Policy Expertise Quotes

A candidate’s command of foreign policy acts as a proxy for assessing broader leadership abilities.

I've always thought Anne-Marie Slaughter would make a fantastic United States Senator or something. She's a real intellectual, but she's got enormous communicative skills and she's got government experience. The thing that drives me slightly crazy is the way we think about intellectuals as wooly, hopeless, arrogant, self-deceived, incapable.

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama represented somewhat different party factions, but they both embodied wonkery, a vision of competence and expertise governing to some extent above ideology, in which there are assumed to be 'correct answers' to policy dilemmas that a disinterested observer could acknowledge and the right technocrat achieve.

I've been around the block. And I have had the privilege of having been a senior Minister.

The next president needs to know foreign policy and not learn it on the job.

When you look at 'policy wonk' in the dictionary, the one picture you won't see is Donald Trump.

I believe that Hillary Clinton is one of the best prepared people in our history to enter the Oval Office, with her vision, her knowledge, her experience, her strategic thinking, her connection to the American people.

At the end of the day, I think I understand the dynamic that we face. And I'm best prepared to be commander in chief on day one, with all due respect to my other colleagues, including Hillary Clinton.

The people who make policy decisions should damned well know what they are talking about before they make the decisions. There is nobody who is an expert on cloning who would be afraid after seeing Attack of the Clones.

Hillary Clinton has a vision, she has knowledge and judgment. She is a strategic thinker, based on her experience and her connection.

I doubt very much if a man whose main literary interests were in works by Mr. Zane Grey, admirable as they may be, is particularly equipped to be the chief executive of this country, particularly where Indian Affairs are concerned.

Most people who aspire to be president don't have a foreign policy and national security background. The exception was certainly Hillary Clinton.

There's nothing that can shock me anymore, but at this point, Trump's made it very clear how his temperament is, how his personality is, what his level of intellectual depth is when it comes to policy, and he's made it abundantly clear that he's utterly unqualified to be president - no matter what your political views are.

Let's say I'm on the policy wonk end of the spectrum. As much as I can dive into a briefing book and really work to master various subjects that come before my desk, I'm still not an expert on a huge amount of the stuff that we work on.

A lot of people really like Jeb Bush. I'm one of them. I think Jeb Bush is a great guy. He was a terrific governor in Florida. He's smart. He's articulate. So I can certainly understand why people would him an attractive candidate.

I would love having the job of president because I know how to do it. I know what the country needs.

Clinton is a very capable, conscientious person. I think she cares very deeply about policy. She knows a lot about how the government works, and I think those things are very important. You don't really appreciate those things until you get a guy like George W. Bush in the White House, and then you realize that when you don't have someone who knows or cares about government policy, a lot of bad stuff can happen.

In the jargon of American vaudeville, Professors Frisch and Tinbergen are a 'hard act to follow.' But then, all my life, I have been following such great scholars and policy advisors as these.

If I wanted a circus ringmaster, I'd hire Trump. If I wanted advice on brain surgery or hospital management, I'd turn to Carson. Fiorina would make an articulate television pundit. But for president?

Hillary Clinton does not know what she's doing on anything. Hillary Clinton wouldn't be where she is if her name wasn't Clinton. She doesn't have any stand-alone achievements, stand-out achievements and accomplishments that in any way recommend her to the presidency.

She may hide it, but Clinton is a policy nerd. Ask about microfinance, and she'll talk your ear off. Mention early childhood interventions, and she will gush about obscure details of a home visitation experiment in Elmira, N.Y., that dramatically improved child outcomes.

When a president was elected with foreign policy experience, it was usually less about his foreign policy experience than other things.

How could an actor become president?

Based on my experience, I believe that Ben Sasse has the right policy background, a notable commitment to public service - and, perhaps most importantly, the courage - to help renew our country.

Paul Krugman, a professor at MIT and a consultant to the IMF, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Trilateral Commission, is certainly a member of the establishment.