John Podhoretz Quotes

In view of our public pledges, we public officials can never again go before the public merely promising election reform. The time for promises is past.

No [electoral] challenge to an incumbent President is ever a “walk in the park,”

I think if more members of Congress would talk about what they see and what they want to do and what they want to accomplish, rather than talking about their opponent, we would begin to shape and reshape American public opinion on what the political world looks like.

History shows that there is no more potent engine for reform than the passion of voters who feel betrayed by the politicians they hoped would do the right thing.

I firmly believed throughout 1971 that the major hurdle to winning the presidency was winning the Democratic nomination. I believed that any reasonable Democrat would defeat President Nixon. I now think that no one could have defeated him in 1972.

The President is accountable only to the country.

Chicago ain’t ready for reform!

The reality of going before the voters and seeking election should force Congressmen to behave.

Turn the rascals out.

A Senate seat is a terrible thing to waste.

Presidents ought to get the appointments they want for the cabinet and then be responsible for them.

Africa must develop a genuine culture of alternation and opposition, without which democracy in any country, including the West, cannot exist.

The Presidency is a four-year contract with the American electorate. But with television news, the American people can more easily monitor that contract, being sure every "i" is dotted and every "t" crossed.

The great problem is how to discharge presidents who have outlived their usefulness to the country

The success of our popular government rests wholly upon the correct interpretation of the deliberate, intelligent, dependable popular will of America.

Every four years the naive half who vote are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or woman President everything will be all right. But it won't be.

When a politician is in opposition he is an expert on the means to some end; and when he is in office he is an expert on the obstacles to it.

When we look at the majority of the American people, when they believe that their leadership is letting them down, there is only one option out there for us, and that's to change that leadership.

When I first ran for governor, the political class and party leaders opposed me with great vigor, and some even said if I won the primary they would never vote for me. But the voters had other ideas, and they are the only ones who count.

If people are interested in changing the direction of the country, Iowa is the battleground.

If you don't register to vote, politicians don't really care about you: politicians aren't really caring about what you have to say, what you have to do, anything.

We often get impeachment inquiries or moves for impeachment inquiries on one president or another, and it doesn't go anywhere.

I'm very confident, that I'm going to be able to deliver better leadership to Texas than John Cornyn does - more reflective of Texas values than we are of D.C. values, which is what John Cornyn represents to most Texans.

We need to take back control of our political process. We know so much more about what Brexit will mean, and the health implications, especially for those who are already in a disadvantaged position.

I believe in term limits. I believe the country would be hugely better off if we had more turnover in Congress.