As a registered Democrat, I am praying for a credible presidential candidate to emerge from the younger tier of politicians in their late 40s. A governor with executive experience would be ideal.
Don't make election popularity largely a matter of which candidate hires the most creative and effective propagandists. Insist that it be, instead, a running conversation with the public.
I would rather have a candidate that's cohesive in bringing people together from different ethnic backgrounds but around the same policy than I would a politician that jumps and stumps in different rooms and has a different story every time.
It's hard running as an independent. I wouldn't have won the Senate election if I hadn't been governor. I had credibility. The hard part is getting voters to the point where they think it's thinkable and not a waste of time.
In California, we've had a series of millionaires and billionaires and CEOs and movie stars. We need to take a hard look at how we define legitimate and credible candidates.
If you don't ask for money, people don't think you are a serious candidate.
Every candidate is going to come to you and say they are the most conservative person that ever lived.
This is Romney's biggest political weakness. His policy flip-flops and the general sense that he's not comfortable in his own skin leads voters, including many supporters, wondering about his core values.
Trustworthiness is the thing that you need the most going to a presidential election. Honest and trustworthy is one of the main questions in any presidential election.
I have the greatest aversion to being a candidate on a ticket with a man whose record as an upright public man is to be in question--to be defended from the beginning to the end.
In campaigns, promises are usually treated skeptically. Past positions are viewed as the one reliable way to gauge a candidate's instincts.
Any attempt to wriggle, especially from leadership candidates who campaigned to leave the EU by focusing on immigration, will be unacceptable to the public.
Basically what they're saying is, if you want to be on TV, if you want to be a credible candidate, you've got to buy ads. And if you're not buying ads, you're not a credible candidate, we don't cover you.
You cannot win the democratic nomination if you are not trusted on the most important issue to democratic voters.
It's hard to do, but a disciplined candidate who really has thoughtful solutions and a plan to execute on them, I think, is ultimately the kind of person that's going to resonate.
In a Republican primary every candidate is going to come in front of you and say I'm the most conservative guy that ever lived. Goshdarnit, whodidily, I'm conservative. You know what, talk is cheap. The word tells us you shall know them by their fruits ... Look every candidate in the eye and say 'Don't talk, show me.'
