When a party is in opposition, it opposes. That's its job. But when it comes to power, it must govern. Easy rhetoric is over, the press of reality becomes irresistible. By necessity, it adopts some of the policies it had once denounced. And a new national consensus is born.
Interpretation
Political parties shift their strategies when they come into power, often adopting policies they previously opposed.
In this quote, Charles Krauthammer highlights the transition that political parties undergo when they move from opposition to governance. While parties might oppose certain views or policies when they are not in power, they inevitably face the realities of governance when they attain that power, leading to compromises and the adoption of some previously denounced policies, resulting in a new consensus within the political landscape.
In practice
In a discussion about the shifting policies of political parties, this quote can illustrate the inherent contradictions faced by leaders once they come into power.
If you get a call to go to a certain place in the middle of the night to pick up stolen goods, and it turns out the stolen goods don't show up but the cops show up, I think you're going to have a very weak story saying, 'Well, I got swindled here.'
I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking.
The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment.
You're betraying your whole life if you don't say what you think - and you don't say it honestly and bluntly.
History has blessed us with all the freedom and advantages of multiculturalism. But it has also blessed us, because of the accident of our origins, with the linguistic unity that brings a critically needed cohesion to a nation as diverse, multiracial and multiethnic as America. Why gratuitously throw away that priceless asset? How mindless to call the desire to retain it 'racist.
Sometimes it's easy to go where the wind blows, but those that stand firmly planted are forces to be reckoned with.
Nothing could be more dangerous to the existence of this Republic than to introduce religion into politics
I may find Saddam Hussein's regime abhorrent - any normal person would - but the survival of it is in his hands.
No man should have a political office because he wants a job.
A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate.
All through my life, I have never disguised my sentiments about politics in general.
Elections are an enduring spectacle of free India, and have provided foreign journalists with the opportunity to remind the world that India remains the world's largest democracy.
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