Bill Owens Quotes

We're in a kind of vicious cycle where the media tell the politicians, and the politicians tell the people, that perception is reality, and the perception of saving dooms a politician. I don't believe perception is reality, or that all Americans think that.

Politics doesn't matter, policy does.

Perceptions are essential in politics.

The problem is that once we focus on economic policy, much that is not science comes into play. Politics becomes involved, and political posturing is amply rewarded by public attention.

Politics is a literal game. Every word must represent a strict view - or be so abstract as to be meaningless.

I don't believe in populism.

The challenge has been, we make policy in the world of politics.

American public policy is run on a myth.

The people we elect aren't bipartisan. The American public is bipartisan.

The problem is that perception is reality.

Palin, Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others have made an art form of convincing far too many Americans to suspend their disbelief, and they have severely damaged the ability of our country to have serious discussions about serious challenges.

There's a lot more people out there than you would think who cannot differentiate between TV and reality. I do think there's a lot of people out there who think I'm a nasty human being.

There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.

The public's not stupid.

When I talk to people outside the beltway, I don't think people are that divided.

The ability to convince people of the wackiest notions - and both parties can do it - it's part of the dumbing down of America that's really highly problematic.

I mean, what are they scared of? Who's going to vote for anyone from the Communist Party, for God's sake?

'2016' is based on an experiment: what if you let Obama do it himself? That experiment is necessarily limited because I'm not factoring in a Republican House, a Supreme Court or the tug of public opinion.

The public are not stupid.

Politics is a matter of communications.

Our national politics has become a competition for images or between images, rather than between ideals.

Policy and politics are always mixed up.

Speechwriting is where the philosophical, ideological and political tensions of the administration get worked out.

For elites, the politics of governing is seen as a continual struggle to manage public emotions so that they do not overwhelm sound public policy.

The politics of character tend to drive out the politics of substance.