Emanuel Cleaver Quotes

It's a sad indication of where Washington has come, where policy differences almost necessarily become questions of integrity. I came to Washington in the late '70s, and people had the ability in the past to have intense policy differences but didn't feel the need to question the other person's character.

It's a sad commentary on where politics is today. If someone disagrees with you, you're either Attila the Hun or a leftist liberal.

I think America is going to have to think through whether it wants to uplift the political dialogue or advance an approach that divides and, frankly, can lead to violence.

I think the country's getting disgusted with Washington partly because of the decline of civility in government.

I keep Reagan's 11th Commandment that I don't run down other Republicans.

A loyal liberal can get away with anything with other liberals, as long as that loyal liberal is liberal and attacks conservatives left and right, spouts the right words, they get away with anything.

I will always remember and we must all remember that Democrats are our political rivals, not our enemies, and they deserve our respect.

On the other side, I do believe that the rhetoric we are seeing from the Democrats today is unprecedented, is a new low in presidential politics and goes beyond political discourse and amounts to political hate speech.

We have Democrats saying dumb things every single day, and Republicans as well.

American politics shows again and again that the best explanation is an accusation.

Friends, I will disown and repudiate any man of my party who attacks with … vile, foul slander and abuse any opponents of another party.

We are becoming too much of a gaff-centric political culture.

Newt Gingrich developed a whole vocabulary of polarization in order to get Republican candidates elected.

The worst thing about our political system is that people debate; I wish our politicians were able to talk to each other rather than scream while trying to gain sound bites.

I don't say bad things about my Republican colleagues, ever.

My own students say they don't trust anyone who voted for Trump. How can you have a democracy with that?

I don't think it is just in the world of politics. The lack of civility in society as a whole, some of it, I believe, is very much fueled by social media and frankly, it's fueled by the fact that journalism is not journalism any more.

I think the political process has degenerated into name-calling and extremism, and I think that that's unfortunate.

In a true democracy, there has to be a line between deliberative debate and mob rule. Trump has crossed the line, and much of the media has exacerbated the problem by treating his remarks as entertainment, effectively encouraging his competition to do the same.

There is no civil discourse left and it is really sad.

There has to be some decorum left in politics and in American journalism as well. Our husbands are the candidates.

I'm very lucky in my constituency. I have very grown up sensible members who don't agree with me, but we never have a quarrel. I absolutely respect their views.

Personally, I find the decisions and actions of my Tory colleagues appalling, but I also know plenty of Labour voters who are less than perfect.

I am a pretty level-headed person, but that person, Harry Reid, has been the most destructive entity in Washington when it comes to civility. By far.

I really rebel against this idea that politics has to be a place full of ego and where you're constantly focused on scoring hits against each one another. Yes, we need a robust democracy, but you can be strong, and you can be kind.