Alan Ehrenhalt Quotes

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

The American political system has become so short term oriented.

One of the hardest things in politics is getting a democracy to deal with something now where the payoff is long term or the price of inaction is decades away.

I'm focused on bringing real change to Washington because the career politicians have screwed things up so badly.

Governments, especially democratic ones, are short-term and nationalistic.

There's very little reason in politics these days.

I think that if Republicans are given the reins of leadership in the House or Senate or both, we will have to govern in a way - at least put forward solutions whether or not the president goes along with them or not, that deal with these long-term challenges.

Everywhere I go - from Main Street to Wall Street - people ask, 'What's happened to our political system? Why can't Washington folks work together?'

The American political system is so porous, it's so open, it's so frustrating for those who are trying to make policy.

I can personally testify that American politics have taken a distinctly downward turn in the space of one mature lifetime.

The United States is a very difficult country to govern.

What makes this harder is that it is my party that is ruining the country.

There is nothing wrong with our country, there is something wrong with our politics…

I understand firsthand that Washington is broken.

I thought I was going to go into politics, but that became disheartening. You see that a lot of stuff doesn't get done, people walk around all self-important, and it's just depressing.

Politics is awful.

At the heart of all problems lies the politics of the country.

No one understands the dysfunctions and debilitating impact of America's political system in the swamp better than Mark Melcher and Steve Soukup.

Democracy is an insecure landscape.

I think politicians get hamstrung by the nature of politics when the private sector can really do great things.

I don't even think the biggest divide is between Republicans and Democrats. I think it's between institutionalists and reformers.

I will continue to ask the president and his subordinates to work with Congress rather than against it.

My view is that politics should be on the basis of issues.

Our party's agenda is not only to form a government, but also to facilitate a political process.

We have had political parties threatening to bring down the government, talking about it but not bringing down the government. What I am focused on is the things we are in control of. The timing of a general election, we don't have control over.