They made a horrendous miscalculation in not understanding the intent of the low-energy attack, which was designed to emasculate Bush, to make him look weak, defining him as weak denied him the ability to make the argument that by resume, competence and experience he was the most fit to command.

Steve Schmidt

Categorized in : Politics

Even in the face of continued good news, Kerry clings to his message of gloom and doom, supporting it with twisted statistics. Kerry's complaints about a middle class squeeze are out of touch with the reality that home sales hit a record high last month, college tuition increases slowed and consumer confidence is rising.

Steve Schmidt

college home reality

Look, this CPAC convention is increasingly the Star Wars bar scene of the conservative movement. All that’s missing from that convention is a couple of Wookies.

Steve Schmidt

couple stars war

Great Daniel Patrick Moynihan said that everyone`s entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. I`m not sure that`s true anymore.

Steve Schmidt

opinion said facts

John Kerry's newfound interest in fiscal discipline is a political gimmick that defies his 20-year record in the Senate and stands in stark contrast to his reckless and expansive promises of new government spending on the campaign trail.

Steve Schmidt

discipline government years

There are change elections and there are 'more of the same' elections, and there was a lot of economic anxiety in the 1992 election and (Bill Clinton) was able to drive a change narrative. after eight years of Barack Obama, it's very difficult to understand what kind of change it is that Hillary Clinton's candidacy could represent.

Steve Schmidt

eight change years

That could be the issue that the party - that the party faces as we get ready to potentially nominate someone who`s utterly unelectable in a general election contest.

Steve Schmidt

issues party faces

In a social media age, it seems that everyone lives in their own reality and that when you give consideration to Newt Gingrich, he exists in an alternate reality, at some level, where the things he says are so diametrically opposed to the record.

Steve Schmidt

media giving reality

I'm personally supportive of marriage equality for gay couples and I believe that it will happen over time.

Steve Schmidt

gay couple believe

John Kerry's campaign attacks on gas prices ignore the reality of Kerry's long record of supporting higher gas prices and blocking the president's comprehensive energy plan.

Steve Schmidt

block long reality

The price for independence is often isolation and solitude.

Steve Schmidt

independence isolation solitude

Even as people take pride in their national independence, we know we are becoming more and more interdependent." Bill Clinton "The price for independence is often isolation and solitude.

Steve Schmidt

solitude pride people

It's not as if there's a wave of good feeling around members of Congress or governors who all of a sudden are standing on principle in opposition to Trump's candidacy, you see a lot of trend lines converging at this moment that have been buffeting the Republican Party for a long time.

Steve Schmidt

politics

Stepping into that vacuum are the candidates who are now tearing at the fabric of the old conservative coalition.

Steve Schmidt

politics

He lines up ideologically with the Republican Party today more than any other candidate and has the ability to rack up delegates throughout the South.

Steve Schmidt

politics

Every winning nominee and every winning presidential candidate walks many lonely miles through the valley of the shadow of political death -- and resiliency is the chief virtue required for victory, john McCain understood that, as did Barack Obama -- while going through the Rev. (Jeremiah) Wright debacle -- as did George W. Bush, after losing to John McCain in New Hampshire in 2000, and there are many other examples.

Steve Schmidt

top-news

He almost has to have a transcendent performance. He has to be high-energy, he can't be low-energy.

Steve Schmidt

politics

Presidential politics isn't very different from professional football -- quarterbacks are going to throw interceptions, and sometimes those interceptions might fall at the feet of the quarterback. And Jeb Bush just threw one, jeb Bush has to understand the demographic challenges facing the Republican Party and little things like that make it difficult to win the game.

Steve Schmidt

politics

A presidential candidate who seeks to be the nominee of the party of [President Abraham] Lincoln should be able to talk contextually and historically about this flag, about these issues, about what it once meant and what it means today, this is one of those moments where the right thing to say and do is so obvious --- and you watch, one by one by one by one, how the political calculations and maneuverings take place at the expense of doing the right thing.

Steve Schmidt

politics

I do think age is an issue in a presidential campaign, there is a thin line between seasoned and decrepit.

Steve Schmidt

top-news

When you look at Hilary Clinton’s age, it becomes an issue in a general election if she’s running against a 40-something new face as opposed to Governor Bush.

Steve Schmidt

top-news