Debate is healthy and no one in this chamber - starting with me - has a monopoly on being right. — Ted Kulongoski
Democracy is interactive... Its a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication. — Dick Gephardt
The fight is always the same within the Democratic Party, isn't it? The more things change, the more they stay the same. — Dee Dee Myers
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule—and both commonly succeed, and are right. — H. L. Mencken
Honest differences of views and honest debate are not disunity. They are the vital process of policy making among free men. — Herbert Hoover
The electorate is starved for honest debate and for the good governance that follows from it. — Bret Weinstein
A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry. — Thomas Jefferson
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. — James Bovard
Democracy is a constant tension between truth and half-truth and, in the arsenal of truth, there is no greater weapon than fact. — Lyndon B. Johnson
Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. — Robert A. Heinlein
The debates are part of the unconscionable fraud that our political campaigns have become a format that defies meaningful discourse. They should be charged with sabotaging the electoral process. — Walter Cronkite
As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences. — Eugene McCarthy
Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy. — Harry Belafonte
Democracy is four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. — Ambrose Bierce
Debate and divergence of views can only enrich our history and culture. — Ibrahim Babangida
Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity. — Rory Stewart
Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires active participation from all citizens. — Alexei Navalny
Democracies die behind closed doors. — Damon Keith
Democratic Debate Image Quotes
Presidential Debate Quotes
Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets. — Barack Obama
One of the most surreal moments in this election was after the third debate, when I heard a talking head say, Al Gore won on substance, on the issues. But you have to give the victory to Bush because he seems presidential. — Bradley Whitford
Margaret Thatcher once said, "If you want something talked about, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman." — Carly Fiorina
There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. — Gerald R. Ford
I debated in high school! If you told things that weren't true or just made things out of whole cloth, you were penalized. It's too bad they don't apply the same standards to presidential candidates as they do to high school students. — Mark Hamill
I went to a number of women's groups and said, "Can you help us find folks," and they brought us whole binders full of women. — Mitt Romney
In a presidential campaign, you can't lie. You can't hide what you are and what you want. You can't hide what kind of President you'll be. You can't keep on talking about nothing indefinitely and committing to nothing, you can't keep running away from debate, masking the challenges. — Nicolas Sarkozy
The threshold by the Commission on Presidential Debates. In the words of the League of Women Voters, they are a fraud being perpetrated on the American public. — Jill Stein
A little tough talk in the midst of a campaign or as part of a presidential debate cannot obscure a record of 30 years of being on the wrong side of defense issues. — Dick Cheney
I had hoped that the current presidential campaign debates might educate the public as to what is really involved in the ongoing controversy over campaign financing. — James L. Buckley
Political Debates Quotes
I only debate with serious political youth formations. Not a group of the racist Helen Zille's garden boys. — Julius Malema
If man is not made in the image of God, nothing then stands in the way of inhumanity. There is no good reason why mankind should be perceived as special. Human life is cheapened. We can see this in many of the major issues being debated in our society today. — Francis Schaeffer
The great issues facing us today are not Republican issues or Democratic issues. The political parties can debate the means, but both parties must embrace the end objective, which is to make America great again. — Lee Iacocca
I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience. — Ronald Reagan
By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars. — Barry Goldwater
The best tribute we can pay Madiba is to ensure that our political debate focuses on issues of how best we can ensure that each South African child, whatever the circumstances of their birth, inherits freedom they can use. — Helen Zille
Much as I would have liked to respond factually and truthfully to each and every piece of misinformation spread by the Brexit campaign, it was important that I stayed out of the domestic political debate. It was David Cameron's task to win the UK referendum, not ours. — Jean-Claude Juncker
Truth is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless, by human interposition, disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them. — Thomas Jefferson
Political debate with liberals is basically impossible in America today because liberals are calling names while conservatives are trying to make arguments. — Ann Coulter
Our political debates today are corrosive and not reflective of the belief that Abe Lincoln espoused back in his day: that we are a great country because we are a good country. — Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Democratic Party Quotes
