Ron Fournier Quotes

The challenge has been, we make policy in the world of politics.

I'm overall a big fan of President Obama.

Unfortunately, I think it's very difficult to separate policy from politics. In a perfect world, in some instances, you probably would want to. In other instances, you'd probably say that the political element is important because it should, in a perfect world, match what the stakeholders need or want, or what the public is after.

Mr. Obama still has time to reverse course. A great deal depends on it. To fail on health care yet again might well be the 'Waterloo' Republicans dream of.

Obama and his associates are fantastic campaigners but have little ability or skill to govern.

Given the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.

In the aftermath of President Obama's re-election, members of both the administration and the media trumpeted that Obama had received his long-sought mandate. Obamacare, Americans were told, was the law of the land. It could not be changed; it could not be stopped.

I think Obama is handling his image very well, but I think he lacks boldness.

The Presidency is not a showman’s job. You can’t make a Teddy Roosevelt out of me.

Whether you agree or disagree with Barack Obama, he is getting some things done, though not in the way most Americans would prefer or what is actually best for them.

I see a trend here where the President seems to think his job is to count votes and then try to make a deal That's what we in legislatures do. Mr. Obama's job is to travel the country, fight for the values that he cares about.

When you see how the President makes political or policy decisions, you see who he is. The essence of the Presidency is decision-making.

I am prepared to admit that when it comes to dealing with the House and Senate leaders, Obama is terrible. But he's great with the public. Which hates the House and Senate as much as he does.

Barack Obama hopes his famous health care victory will mark him as a transformative president. History, however, may judge it to have been his missed opportunity to be one.

And there is no getting away from the fact - and this is a key point of discontent among many who are upset with the health care reform bill is it didn't go far enough. They say why isn't it in place now? Why don't I see some benefits now? All I see is the potential for losing insurance coverage, for premiums going up. That's hurting Obama.

The dominant color of politics is gray; difficult choices and compromise are required at almost every step of the journey toward a major new program.

We will govern as if we had a majority. You simply carry on with your agenda.

What Congress does is respond to pressures that are upon it.

All politics is a combination of rhetoric and reality.

Political Necessity!!!

Highly popular and unpopular Presidents do not engage in policy pandering.

For better or worse, a critical factor in high level policy making is the President as a human being. Crudely put, there’s no right or wrong way; there’s the President’s way.

We've got to get back to a country that can get things done. And my whole career has been marching and charging at and running toward some of the most difficult problems in America and finding ways to create new coalitions to get things done.

How a candidate runs shapes how a president governs.

As Obama prepares to begin the last year of his presidency, he stands in an unusual position on the national stage: He is the rationalist, a creature of intellect rather than emotion.