Notice to our Readers: Fox and Hounds Daily regular contributor John Wildermuth will be absent from our site for at least several months. John has accepted a temporary reporter’s position at his former home, the San Francisco Chronicle. We will miss him at F&HD and are grateful for the time he spent with us. –Editor
Great quotes never die, especially in politics, where they tend to reappear in opposition research reports and in 30-second TV spots. Here are a few of the comments most likely to echo through the remainder of the 2010 campaign.
1. “Can you say ‘senator’ instead of ‘ma’am’? It’s just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title.”
Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer to Army Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh.
An instant favorite with Republicans already convinced of Boxer’s arrogance and disrespect for the military. A guaranteed part of the fall campaign, regardless of who wins the GOP primary.
2. “I was focused on raising a family, on my husband’s career, and we moved many, many times.”
Meg Whitman on why she almost never voted until she was 46 years old.
This isn’t an explanation that will go over well with the millions of California women who raised families, helped their husbands and still managed to vote, all without the nannies, household help and jumbo paychecks Whitman and her neurosurgeon husband cashed.
3. “In a couple of years, you’ll see me as the clerk of a wine store … This is it. God bless. It was fun while it lasted.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, talking about the approaching end to his political career.
It might still be true, but in the meantime Newsom has decided to delay his return to the wine business by running for lieutenant governor. Of course, if he gets elected, he’d still have plenty of extra time for the side job.
4. “We’re going to attack whenever we can, but I’d rather have you attack. I’d rather be the nice guy in this race.”
Attorney General Jerry Brown, speaking to a union gathering in Sacramento.
Yet another example of why politicians really, really hate YouTube.
5. “Is there anything we can do to get SP to reconsider this race? … We can spend $40M+ tearing up Steve if we must; bad for him, bad for us.”
Mike Murphy, a consultant for Whitman, in a letter to a pollster for Steve Poizner.
Ah, Mike, the way these types of backdoor, quiet suggestions stay secret is that you don’t write them down and send them to someone who doesn’t much like you.
6. “This is the Whitman campaign’s way to cancel the election … Meg Whitman chooses to hide behind threats and intimidation tactics to stop Republicans from having a choice in the primary.”
Poizner response to Murphy’s letter.
Ah, Steve, take a chill pill. It’s politics.
7. “There is no job that is America’s God-given right anymore.”
Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, in a 2004 speech explaining why high-tech companies are shipping jobs overseas.
Voters don’t want to hear how it makes perfect economic sense to fire American workers and replace them with cheaper help in India, China or anywhere else.
8. “I would not have written to the University about him, or had any other association with him, if I had known that evidence at the time.”
Tom Campbell, explaining how he was shocked to hear that Sami Al-Arian, a professor who Campbell had sought to help keep his job at South Florida University, admitted having links to the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
You think?
9. “I have no history of liberalism of any kind.”
Chuck DeVore at a radio debate among GOP Senate candidates.
No argument here.