The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles. — Eugene V. Debs
The first Republican I knew was my father and he is still the Republican I most admire. He joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. My father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I. — Condoleezza Rice
We won't organize any black man to be a Democrat or a Republican because both of them have sold us out. Both of them have sold us out; both parties have sold us out. Both parties are racist, and the Democratic Party is more racist than the Republican Party. — Malcolm X
I am a former Kleagie of the Klu Klux Klan in Raleigh County and adjoining counties of the state, having been appainted to this office [by] Mr. J. L. Baskin of Arlington, Virginia, in 1942... It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state in the union. — Robert Byrd
The positive is I'm delighted at the way the Liberal Democrats as a party have supported me and the way in which the work I'm doing, through the Liberal Democrats, has enabled me to broaden some of the work I work on. — Maajid Nawaz
I think one of the problems the Democrats have today is that they are an elitist party. — Ed Gillespie
The news today that Bush has vowed to veto any legislation that reviews the security implications of the Dubai Port World's potential management of our ports is ludicrous and the entire Democratic Party is calling him to task for it. — John Conyers
The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference. — Ralph Nader
The revolution is an amalgam of former Party functionaries, quasi- democrats, KGB officers, and black-market wheeler-dealers, who are standing in power now and have represented a dirty hybrid unseen in world history — Sayings
I do believe the Democratic party has moved far to the right. I do believe that the party has a bunch of elephants running around in donkey clothes. — Al Sharpton
Importance Of Debate Quotes
It is extremely important that individuals in the state of California do not own assault weapons. I mean that is just so crystal clear, there is no debate, no discussion. — Leland Yee
We should not use special budget procedures to jam through legislation to drill in the Arctic Refuge. This topic is too important to the public to address it in such a back-door manner. We should be having a full, open discussion of the issue during an energy debate. — Russ Feingold
Self-censorship, the most important and most successful form of censorship, is rampant. Debate is identified with dissent, which is in turn identified with disloyalty. There is a widespread feeling that, in this new, open-ended emergency, we may not be able to 'afford' our traditional freedoms. — Susan Sontag
Immigration is everyone’s business: it is one of the most important national issues. The idea that it is too dangerous to be debated is a mockery of democracy. It is too important not to debate. — Geoffrey Blainey
Regarding the debate about faith and works: It's like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important. — C. S. Lewis
The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good. — Jay Carney
The person and society are yoked, like mind and body. Arguing which is more important is like debating whether oxygen or hydrogen is the more essential property of water. — Marilyn Ferguson
In the long run, the replacement of the precise and disciplined language of science by the misleading language of litigation and advocacy may be one of the more important sources of damage to society incurred in the current debate over global warming. — Richard Lindzen
I felt it was vital to stress the importance of national security in this debate and the need for a clear path to our exit from the European Union. I hope I have achieved both these objectives. — Liam Fox
Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" is still in print. They're debating right now over Mark Twain. He's still available. Winslow Homer can still be seen. Our arts are - they're there. We got to go get them and understand that this is an important legacy for our country. — Wynton Marsalis
Policy Debate Quotes
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure... It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. — Barack Obama
We must shift the energy policy debate in America with an increased focus on alternative and renewable fuels and Congress must pass meaningful alternative fuels and incentive programs to help move the U.S. away from dependence on foreign oil. — Rick Renzi
By the beginning of the 20th century, the debate about monetary policy and the nation's financial system had been going on for over a century. — Jerome Powell
That does not mean that we must forego just and fair criticism, or refrain from opposition to policies which are debatable or which do not command our approval. — Bainbridge Colby
The sign of a good marriage is that everything is debatable and challenged; nothing is turned into law or policy. The rules, if any, are known only to the two players, who seek no public trophies. — Carolyn Heilbrun
We have a policy at Greenpeace that we no longer debate people who don't accept the scientific reality of anthropogenic climate change. — Ben Stewart
The extra curricular activity in which I was most engaged - debating - helped shape my interests in public policy. — Joseph Stiglitz
Any debate among politicians about monetary policy is counterproductive. — Gerhard Schroder
My goal in Baghdad was to facilitate a debate here in the United States on America's policy toward Iraq, a debate that's been sadly lacking. — Scott Ritter
