Dick Morris Quotes

There are no techniques in politics.

It's interesting to play a politician who gets stuff done.

For Democrats, nothing is any less complex than a 'West Wing' episode.

Politics is a contact sport.

In politics people know how to communicate without having to meet in back rooms.

My view of my role is that together with like-minded men and women, I could help contribute to a bipartisan view of American engagement in the world for another period; I could do my part to overcome this really, in a way, awful period in which we are turning history into personal recriminations, depriving our political system of a serious debate.

Look, politics can be tough.

Politics, as a profession, is not about making the right political decision. It's about making the right decision and then managing the political consequences.

I would be very, very strong on the debt limit. And I would be asking for a very big pound of flesh if I were the Republicans. And the problem with the Republicans, they have two sides. The smaller side is very strong and the other side is always agreeing and, you know, you can't do that.

As a Democrat, one of the things that frustrates me the most is there are a lot of times we just don't get in the fight. We ask pretty please if we can have things or we make the argument for why it is the best thing to do, and then wait patiently for the other side to agree to come along. We negotiate. We start our opening position by negotiating.

Clinton knew how to get things done. He was battling the Republicans, and then he basically took a lot of their agenda and made it his own. That's what Obama's not doing.

The language of America changed with the election of Bill Clinton, because with all due respect to my friends on the Republican side, Bill Clinton is the best communicator of the last 50 years. He felt your pain.

I think if more members of Congress would talk about what they see and what they want to do and what they want to accomplish, rather than talking about their opponent, we would begin to shape and reshape American public opinion on what the political world looks like.

I would have been a disaster as a career politician. I would never have toed a party line.

Ronald Reagan knew who he was. Barack Obama is still working through that equation politically.

As I climbed the electoral ladder - from state assemblyman to mayor of Woodbridge and finally to governor of New Jersey - political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them.

In politics, you also have to be cautiously optimistic.

Politics is about putting yourself in a state of grace.

But recently it seems that each time I vote, I am being asked to compromise my conservative ideals and my commitment to the American taxpayer simply for the benefit of political gain.

I happen to agree with many of President Obama's policies, but in our system, it is often as important how you do something as what you do.

Politics is too partisan, and sometimes patriotism is cast aside. Patriotism is honor and love of your country and your brothers and sisters. With politics I get the impression that it's all about what's good for the party and not necessarily what's good for the country.

Politics is largely a matter of heart.

Obama considers himself above deal-making and back-slapping, political necessities he often delegates to Vice President Joe Biden and other lesser sorts.

Like most Americans, I feel disgusted when we see people make decisions based on party politics rather than a solution that is best for the country.

If I say I am not a politician, it is because I did not go to school to do political science. But at the end of the day, I think we are all born politicians. It's practical. All you gotta do is practice.