George Packer Quotes

I've been a news junkie as long as I can remember - and once you've covered a presidential campaign, it's nearly impossible to tear yourself away. There's so much at stake.

I've covered a lot of presidential campaigns.

The 2016 presidential campaign is heating up. Can you feel the indifference, the apathy?

I respect and empathize with reporters and editors who must compete in today's environment. And I know full well that when I've been covering campaigns, which I still do, I've made my mistakes and have been far from perfect.

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

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.

If you look at the newspapers here - the Washington papers - most of the discussion deals with campaign gossip.

1952 was the last year that television covered a political event as if television weren't there.

Television has become the primary precinct of politics.

Many newspapers have become players as well as spectators in the political debate.

Many reporters, when they go to work in the nation’s capital, begin thinking of themselves as participants in the political process instead of glorified stenographers.

I'm not a politician; I'm a journalist.

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

The democratic race is really boring when the media is basically writing stories and spending money to ask questions in a poll about somebody who is not even a declared candidate.

I've always felt privileged to cover the White House and to have that ringside seat to history

When Trump attacks the news media, he's kicking a wounded animal.

I intensely covered Bush when he was Governor of Texas.

Many good journalists have attempted to confront Trump about his many lies and failures, and have failed.

When you cover the White House, which I've done on and off, it's relatively straightforward - everything the president does is news.

I think politics is always about dialogue. I think journalism ranges from dialogue to monologue, and there are times when different poles are necessary.

Bret Baier is a hard-news guy. He does the debates. He's not biased.

I kind of became apolitical.

There are so many political talk shows out there that are doing such a good job that it would be foolish of me to try to get in the ring with them.

I never thought I'd be covering the White House. I never thought I'd be covering the White House for CNN. And I never thought I'd be covering the White House for CNN while Donald Trump was president.

When I came to MSNBC, its identity as the place for politics was growing.