Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 192
November Surprises
Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO) said in an interview set to broadcast Sunday that President Trump has shown that “anyone can be president,” The Hill reports.
Said Hart: “If Donald Trump can have a fan base of 30-40 percent despite everything he’s done in life, all bets are off. Anybody can be president, regardless.”
James Fallows: “In the last year of his life, Atwater publicly apologized for tactics like these. He told Tom Turnipseed, the object of his ‘jumper cables’ attack, that he viewed the episode as ‘one of the low points’ of his career. He apologized to Dukakis for the ‘naked cruelty’ of the Willie Horton ad.”
“And in a private act of repentance that has remained private for nearly three decades, he told Raymond Strother that he was sorry for how he had torpedoed Gary Hart’s chances of becoming president.”
“I suppose she could give Goldman Sachs its money back, or something like that. But that’s not going to happen.”
— Former Sen. Gary Hart, quoted by the New York Times, on what Hillary Clinton can do to win in New Hampshire.
Gary Hart: “Can anyone seriously doubt that our republic, our government, is corrupt? There have been Teapot Domes and financial scandals of one kind or another throughout our nation’s history. There has never been a time, however, when the government of the United States was so perversely and systematically dedicated to special interests, earmarks, side deals, log-rolling, vote-trading, and sweetheart deals of one kind or another.”
“What brought us to this? A sinister system combining staggering campaign costs, political contributions, political action committees, special interest payments for access, and, most of all, the rise of the lobbying class.”
Gary Hart told Politico that the prospect of a billion-dollar Hillary Clinton campaign “ought to frighten every American” and Democrats would be better served by a competitive primary that forced her to speak in more depth about the issues.
Said Hart: “I like Hillary Clinton. I really appreciate what she and her husband have done… but we need new leaders.”
He added: “If you’ve got to have a billion dollars to run for president, how many people can do that? Only the Clintons and the Bushes and one or two others.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →