Punditry is like weather forecasting: the winds can shift without warning. I remember when nobody would bet a McDonald's Quarter Pounder that Bill Clinton would win the White House.
James CarvilleRead
I have people ask me if I'm going to convince my daughters to be Democrats, and I say, 'I have yet to convince my daughters to close a door.' I don't how in the world I would ever convince them to be in a political affiliation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Convincing others, especially children, to adopt a belief or political view is often more challenging than simple tasks.
James Carville humorously reflects on the difficulty of influencing his daughters' political beliefs by comparing it to the much simpler task of getting them to close a door. This quote highlights the challenges parents face in shaping their children's views and underscores the idea that beliefs, especially political ones, are deeply personal and not easily imposed.
Themes
ParentingPoliticsInfluenceBeliefsChildren
In practice
Example use cases
During a family gathering, to illustrate the challenges of parenting.
More from James Carville
All quotes →Over the course of history, governments, political regimes, and leaders have done some stupid things despite all arguments to the contrary, at times even against their own self-interest.
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I tell my students that the single most powerful thing that we have in this country - something that literally harbors no dissent and no questioning - is the all-powerful elite narrative.
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I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the President or the Pope or as a 400 basball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.
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We say there are people who have worked in campaigns who say that they have lost some - and we call those folks operatives, managers, strategists, consultants; and then there are people who work in campaigns and say that they have never lost, and we call them liars.
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