John Bolton Quotes

Well, I decided earlier this year that I would run for president, and obviously I needed something to run on.

There are certain elections where policy matters more than others….Personality without a platform will not cut it.

The Republicans have a “me too” candidate running on a “yes but” platform, advised by a “has been” staff.

In an age when stagecraft, gauzy themes, and sound-bites have too often been substituted for leadership, Bill Clinton as a candidate made it essential to campaigning to take the specifics of governance seriously. Practical solutions were 'in;' ideology was 'out.'

If you can't be a populist in Arkansas, you ain't going to be a populist in Washington.

George W. Bush is not only a great president; he was a great candidate.

It is always tough to win every booth right across the electorate because there are different issues in different parts of the electorate.

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.

When Ronald Reagan chose George H.W. Bush in 1980, it was a clear signal that he was running an inclusive campaign; that he welcomed the moderate and even liberal wings of the GOP - there was a liberal wing back then - into his campaign.

There are people who kind of gravitate towards running politics based on new ideas and issues, and that was what the secret was for Clinton.

My firm belief is that people who aspire to public service should have the best advice up front, as they decide whether to run and the people decide whether to support them.

I'd never get elected if people in North Carolina realized how liberal I am.

You can't just trot out a brown face or a Spanish surname and expect people are going to vote for your party or your candidate.

If you are running for the presidency of the United States, you better have a strong opinion.

We have to say now we think the character of the party has changed so far it will take something very exceptional, something really out of the ordinary line to make us be convinced there's a chance of winning back the party.

Nobody who ever runs for President should be the leader of a party.

What is a platform? An elaborate, exhaustive, minute and accurate statement of a candidate's political beliefs. Does he write it? Oh No; it is published before it is known who he will be.

For the Presidency, you run on a record and not on your legs.

If I wanted to be president, and if I were ever serious about it, the biggest thing I would have going for me is that I'm a conservative.

Conservatives of Western North Carolina should send Mark Meadows to Congress. We need his help.

Let me say this as your incoming chair of the Democratic national committee: I promise you, my friends, I commit to all Americans, that we will have a party that you can be proud of. We will elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

The most important questions for anybody thinking of running for president are not 'Will you run and can you win?' There is, 'What is your vision for America? And can you lead us there?'

It used to be that I was known as 'the longest-serving independent in the history of the United States Congress,' which is true. Now I'm a 'self-professed democratic socialist.' Things change when you run for president.

What's important is that, come the general election, people think the right things of you. They think that you've got the right values and the right policies. And that you're the right kind of person to lead the country.

All political parties, if they are to be successful, have to be broad churches.