I'm certainly driven, I hate losing, I can be ruthless and short-tempered and terribly competitive. Alastair Campbell More Quotes by Alastair Campbell More Quotes From Alastair Campbell Sometimes Jonathan [Powell] and myself would go to Tony [Blair] and ask him if he was absolutely sure about this or that. That was our job. But ultimately it was his decision. Alastair Campbell decision sometimes jobs He [Tony Blair] was always ambivalent about the [Rupert] Murdoch papers. But he gave other papers the chance to believe it was just about 'The Independent.' And that was wrong. Alastair Campbell independent paper believe I feel like thanking Paul Dacre every time, because the reason they ask me is because they think I've come through the other end with a pretty good reputation. Loads of people get a bad press but have a good reputation. [David] Beckham - think what he went through. [Bill] Clinton, likewise. You just have to be true to yourself. Alastair Campbell bills people thinking All of this is happening because there has still been no reckoning post the financial crisis. So governments have fallen, one bloke has been to prison, the banks have gone pretty well back to status quo, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. And it's fuelling anger. And somehow [Donald] Trump, who represents the worst aspects of capitalism, has persuaded people he can deal with that. Alastair Campbell government gone people Tony's [Blair] convinced I'm going to find God. I do have spiritual moments, but I don't think it's God. Alastair Campbell moments spiritual thinking I never met David Kelly, but I knew from what he told other people that this was not his view. The BBC were saying that Tony Blair was making up lies so that he could send young men and women to war, maybe to die. I think that if the BBC had done their jobs professionally, they'd have realised that you couldn't justify what they said. And nothing has emerged since to justify that report. Alastair Campbell jobs war lying I have a nightmare about Tony [Blair] and Gordon [Brown] killing each other. Not every month, but now and then. I also have a recurring dream about losing. Alastair Campbell killing-each-other months dream Paul Keating told us before we were elected that you can do deals with [Rupert] Murdoch without saying you were doing a deal. Did we do that kind of thing? Maybe. But from around about the turn of the century, I felt strongly that we had to do something about media ownership and self-regulation. Tony [Blair] disagreed. Alastair Campbell regulation media self The day of the daredevil reporter who refuses to see obstacles to getting the truth, and seeing it with his or her own eyes, seems to have died. Alastair Campbell daredevil obstacles eye One of the more fatuous remarks I've heard in recent days is that 'My Life,' Clinton's autobiography, is too long and, at almost 1,000 pages, short it is not. But this man was for eight years the President of the most powerful country on earth. Alastair Campbell powerful men country I used to be very routine-based and the new thing in my life is not having a clear, full-time existence. Alastair Campbell routine used life-is Jeremy, are we going to play your games? Alastair Campbell games play america My public caricature - that of a self-confident alpha male - is only partly accurate. Alastair Campbell alpha-male males self The junk food of political journalism...all reshuffle stories are crap. Alastair Campbell junk political stories The thing about politicians in Britain is that they are out there, you can lobby them, get close to them, there are loads of ways you can protest against them, and booing is a pretty weak way of doing it. Alastair Campbell politician weak way Failure, it is thought, is what sells, and what people want to hear and read about. I am not so sure. Alastair Campbell sells want people By asking the question 'Am I happy?,' and via the answer setting out what I mean by happiness, there is a political route that can be taken, by asking another question - 'Can politics deliver happiness, and should it try?' Alastair Campbell taken happiness mean Friends have suggested that I am the least qualified person to talk about happiness, because I am often down, and sometimes profoundly depressed. But I think that's where my qualification comes from. Because to know happiness, it helps to know unhappiness. Alastair Campbell down-and happiness thinking So here is one of my theories on happiness: we cannot know if we have lived a truly happy life until the very end. This view of life and death was reinforced by my close witnessing of the buildup to the death of Philip Gould. Philip was without doubt my closest friend in politics. When he died, I felt like I had lost a limb. Alastair Campbell views happiness happy-life The bad news for journalists today is that the media, however seriously people who are in the public eye take it, is not taken as seriously as it once was - by the public. Alastair Campbell media eye taken
