Political Effectiveness Quotes

Politics is about making institutions work somewhat better, helping people’s lives at the margins

[Theodore] Roosevelt is the most perfectly equipped and the most effective politician thus far seen in the Presidency.

A politician that is poor is a poor politician.

Actually, to be an effective person politically in this country, I think you have to be thirty or over, and also you have to be rich, well-placed, you have to be close to power. And I don't think that young people, because they look young, can do much, as I think they are counterproductive.

Certainly the policy is right and good politics usually follow good policy.

Stop sending out press releases and start passing some bills...

What do you prefer? A prime minister obsessed with being popular, or a prime minister who does the job?

I work with the president and speak with him multiple times a week. This is a man, he didn't become the president by accident. And as much as everyone wants to talk about stability, was he unstable when he passed the tax reform? Was he unstable when we finally hit back at Syria and said no more chemical weapons?

He's a terrible politician, but he makes a fine senator and public servant.

The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.

There's always been that theory that if a candidate can't run a decent campaign, he probably can't run a decent presidency. That might be true, although sadly I must admit that running a brilliant campaign does not translate into running a brilliant White House.

You can gain in your effectiveness as a politician from a wide acquaintance with the world and from a degree of independence that having some outside interests gives.

A party is a political tool. If it's no longer useful, it should be crumpled up and thrown away.

If you ignore the murdering and the conniving, Francis Underwood is an effective politician.

The functions of the president are prescribed by the Constitution, but his real achievements are not set by the letter of the law. They are determined rather by his personality, the weight of his influence, his capacity for managing men, and the strength and effectiveness of the party forces behind him.

When the president of the United States goes out at, you know, 8:00 o'clock in the morning and then his own party votes gets him 2 to 1 in the house, you know that somehow a message isn't getting out. It takes real leadership.

People spend money on negative campaigning because it works.

Bill Clinton was effective because he had that personal relationship, that this was a guy who had tremendous curiosity, which is another one of the key attributes. And he had the ability - his mind was - his mind and his heart were very well-connected. And so he genuinely empathized.

Whether you agree or disagree with Barack Obama, he is getting some things done, though not in the way most Americans would prefer or what is actually best for them.

Have we come to the point where the Democratic Party needs a Republican President?

I'm going to be a vice president very much like George Bush was. He proved to be a very effective vice president, perhaps the most effective we've had in a couple of hundred years.

Carter's done a lot more good since he's been out of the White House than when he was in it.

So much of politics is about people's relationships with themselves. You do better if you make people feel secure in who they are.

When are people going to learn? Democracy doesn't work.

In politics intentions count for nothing; actions are what matter.