George H. W. Bush Quotes

I think you have to be careful. You have to know exactly what is going to resonate with voters. And you can't get ahead of that. You have to be very careful with your approach.

Politics is the business of managing perceptions.

Nobody understood how to use television for his own purposes better than Nixon, despite his poor showing against John F. Kennedy in the televised presidential debate.

Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it.

Today being President is really no different than running for President. It’s about approval ratings and photo ops and damage control and deniability.

I did not see my job as Press Secretary as to help the press. My job was to help get Tony Brown and the Labour Party elected.

Don't fall in love with the map. The map doesn't win elections.

I made it clear that I can run a positive campaign and do it better.

John Kerry suspended his campaign for five days this week in honor of President Reagan. And right now, he's ahead in the polls. How's that make him feel? Disappears for a week and he's up in the polls. What else can he do now but go into hiding.

Spin is overrated. It is strategy, not spin, that wins elections.

Most pundits regard an election year session as an opportunity for the two parties to frame issues and garner political advantage in advance of the approaching election.

In politics you learn to always smile.

And when you start talking about the practicality of winning a race like that - you've got to remember we're not talking about winning 51 percent of the vote. We're talking about winning 36, 37, 38 percent of the vote.

I can't ever remember sitting around and saying, 'gosh let's hurry up and get these debates going, that'll win it for me.' Nope.

Anytime James Carville, Paul Begala and David Axelrod hold hands and jump for joy, it's worth pondering how to turn their joy into tears.

What is the primary purpose of a political leader? To build a majority. If voters care about parking lots, then talk about parking lots.

If I worried about pollsters, I wouldn't be president.

I supported Bob Schaffer's three races for Congress. But we all had concerns about whether he could win statewide. Then my wife suggested that I get it.

Let's not just look at it as taking votes away from Gore. Our support comes from a lot of people.

A President has to do the image stuff that will help him so that he can do the substantive things he wants to do.

Review" is a great word in politics. It will last you almost an entire election cycle if you play it right.

Political candidates are always looking to capture the future.

Pete Wilson was never more than the sum total of his focus groups.

I'd rather be underestimated by the polltakers than by the voters.

How can you govern if you always have to feed the news cycle?