William Galston Quotes (9 Quotes)

While White House aides can provide familiar talking points on gestures of cooperation across party lines, the fact of the matter is on all three occasions, the principal thrust of Bush's policies was toward polarization rather than conciliation. We are now living in the shadow of nearly five years in which that has been the dominant political message coming out of the White House.

It's one thing to say Vietnam was a mistake, but a different thing to march around yelling 'Ho-ho, Ho Chi Minh,' and a lot of people crossed that line in ways that were damaging to the party and inflicted long-term damage that we are still trying to overcome.

This is a shot to the solar plexus of George Bush's agenda. The ripples go out in so many different directions, to so many different areas of policy, domestic and foreign. It's second only to 911 in its impact on the course of the presidency.

There is a lot at stake here. Democrats must emphasize the importance of the American military as a potential force for good in the world, and in so doing they need to engage 'Michael Moore Democrats' who instinctively view American power as suspect.

You need only do three things in this country to avoid poverty - finish high school, marry before having a child, and marry after the age of 20. Only 8 percent of the families who do this are poor 79 percent of those who fail to do this are poor.

I'm not surprised by the finding that these young women place a high value on marriage, ... The poor do not differ from the rest of America in their aspirations. They want college, a profession, marriage, a house with a picket fence. What distinguishes them is some combination of opportunity and concrete steps from their current reality to their future dream. Basically, what these women have is a magical outlook on life.

Bush is the most partisan president in modern American history. As a result, voters in both parties are focusing on him, rather than on the specifics of the policies.

The one thing the republican coalition could agree on was lowering taxes. This president and the Republican leadership both remember the cataclysm of the early 1990s, when they broke with that consensus. Spending cuts are painful. Tax cuts aren't. Supply side economists thought tax cuts spelt the end of 'root-canal Republicanism'.

They went with their head over their heart. I would predict that trend will continue in 2008, ... That's what we're asking voters to do.