Bob Dole Quotes
Our intent will not be to create gridlock. Oh, except maybe from time to time.
Dole, Bob. Press Conference. Washington, D.C., 9 Nov. 1994. Quoted in The New York Times, 10 Nov. 1994, p. A1.
The mayor had resisted the rebuilding of a major downtown elevated highway when it was discovered that it was badly in need of repair. Typically, local officials accede to almost any pressure from AAA and the commercial interests wanting to see traffic flow maintained and improved. But a large proportion of the citizens preferred to have the downtown open to the waterfront and wanted the highway torn down despite the negative impact on vehicular traffic. Typically the traffic interests would prevail but Nickles refused to “pander” to the traffic interests.
In 2010 a number of members of Congress were elected with the support of the Tea Party. Most of these stated publicly that they insisted that the budget should be cut and the deficit be reduced and unless these were done in sufficient satisfaction for them, they would not vote for anything even if it meant closing the government down or defaulting on the national debt. The result was a gridlocked Congress that only 12 percent of Americans thought was competent—the lowest support level since measurements of public support for Congress were made.
Robert Joseph Dole is an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the United States Senate during the final 11 years of his tenure, including three nonconsecutive years as Senate Majority Leader. Prior to his 27 years in the Senate, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969. Dole was also the Republican presidential nominee in the 1996 election and the vice presidential nominee in the 1976 election.
