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During a political campaign everyone is concerned with what a candidate will do on this or that question if he is elected except the candidate; he's too busy wondering what he'll do if he isn't elected.
Everett Dirksen
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Candidates focus more on their own election fears than on the promises they make.

This quote highlights the irony of political campaigns, where candidates often become preoccupied with the anxieties of losing rather than addressing the issues they campaign on. It suggests that the pressure of electoral success can overshadow genuine political discourse, as candidates are torn between their responsibilities and their personal stakes in the election outcome.

Themes

PoliticsElectionCampaignAnxietyCandidates

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about the integrity of political campaigns.

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Quote by Everett Dirksen | QuoteProject