policies.

Your life is what you see in front of you. -An-mei

I am extremely grateful. And that brings me back to reality on the days I am complaining about something.

Life is not always what we think it is.

Most election analysts in the U.S. habitually confuse the sound of money talking with the voice of the people.

I'm not trying to minimize things; I'm trying to bring them back to reality.

Today is the midterm elections. The Washington Post is predicting that there's a 98 percent chance of the Republicans taking the Senate and The New York Times says there's a 75 percent chance. And CNN said, 'Wait, that's today?'

There is a current mythology in our culture that anytime we meet someone and have that "enchanted evening" experience, that experience of looking into the eyes of the other and falling hopelessly in love - that this is nothing more than a delusion; a mutual projection, a fantasy that will only last until reality sets in.

Even if you think the grass is greener on the other side, you’re going to have to mow that side too.

Of course, any simplification runs the risk of mutilating reality; but it helps us establish perspectives.

I think it's a scary sign of the times that pop culture and social media is so involved [in presidential election ], where it feels like a reality show. I have hope that the right decision will be made.

I think the world is like a great mirror, and reflects our lives just as we ourselves look upon it.

There is no way you can use the word “reality” without quotation marks around it.

Donald Trump enters office with historically low approval ratings, that's where the battle could get fought. If the country turns against him, his Republican adversaries could feel emboldened.

When someone tells you it’s a grain of sand, there’s a moment where your reality falls apart and you have to reconstruct it. You have to step back and ask what the image is and what it means.

Things are never as bad or as good as they seem.