Kirsten Gillibrand Quotes

As a politician, you have to deal with someone wanting you to fail every day. I think I prefer being in a situation where generally people are rooting for me, and if they aren't rooting for me, they aren't out there to see my downfall. I respect the people who have the stomach for it.

I'm sure that they will continue to look for ways to try and undermine my support, but I have every confidence that in doing this job for South Dakota, I will continue to build on my support and be able to succeed once again in November.

I have a great deal of compassion for those in public life and what we have done to them.

You have got to convince people, the Drive-By Media, the mainstream media, is never going to support us, and if you continue to define political success as the media supporting us and not supporting a Democrat, you're never gonna be happy, because that's never going to happen. And if that remains your measure of success, then you're gonna get fooled each and every time.

What matters to the press matters perforce to politicians.

The man of public life has always at command a sure resource against this danger [losing political battles],—that is, retirement.

They can say that you are a liar, a cheat, a crackpot, and a licentious old man, and most politicians don't care. But if they say you can't win, you're through.

Everything I say, you know, goes into print. If I make a mistake, it doesn't merely affect me or you, but the country.

I am reading it [his press coverage] more and enjoying it less.

Past occurrences have generally shown that there hasn’t been satisfaction from politicians in the manner they were covered [by the press.]

Don’t do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of the Washington Post.

Take press coverage seriously but not personally

What you say about the newspapers is very true ... They are indeed a curious compound of truth and untruth. I am so used to newspaper nonsense and attacks that I do not mind it in the least....

Every successful president has suffered imputations that he has in sinister fashion charmed the press or used a new medium of communication (radio, television, the Internet) to claim an undeserved standing.

If you’re going to be in national politics you have to maintain a thick skin.

If I get to be president, what can I do anyway? With Congress and the press, what chance do I have to make basic changes?

When I was young, I was the sweetheart of the press. They loved me but were kind of waiting for me to mess up. I had no skeletons in my closet, no major past to talk about.

Being under the political spotlight is far different than anything I'd experienced before. Every word is a critical word. Sometimes you really aren't allowed to get your full thought out. A lot of it is about having a 30-second sound bite.

I personally never expected anything of Obama, and wrote about it before the 2008 primaries. I thought it was smoke and mirrors.

I think politicians misjudge our intelligence. We can, and do, see through them. But I quite enjoy watching political programmes because they get the heart going.

People don't know what goes on in my private life, so they have to make conjecture from something that is photographed.

If you're in the Senate and in the minority, you just get to give speeches and run around and raise money. If you're in the majority, you're under attack from the press every day.

It is tough to run for public office and face an opponent, to decide on issues what is the best thing, then face the criticism from colleagues, voters, the press and defend yourself.

The papers feed the public interest but then the public interest demands more in the press and speculation can look like fact.

The unfortunate part of being an actor-politician is that people feel an actor will not take her political commitments seriously.