Election Dynamics Quotes

There is no question that many people are intimidated and scared. However, the majority of voters are clamoring for something else. So if word gets out that there actually is a candidate out there of integrity, who is not poisoned by corporate money, you could see a lot of people come together from across the political spectrum.

Brexit has given us the start of a conversation with people who perhaps haven't traditionally voted Conservative.

When people go to vote still in Britain, they will look at their local representatives, but I don't think there is a sort of cult of personality politics. Obviously, they want to know who the leader is for each party, but I think there is a lot of identification with their local candidates.

When voter get a chance to vote, they vote their hopes rather than their fears.

Poor Rahul Gandhi doesn't know the ABCD of Karnataka politics.

People don't like to vote against something that's so incredibly popular.

Bernie Sanders started off at about three percent himself and skyrocketed as word got out about him.

I think the whole dynamic is different. Whereas in [Barack] Obama's case, even though there was no incumbent, he was able to run against eight years of Bush-Cheney and a Republican Congress, and everyone was tired of everything. He was able to benefit from that.

It’s hard to be a front-runner in the Democratic Party. My party tends to destroy front-runners.

I know people voted for me only in my father's name.

People may like what third-party candidates say, because often they are the only ones saying anything, but they usually won't vote for someone who doesn't have a chance. Since third-party candidates are not in the news, they are considered to be not really in the race; and since they are not in the race, this justifies treating them as if they are not news.

Going forward, which story will the media find more interesting, [Donald] Trump's or Hillary's [Clinton]? Does Hillary even have a story? Does anyone even care?

And for far too long, the Democrats have had a monopoly on black votes in this country.

Hillary Clinton's unfavorable ratings at an all-time high at 60 percent. That Donald Trump is trusted more than she by the American voter. There's a very important attribute that goes to empathy and compassion in connective tissue with voters. The question of who cares more about people like you? That's a measurement that President Barack Obama beat Governor Mitt Romney on, like, 82 to 15. Clinton and Trump were tied on that. That's a remarkable figure when you think about how Democrats normally have an advantage in that way.

Silence is not what democracy needs. Right now we have an election where, even the supporters of Hillary Clinton, the majority don't support Hillary; they just oppose Donald Trump. And the majority of Donald Trump supporters don't support him; they just oppose Hillary.

To me, the biggest lesson I've learned up till now with two weeks to go before the election, and the thing I have to keep, sort of, taking myself back to kind of parse, is just how powerful a personality can be when it is as not worried about norms or shame as a normal person.

The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it voters will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war. I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him.

The Republican Party does not want to defeat Democrats.

As was demonstrated back in 2012, [Barack] Obama was thought to be in big trouble after that first debate, and he wasn't, was he? That first debate didn't end up hurting Barack Obama at all, did it? I know he had incumbancy on his side, but still. He was horrible that first debate. It didn't matter because there were two more, and there are two more here.

I think Democrats ought to be concerned, that the party has become almost prideful about the college-educated vote that it's getting, the support that Hillary Clinton is getting against Donald Trump.

Anybody that's been in an election, you're always looking to get the upper hand.

[Bernie] Sanders tapped into that [trade issues]; that was part of his support. And then when he didn't make it, some of those Sanders people went to [Donald] Trump.

It's all about media culture and people on television, and that feeling comfortable, friendly, or warm toward a candidate [in the elections] is a reason people would emotionally attach themselves to that candidate. I get the mechanics of it, I just hate that it's true.

The Tea Party has won. There simply isn’t that much difference between the establishment Republicans anymore, and if grassroots chalengers are loosing more races, it’s because they’ve succeeded in yanking the party far enough to the right that there isn’t any more space for them to fill.

It's tempting to remember that the Tea Party had a peak and then the Republican Party establishment sort of beat it back down. And so these things are won in a day.