Daniel Lubetzky Quotes

I was a member of the Politburo for seven years, a foreign minister.

In the 2000 election, George W. Bush, who had shirked military service, succeeded in presenting himself as more reliable on national security than Al Gore.

When you're running for president you have to take some risks and you've got to show people something fresh and you've got to stay interesting.

The [Hillary] Clinton campaign was still operating with a White House mentality.

Though the euphoria surrounding Barack Obama's election last week as President-elect has not yet begun to subside, it is already time to recognise that the most important challenge facing the next U.S. president is to restore America's standing in the eyes of the world.

I'm not a politician - it's not my cup of tea.

Obama has been well-received on the world stage, but that doesn't help him operate domestically.

I wanted to have a political career. I thought studying political science would be the best way to achieve it.

When I first started talking about running for office, a lot of people said to me, 'Don't let the consultants change you,' and I'd always assured them that I wouldn't allow it to happen. But like it or not, I had to change. Not because of a consultant, but because I started to understand the cost of a stupid mistake.

The Latino vote has to be earned just like any other.

A President has to do the image stuff that will help him so that he can do the substantive things he wants to do.

The Secretary of State has always stood as much alone as the historian. Required to look far ahead and around him, he measures forces unknown to party managers, and has found Congress more or less hostile since Congress first sat.

Japan is running an ongoing political campaign in America as if it were a third major party.

The president refuses to say… refuses to say that the objective over there is victory.

One of the nice things about no longer being Secretary of State is that I can actually answer your questions.

[McKinley] is on a stumping tour ... I criticized the bloody-shirt course of the canvass [campaign]. It seems to me it is bad "politics," and of no use.... An increasing number of people are interested in good relations with the South.

The tactics and strategy of every Presidential election campaign is most influenced by the previous Presidential election.

There is not alternative to speechwriters. You can’t run for president and write your own speeches.

Could you imagine if the U.N. had endorsed the war in Iraq, what our reputation would be like?

Another word for politics in my mind is organization. You have to be organized; you have to get out there. It's not just magic.

I voted for McCain. But I thought Obama ran the best campaign I have ever known - disciplined, well organized, very, very good. I was very impressed.

I do not purport to be a professional politician.

'Three Billboards,' which is not based on a true story but does have some reality flavoring, must appear worthy of elected office in some way. This was, at first, the illusion presented by the people running the campaigns and, in turn, over the years, has become the custom for lots of us.

While domestically the president may be able to somewhat reshape his/her image through defining moments and actions, this is far less feasible internationally.

The truth is, you cannot run a political campaign like a tech startup. Technology is a field that fetishizes disruption. The old ways are suspect, and we place an almost irrational trust on new tools. That's fine for developing games, but it was a failing playbook for politics.