Doris Kearns Goodwin Quotes

Character is the single most important thing the voter considers when voting for the presidency.

I don't care how great your ideas are or how well you can articulate them, people must like you before they will vote for you.

He appeals to their imagination; I do not. He is a real vivid person whom they have seen and shouted themselves hoarse over and voted for, millions strong: I am a vague, conjectural personality, more made up of opinions and academic prepossessions than of human traits and red corpuscles.

I don't see a candidate on the scene right now, but it is going to have to be a candidate that people can look at as a leader and not as a man or a woman.

I loved Clinton; not as a Democrat, but as a person.

Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics, it is everything.

What matters most in politics is personality. It's not issues; it's not image. It's who you are and what you represent.

Being attractive and being credible can and do go together.

I do think voters do take into consideration - particularly early state voters - take into consideration a wide range of factors, including electability, and they know that part of electability is the total package that you're presenting.

Somehow, people just like to look at me.

Making the desirable possible requires us to make the desirable popular, electable, credible, and something that people want to hold on to.

If you're likable, people will like you.

That doesn't sound very attractive," laughed Anne. "I like people to have a little nonsense about them.

With the case of [Mike] Pence, giving a little aurora of likability to a candidate, a lead candidate who's a little lacking in that department.

It is not fit the public trusts should be lodged in the hands of any, till they are first proved and found fit for the business they are to be entrusted with.

A presidential debate is a job interview. And voters look for certain traits in people applying to be president.

My dad told me something long before I was in politics, and when your dad gives you advice every single day, eventually one or two of the things stick in your mind. And he said, don't believe what people say, believe what they do.

There aren't many strong or charismatic candidates today, because many people can't withstand the scrutiny.

I think JR would make a better President than the one we have now.

Your personality is what makes you sexy.

While the government can tell you that I am an innocent man, the government's letter cannot give me back my good name or my reputation.

Character is destiny and character is important to American campaigns.

Voters crave authenticity.

I've long since stopped worrying about how I'm portrayed in the press because ultimately it's not that important. Everyone who knows me knows I do what I do with the greatest integrity.

There's a basic law, Klein's second, or third, or fourth law of politics in the TV age, which is warm always beats cold, with the exception of Richard Nixon. The nicer guy usually wins.