Jay Roach Quotes

'Yes' is a far more potent word than 'no' in American politics. By adopting the positions which animate the political agenda for the other side, one can disarm them and leave them sputtering with nothing to say.

I think there's a lot to learn from Rockefeller on how to pass legislation.

I'm a lobbyist and had a career lobbying. The guy who gets elected or the lady who gets elected president of the United States will immediately be lobbying. They would be advocating to the Congress, they'll be lobbying our allies and our adversaries overseas. They'll be asking the business community and labor unions.

There are no techniques in politics.

Getting members of Congress to do things they don’t want to do is a crucial part of being President.

Lyndon Johnson was perhaps the greatest political arm twister in the country’s history.

No particular prior experience—not business or academia, or think tanks, or law—suggests that an individual will master the bureaucratic politics of Washington DC.

Political lobbying is like propositioning women. You get slapped a lot of times, but then you get some ‘yeses’ as well.”

When [Lyndon B.] Johnson wanted to persuade you of something, when you got the "Johnson treatment," you really felt as if a St. Bernard had licked your face for an hour, had pawed you all over.

Presidents are evaluated not by what they did by the stroke of their own pen; it's what they persuade Congress to do.

Jon Kyl did a really good job of presenting a case and moving issues. John McCain probably is one of the more effective legislators, getting things on through the process. I always thought, too - and this may seem kind of odd - Richard Shelby was just an effective guy a lot of times at stopping things.

I really focus on making sure that we pass good policy. I don't mind throwing my elbows around to get it done.

I don't want Democrats in the boardroom and I don't want Republicans in the bedroom.

It is harder for women, perhaps to be 'one-pointed,' much harder for them to clear space around whatever it is they want to do beyond household chores and family life. Their lives are fragmented... the cry not so much for a 'a room of one's own' as time of one's own. Conflict become acute, whatever it may be about, when there is no margin left on any day in which to try at least to resolve it.

Don't try to convert the elderly person; circumvent him.

I'd learned a long time ago that one of the finest weapons in my arsenal was my ability to invade personal space

I don't sense an [Barack] Obama party. I think politics is transactional for him.

President Lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convincing other people, he used other arguments. That was a great - I thought a great display of presidential leadership.

If someone sits and stares at you while you eat, you won't even eat the way you normally do, because it'll make you so uncomfortable. If I look at my dog when he's eating, he will look at me like, "Dave, I will bite you. What are you looking at? I'm trying to eat." It's something that dehumanizes a person, being on display like that.

Some people stand and move as if they have no right to the space they occupy. They wonder why others often fail to treat them with respect-not realizing that they have signaled others that it is not necessary to treat them with respect.

Barack Obama and the Democrat Party convince people that America's best days are over.

You have to realise that touching is a real violation of personal space.

Heaven's sakes, there's only one party which I call the Property Party. It's got two wings. One is called the "Republican" and one is called "Democratic." It is the same party so it makes no difference whether a Democrat's elected or a Republican's elected. The ownership remains the same.

I'm often at odds with my colleagues, but I've managed to get legislation passed which will not even be attempted in other states. Rather than use the word "cooperate," I'll say there's kind of a peaceful coexistence, a wary watching of each other. I'm very courteous and polite, and people allow me to be. Some people have applied the term charming to me. I don't use that term unless I'm the snake charmer and they're the snake.

Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or, rather, have made it desired.