Jack Germond Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Television doesn't like politics very well, if you can infer that from the way they cover it.”

“The secret of doing well on TV is to understand that it's not too important. A lot of people watching doesn't change anything.”

“Unsurprisingly, the poll-takers don't talk a lot in public about the ignorance of the electorate on political and public policy matters. And the politicians are not going to disclose the, let's say, limited body of knowledge in their constituencies. You don't get elected calling your voters airheads.”

“For those of us who spent our careers competing with David Broder, the hardest thing to abide was the inevitable comparison. If someone said Jack Germond - or Jules Witcover or Walter Mears or whoever - 'is a pretty good political reporter,' the default response would be, 'but he's no David Broder.'”

“Pictures can be devastating. Who allowed John Kerry to get himself photographed windsurfing in a flowered swimsuit? Anyone in the real world in that operation?”

“Politicians read the polls that show 85 or 90 percent of the voters profess a belief in God, so they identify themselves with religion, often only to the degree necessary to reach the constituency they are targeting.”

“Rather than fretting about IQ scores, voters should try to determine what candidates read - other than the Bible, which they all say they read - and the kind of people with whom they spend their time.”

“Spend hundreds of millions; talk endlessly about issues; present 12-point plans for education, the economy, and the environment. But in the end, the election of our next president can turn on a gaffe.”

“The country is stronger than the result of any one election. But we shouldn't forget that these are just ordinary people. I wish Americans would look at them level, not down or up - just level. It doesn't take some special dimension to be president.”

“You could write your fingers off for 25 years... and never get the kind of hearing you could get from shooting off your mouth on television for a half hour every week.”