Michael Gerson Quotes

Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it.

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

Donald Trump, having spent decades in the public eye as an entertainer, may not understand what the nuclear triad is, or what America's 'first use' nuclear policy is, or why starting a trade war would be a disaster. But he does understand storytelling, the power of a clear narrative, and the importance of stirring emotion.

The Prime Minister wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle. The country is beginning to say that he fights debates like a war and the war like a debate.

I have always thought that Donald Trump was an incredibly clever politician, but he's - at some point he's going to become unwound and maybe this is it.

Donald Trump is not intimidated by the media, and he's not frightened by them, and in fact he loves toying with them. You know, while they're sitting there wringing their hands and taking things so seriously and it's the end of the world, Trump is laughing and having the greatest time.

I think a lot of people, not all of them, but a bunch of TV people put Donald Trump on television thinking he's making a fool of himself and thinking that he's making a fool of the GOP. I think early on that's what the Republican establishment thought. "Oh, let's hear more of this guy. He's just helping us left and right. He's digging his own grave here."

With the case of [Mike] Pence, giving a little aurora of likability to a candidate, a lead candidate who's a little lacking in that department.

When they saw me walking down the street smoking a cigar, they'd say, 'Hey, that 14-year-old kid may be going places.' Of course it's also a good prop on the stage ... When you can't think of what you're supposed to say next, you can puff on your cigar until you think of your next line.

For somebody who's never run for office before, Donald Trump understands that old axiom, "Define yourself before you're defined."

John Kerry suspended his campaign for five days this week in honor of President Reagan. And right now, he's ahead in the polls. How's that make him feel? Disappears for a week and he's up in the polls. What else can he do now but go into hiding.

It just never comes across as a quality you want in a president that you're sitting in a room. It's almost as if they woke up and realized, You know, we're running against a former secretary of state. Our guy used to do the Miss Universe pageant around the world. Maybe we should try to heavy this up.

I accept that friends of ours have decided that the President's non-strike has somehow impacted perceptions of us. But I believe they are dead wrong and I think the critics are dead wrong, and here's why. The President [Barack Obama] made his decision to strike. He announced his decision to strike publicly. And the purpose of the strike was to get the chemical weapons out of Syria. That's the purpose.

The campaign for the White House is heating up with John Kerry taking heat for throwing his Vietnam medals away, getting a $1000 haircut, and wearing a 1970s wig known as 'the Leno.' There are really two sides to this story. And America can't wait for Kerry to present both of them.

Trump believes politics is a staged fight. But it is not. Still, clear words are sometimes needed in politics. In that sense, I believe I am better than Mrs. Merkel.

I think if Donald Trump skipped out on a debate, for whatever reason he gave, I don't think it would help him at all.

I don't think anybody who is already with Donald Trump is going to be peeled off by his not knowing about NATO or why Japan does not have nuclear weapons, or things of that sort.

The less people know about me in reality, the more they can accept of me as a character.

Never lose your temper with the Press or the public is a major rule of political life.

[Donald Trump] has also promised an intelligence surge [in Syria]. Mike Flynn knows a lot about that. Tactically, Mike Flynn has been fantastic with intelligence when he was in the military. They'll be looking at that.

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.

Hillary Clinton says one thing herself, but she has other people who are floating her plans.

Folks, don't lose perspective. Michelle Obama husband has been in office 7-1/2 years. This country is in the middle of a massive transformation. She's not gonna go out there and undercut her husband. She probably thinks that the things her husband has done that are transforming this country, that 94 million Americans aren't working... I mean, if you knew what to listen for, you could hear the push-button signs that she's still angry, still carries around a lot of resentment.

The media cannot come separate [Donald] Trump from his supporters. Only Trump can do that. They're trying, they're gonna keep trying because they think they can. They did it with [George W.]Bush. They did it with [Mitt] Romney. They did it with [John] McCain. They did it with Bob Dole.

I don't understand why it's the fault of the media for focusing on an issue that Mike Pence are crediting Donald Trump for bringing to the fore.