Political Engagement Quotes
The line was delivered by actor Robin Williams.
Prior to Johnson’s civil rights efforts, the South virtually always voted for Democrats in all elections. The only political competition was for the Democratic Party Primaries. The term “Solid South” meant that it was solid for the Democratic Party. But after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, the racist whites who used to be Democrats switched and joined the genuine traditional conservative and created a Republican Southern majority that was as solid for the GOP as the Democrats had ever enjoyed.
This quotation illustrates how public approval of politicians has radically changed over the years bouncing up and down like a Yo Yo. In 1872, when this was written, the standing of politicians was low. During and after Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, the public more admired politicians. Opinions deteriorated and hit a new low with Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression only to rise again with FDR and WWII. Often the view of the presidency colors the public perception of all politicians, but sometimes there is a differential. During President’s Barack Obama’s first term, he was reasonably popular, but the public approval of the Congress had eroded to 10 percent, the lowest in recorded history.
as opposed to favoring a monarch or a dictator Jefferson observed that the Federalists, led by John Adams, exaggerated reality and played to the peoples’ fears. This was very true and the accusations about Jefferson and his followers were as severe and untrue as ever in American politics. However, Jefferson’s Democratic Republicans were also not above exaggeration and hyperbole. The electorate generally saw through the Federalist exaggerations and not only threw the Federalists out of office but rejected them so thoroughly that the party was ended in American politics to be later replaced by the Whigs.
