Peter Beinart Quotes

I think Hillary Clinton understands the ins and outs of the White House better than anyone who's come before her.

No man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest; yet everyone thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of government.

I believe that Hillary Clinton is one of the best prepared people in our history to enter the Oval Office, with her vision, her knowledge, her experience, her strategic thinking, her connection to the American people.

Gore will not win a popularity contest, he will not win a personality contest, but he can win an idealogical battle, and he can win a battle of experience.

Tina Fey could run this country before Sarah Palin could!

Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be Vice President of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend. She is qualified to be President of the United States of America. She's easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America.

In my opinion, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't qualified to be governor of California.

Politicians are wither very good at running for office or they are good at running government. Seldom are the two found together.

To tell the truth, I'm more comfortable now that the amateurs are back in charge [of the White House].

You cannot bring inexperienced men ... into the government and expect the government to run well.

Good political leadership is good government. What we need is more good political leadership.

You're going to find that, intellectually, the [governors] as a whole are a cut or two above what they were 10 or 20 years ago.

It is not enough that a President should be patriotic and high-minded in his intentions and wise in his purposes; he must also be efficient in carrying them out.

A candidate’s command of foreign policy acts as a proxy for assessing broader leadership abilities.

Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.

I felt completely ready to become prime minister. I came to office better equipped, in terms of knowledge of economics and of the Australian economy, than anyone before me, or since, I would say.

When a president doesn't know the policy, it doesn't make for a very effective leader.

Is Bill Clinton so good at politics, or are other politicians so bad?

I want to point out, there are a lot of politicians who enjoy the political end of politics, but they're not interested in governance. And then, there are some that are really interested in governance and are just terrible at politics.

When you look at 'policy wonk' in the dictionary, the one picture you won't see is Donald Trump.

Most people who aspire to be president don't have a foreign policy and national security background. The exception was certainly Hillary Clinton.

However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good.

I think Nancy Pelosi is extremely qualified to be speaker of the House, because she has been speaker of the House. I trust her leadership. I trust her judgment.

I don't think the standard of our politicians is very high. And when you get good ones, world-class ones, like a Blair or a Brown or a Thatcher, then they do stand out - they are head and shoulders above everybody else.

I wish a person with a record of competence such as Nitish Kumar would get a chance to lead India.