We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Don't try to be somebody you're not because it doesn't work. If you try to be this perfect person or perfect persona of what you think that somebody should be when they're involved in public office, it's just not going to work. Just be yourself, stay true to your core values, and really just stay abreast of the issues.
Public office is supposed to be a public trust. This is a clear sign of the rampant corruption at the highest levels of the Republican leadership.
I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office.
It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
When I first ran for public office, it was with the passion and idealism of a young man who believed that government could help make our lives better, that public service was a calling and that citizenship demanded responsibilities. There was a greater good.
I have far too many skeletons in my closet to think about any sort of serious mention of public office.
When I worked in a medical practice, our practice provided the insurance. When I retired the next day to run for public office to run for Congress, I had to pay first dollar.
I probably enjoy campaigning more than most other people in public office because I like people and I enjoy going out there and telling people what I've done.
I'll never get out of politics. I have friends in public office. I have things that I want to do. You can't go back in life. I won't go back to the existence I had before of running a political consulting firm and signing up clients and advising campaigns in exactly that way.