The basis of the First Amendment is the hypothesis that speech can rebut speech, propaganda will answer propaganda, free debate of ideas will result in the wisest governmental policies. — Fred M. Vinson
Is the Labour Party to remain a democratic party in which the right of free criticism and free debate is not merely tolerated but encouraged? Or are the rank and file of the party to be bludgeoned or cowed into an uncritical subservience towards the leadership? — Michael Foot
Al Jazeera aired a new tape of Osama bin Laden. It was the usual stuff, he called Bush evil, the Great Satan, called him a war monger. Basically, the same thing you heard at last night's Democratic debate. — Jay Leno
There is danger that totalitarian governments, not subject to vigorous popular debate, will underestimate the will and unity of democratic societies where vital interests are concerned. — John F. Kennedy
The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies. — Alexis de Tocqueville
The Senate has unlimited debate; in the House, debate is ruthlessly circumscribed. There is frequent discussion as to which technique most effectively frustrates democratic process. — John Kenneth Galbraith
The national debate on health-care reform wildly misses the mark, with Democrats and Republicans alike arguing about who's going to pay rather than about what would actually make people healthy. — T. Colin Campbell
I think that there’s going to be a rush to judgment on civil liberties, and a clamping down, a suspension of our democratic rights. And I believe that those who are good Americans would want to see this not happen and that we debate how to find a balance between the public safety and the protection of civil liberties. — Barbara Lee
Now a great debate has been born. The thesis is Democratic Socialism. The antithesis is free-market capitalism. The Obama Democrats have posed the challenge. It is now up to the Republicans to pick it up and fight along these lines. — Dick Morris
Let me announce this to the American people tonight one of the best things about this debate, as a Democrat from Massachusetts, I have proposed eliminating, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax. — Richard Neal
Let there be no mistake, Sen Sanders, his campaign and the vigorous debate that we've had about how to raise incomes, how to reduce inequality, increase upward mobility, has been very good for the Democratic Party and for America. — Hillary Clinton
Under theocracies and other authoritarian regimes, the rulers are the moral authorities. Under genuine democracy some basic values are entrenched in the legal system, which is expected to be under democratic vigilance, and others are left to the person or the group, which ideally debate moral problems in a rational, free and cooperative manner. — Mario Bunge
One needs to know what the hierarchy of values are from which one takes inspiration, and in a democratic society this is the subject of continuous democratic debate. — Rocco Buttiglione
Donald Trump lied about criticizing Mark Zuckerberg.Ben Carson lied about Mannatech.Carli Fiorina lied about the size of the tax code.Marco Rubio flatly refused to answer a question ("discredited attacks from Democrats") that I guess he didn't think he could just lie about. This is quite a debate. — Kevin Drum
Lost in much of the national debate about immigration reform is how Democrats ultimately stand to gain electorally with any legislation or executive action that would put the newly legalized residents on a path to voting. — Aaron Klein
I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers at Democratic debates. I never used marijuana. Sorry! — Joe Lieberman
We knew that the referee [in primary debates] is on the side of the Democrats because the referee, whoever the referee is, is a Democrat first and a so-called journalist second. I mean, we know that Lester Holt did not challenge Hillary [Clinton]. — Rush Limbaugh
There is nothing wrong with being a Marxist. Their point of view is essential to a democratic debate. — Michael Foot
Democrats are making it clear that they intend to use our economic crisis to rush through their longtime liberal goals without public scrutiny or debate. ... This will increase burdens on taxpayers and take a significant step toward socialized medicine. — Jim DeMint
This trend of reporting process over substance is unfortunate, if omnipresent. Even worse is the media's inability - or unwillingness - to fact-check Republicans who are angry about the Democrats trying to debate and vote on Iraq policy. — Eric Alterman
Republicans and Democrats have used accounting gimmicks and competing government analyses to deceive the public into believing that 2 + 2 = 6. If our leaders cannot agree on the numbers, if 'facts' are fictional, how can they possibly have a substantive debate on solutions? — J. C. Watts
The Democrats' response throughout the healthcare debate? Give the people more statistics. — Simon Sinek
I really don't have time at the moment for coalition debates. The voters will decide what the next parliament will look like. Those who wish to form a coalition with The Social Democrats can take a look at our platform and then they are more than welcome to talk to us. — Martin Schulz
I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance isn't a good enough indicator that something is ethical. You actually need to stop and think. Acceptance on the basis of ignorance or deceit is not the same thing as the acceptance on the basis of ongoing vigorous democratic debate. — Sheila Jasanoff
