Molly Ivins Quotes

I've said many times: I'm not a Washington reporter.

I was unknown because I came to Washington from the West. I started covering Watergate. Immodestly, I'd say I did it pretty well, in part because it was hard to go wrong.

I started working as a reporter in Washington on October 1, 2013, the day the government stopped working.

Look what's happened to Barack Obama over the last two years or George Bush for eight. It's a blood sport. But at some point I may feel the need to run for office again.

And I've been incredibly lucky to have a long career in journalism that has given me a front-row seat to some of the most important moments in modern American political life.

I don't think people realize how life-altering running for president is.

I'm a big fan of political editor Allegra Stratton.

I think Bob Woodward's books are important books.

Covering Capitol Hill was my first assignment in political journalism, and I still think it is the best beat in Washington.

Media scrutiny is a great trademark of the American political arena.

I was a political journalist; I came to writing novels through an interest in politics and power.

The legions of reporters who cover politics don't want to quit the clash and thunder of electoral combat for the dry duty of analyzing the federal budget. As a consequence, we have created the perpetual presidential campaign.

I've been getting pulled from newspapers for my entire career.

I love Karl Rove. He elected Bush.

Most political journalists come to Washington because they're snappy writers, big thinkers, or news breakers. Me? My ticket to the big leagues had little to do with talent. It was mostly about the governor I was covering, Bill Clinton.

I was a political reporter for quite some time, so I followed around all sorts of different politicians.

Joe Klein is the flower of American political journalism, a sharp raconteur who shows traces of the gonzo style that was in vogue when he was honing his craft at Rolling Stone back in the day.

All they expected me to do was rip and read the wire 'leads,' without doing any original reporting. It was pretty basic, but gave me a taste of how to combine my love of politics and broadcasting.

I have an interest in getting government officials to talk to me about National Security affairs. You know, that's my bread and butter; that's how I make my living.

One of the last books I read was 'Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime' by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. It gives a really good behind-the-scenes look at the campaigns. I didn't ask the president how accurate it was. I wouldn't ask him that.

Only two journalists followed the team around.

I'd like to get back into journalism. I'm hoping someone will offer me a job as a commentator or one of those political analysts that you see on the news shows all the time.

For example, I spent a lot of time with Reagan, both before he ran for governor and when he was running for president. As a print reporter without the cameras, I was able to really test the quality of their minds and their knowledge base.

When you are running for the presidency of the United States, you have to expect that you are going to have attacks by all sides.

For better or worse, when you're running for mayor, there's a little bit of a spotlight on you.