Bob Woodward Quotes

Washington is totally out of touch with mainstream America.

At its worst, Washington is a place where name-calling partisan politics too often trumps policy.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people - one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion's den. You can't just play around with all those big cats - you've got to take somebody on.

There are a number of things wrong with Washington. One of them is that everyone is too far from home.

The problem we've got now in Washington is that the goals are completely the opposite from each other.

The truth of the matter is the tone is toxic here in Washington, and we have been exporting it around the country.

The president said that he would unite this country, that he was a uniter, not a divider. Have you ever seen America more divided? Have you ever seen Washington more divided?

All people are born alike - except Republicans and Democrats.

Clinton and Obama practice this politics known quaintly as the Richard Speck strategy: if you cannot take on everyone in the room at once, take them out of the room one at a time.

There are certainly days that we can convince ourselves in Washington that everybody's talking about one thing, and then I'll go home to my district and realize that everybody's actually talking about something different.

Both sides know the last election was just the beginning of the next election. It's clear there has been no attempt to have any kind of getting along.

Neither political party is clean when it comes to tactics that divide our people.

Everywhere I go - from Main Street to Wall Street - people ask, 'What's happened to our political system? Why can't Washington folks work together?'

Politics is very interesting and always leads to conflict.

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

Now, today is the day we honor, of course, the Presidents, ranging from George Washington, who couldn't tell a lie, to George Bush, who couldn't tell the truth, to Bill Clinton, who couldn't tell the difference.

I've never seen Washington as divided as we are right now.

If someone agrees with you they're a statesman. If someone disagrees with you, they're a politician.

There used to be a civility. Today, members of Congress would rather destroy another member than compromise.

The tone is toxic here in Washington and we are exporting it around the country.

Political controversies are never entered into with any wish to gain knowledge, but only a triumph for the party.

Jefferson, Madison and Washington could not survive in today’s political environment.

In my opinion, the polarization of our politics has mostly been brought about by the massive infusion of money—mostly spent on negative advertising that create divisions among the population that watches television and the two parties.

Ideology isn’t driving the dynamic in Washington, it’s the desire to stay in power.

Divisiveness is the only thing that sells today. Comity dies not sell. Civility does not sell.