#ed

Close elections tend to break toward the challenger because undecided voters - having held out so long against the incumbent - are by nature looking for change. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#because #break #challenger #change #close

In the time it takes to heat a TV dinner, Clinton had convinced me that he was the smartest person in the room and that I was the center of his attention. In the next 25 years, I would see countless others fall just as quickly to the Clinton Touch. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#center #clinton #convinced #countless #dinner

It's an appeal as old as America and its presidency: This is an extraordinary country populated by hard-working, big-dreaming, freedom-loving people graced by God when they're not pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#appeal #bootstraps #country #extraordinary #freedom-loving

Like a cowboy saddling a bucking stallion, Republican leaders tried to tame the Tea Party while riding it to victories. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#leaders #like #party #republican #riding

I was amazed at the house that I grew up in; it looks practically identical to the way it was, but I couldn't recognize it because of the size of the trees. ↗

— Jim Fowler

#because #grew #house #i #identical

Mandates are rarely won on election night. They are earned after Inauguration Day by leaders who spend their political capital wisely, taking advantage of events without overreaching. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#after #capital #day #earned #election

Obama does not need to worry as much as past Democratic presidents about being labeled soft on national security - not after giving the order that led to the assassination of Osama bin Laden. No, his biggest concern is being labeled tone deaf on joblessness and debt. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#after #assassination #being #biggest #bin

Obama is capable - as evidenced by his first-term success with health care reform. But mandate-building requires humility, a trait not easily associated with him. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#capable #care #easily #evidenced #health

Obama still has work to do with the vision thing. Convincing voters that he has a credible, practical plan to turn the nation around is a process, not a speech. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#convincing #credible #nation #obama #plan

Obama won the presidency on the strength of his message and the skills of the messenger. Now the talk of hope and change feels out of tune when so many Americans are out of work, over-mortgaged, and worried that life will be even tougher for their children. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#children #even #feels #his #hope