Lee Atwater Quotes

In the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, American voters were forced to choose between a liberal Democrat and weak establishment Republicans. Democrats won both times.

When Democrats concede the idea that some voters are not our voters, we shouldn't be surprised when those voters agree.

American voters have to pay closer attention to politics if they want to avoid four years of whining about the outcome.

The campaigns of Steve Forbes, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, and John McCain all outperformed expectations on their support from independent voters. They made no effort to shy away from ideology, but conveyed to voters that their policies were driven by principle, not party talking points.

It's hard running as an independent. I wouldn't have won the Senate election if I hadn't been governor. I had credibility. The hard part is getting voters to the point where they think it's thinkable and not a waste of time.

Candidates talk about issues that voters want to hear about.

Elections are always about turnout.

I don’t think as a general matter we should be encouraging people who don’t know anything about what they’re voting for to vote. That’s what Democrats do. Republicans shouldn’t follow suit on that.

In presidential elections, I think people focus way too much on ideology.

Every election is a matter of definition.

This is not politics. This is garbage. And we are disgusted by it. To those who are departed who sought in some, quote, clever, unquote way, to tarnish the reputation of Tom Foley, I say, good riddance.

In every election in American history both parties have their cliches. The party that has the cliches that ring true wins. And if the cliches continue to ring true when the party governs, then that party and those cliches can change history.

Politicians must let voters know what they think about issues before the election. Judges should not.

The general assumption of the democratic process is that you identify candidates who come closest to you in terms of values and positions. The problem is many voters are never given the kind of information they need to make the decision.

There are certain elections where policy matters more than others….Personality without a platform will not cut it.

Party platforms are reasonable exercises but nobody pays much attention to them.

Our American elections have been fought between parties which, roughly, have represented the forces advocating change and those preferring stability.

There is interposed between the voter and hid final judgment the whole mechanism of modern publicity. The final judgment is not the result of direct acquaintance; it is the result of the news reports, the advertising, the oratory, the elusive rumors which are the modern substitute for direct acquaintance.

Electoral choices are relatively invulnerable to direct argumentation and characterized more by faith than by conviction and by wishful expectation rather than careful prediction of consequences.

The Democrats do fine in presidential elections; their problem is they can't get out the vote in the midterm elections.

I'm going to be fighting to rebuild the Democratic party no matter what. I'm going to be fighting to make sure the Democratic party is known among working people that we are their champion no matter what.

Low turnout in off-year races is always a challenge for Democrats. Many of our voters require information and must be contacted way ahead of Election Day - and reminded of what's at stake.

Let me say this as your incoming chair of the Democratic national committee: I promise you, my friends, I commit to all Americans, that we will have a party that you can be proud of. We will elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

Democrats believe that when more people vote, it's not just good for our party; it's good for democracy.

Voters tend to reject overreach and distraction - women in particular.