Alastair Campbell Quotes
By asking the question 'Am I happy?,' and via the answer setting out what I mean by happiness, there is a political route that can be taken, by asking another question - 'Can politics deliver happiness, and should it try?'
Campbell, Alastair. The Happy Depressive: In Pursuit of Personal and Political Happiness. Arrow Books, 2012, p. 45.
On the prospect of being beaten in a political race:
In 1811 Jefferson had a slightly different version: The happiness and prosperity of our citizens is the only legitimate object of government.
What makes this a noteworthy political quotation is that when he made the statement, his party had lurched to the radical right and almost no one else in the Republican party would publicly say that the Federal Government had any legitimate role that involved social services, food distribution, welfare or health care. Also the Republican Presidential candidate the day before had been discovered writing off the poorest 43 percent of the country. Heller however, was up for reelection in a state what was hit much harder than most in the Great Recession and without Federal Assistance many state residents would be in terrible circumstances and Heller would not fare well in the election if he took the then required Republican ideology. Also, Heller came from a blue collar family and had a much different outlook than most Republicans of that particular time.
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist.