For the Democrats, they're trying to avoid having the Sanders-Clinton debate over and over again. But, to some degree, they're sentenced to that debate. Clinton is much more embracing of the global economy and the international world order. Sanders and Warren are much less so. And they have got to figure out which side the party is on, if they're going to have a clear message. I think this is probably one you probably can't straddle. — David Brooks
For the Democrats, they're trying to avoid having the [Ben] Sanders- [Hillary] Clinton debate over and over again. But, to some degree, they're sentenced to that debate. — Mark Shields
There's a debate among Democrats about how they should approach this new [Donald's Trump] administration. — Maxine Waters
[Mark] Lilla is a professor at Columbia University in New York, and he has waded into the debate about what Democrats and liberals should do now. Some Democrats answer nothing. — Steve Inskeep
At various periods in American history, people get pretty rambunctious when it comes to our democratic debate. — Barack Obama
Why should the Democratic and Republican parties be in charge of the debates, especially at a time when the largest block of voters has repudiated the Democratic and Republican parties? Why are they still in charge? — Jill Stein
Let there be no doubt: Democrats are the party with two ideas: borrow and spend. The only vigorous internal debate on the left revolves around two questions: How much and how much more? — Michelle Malkin
Donald Trump tried to set up this debate where it was going to be globalists vs. nationalists, and the Republicans were going to be the nationalists. But, if anything, the Democrats looked more patriotic and more nationalist at the end of these two. — David Brooks
I would love to see a revival of what we had against the war in the '60s - we could do these teach-ins on the internet, live and split screen, and have real in-depth debate between people that are on the "other" side of issues - nuclear, gun control, whatever. We could really be having a much more democratically involved and exciting debate with people emailing their questions and having a virtual town meeting. — Bonnie Raitt
The best way to create and bring dependent voters in is to bring people that don't have much education and therefore do not have many skills and therefore are not as capable as others of providing for themselves. That's the gold standard in immigration, if you're a Democrat in 2016, 2002, 2000, as long as this current debate has been raging, that's their objective. — Rush Limbaugh
In our own country, we take democratic values seriously - and so we always have a vigorous debate on the issues. That's part of the greatness of America, and we wouldn't have it any other way. — Dick Cheney
Every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question: 'What does this mean for the next election? What does it mean for your poll numbers? Is this good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans? Who won the news cycle?' That's just how Washington is. They can't help it. They're obsessed with the sport of politics. — Barack Obama
As soon as a Democrat or a liberal organization opens their mouth and says "We want to see this," it's going to go over the heads. And same way on the abortion debate, if they want to make a change, it is not going to come from a Republican, it's going to have to come from a Democrat. — Chuck Todd
If you are a minority or an interest group, the Democrats will hold the debate at your house. Whereas Republicans take a slightly different approach: they have a big tent - you're just not allowed in it. — Jon Stewart
A Green Party candidate would be very different from a Democrat or Republican and should be heard. I was the candidate first time a Green or any progressive third party has ever been in a national televised debate. I was in five of them. And the response from the public was overwhelming. — Peter Camejo
In many respects, we now live in a society that is only formally democratic, as the great mass of citizens have minimal say on the major public issues of the day, and such issues are scarcely debated at all in any meaningful sense in the electoral arena. In our society, corporations and the wealthy enjoy a power every bit as immense as that assumed to have been enjoyed by the lords and royalty of feudal times. — Robert Waterman McChesney
Nations need to understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and India's tradition of dissent and democratic debate is a positive aspect. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
During the Democratic presidential debate Howard Dean started off by apologizing to the crowd for having a cold. Then John Kerry apologized for once having a cold while serving his country in Vietnam. — Conan O'Brien
The not-visibly-insane Democrats all claim they'll get rough with the terrorists, but they can't even face Brit Hume. In case you missed this profile in Democrat machismo, the Democratic presidential candidates are refusing to participate in a debate hosted by Fox News Channel because the hosts are "biased." But they'll face down Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! At this, even Hillary Clinton was thinking, "Come on, guys - let's grow a pair." — Ann Coulter
I make it a policy every election to only debate once, Democrats and Progressives. And I will say that the way that you have acted, very candidly, has been dishonorable in this entire campaign. — Matt Shea
The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing a triumph for the rule of law, a reassertion of the belief that no man is above it, and a rebuke for an arrogance that had grown imperial. — Peggy Noonan
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