Political Quotes

“Today, I am reflecting on a moment that occurred just after I was sworn in to this office. My former Republican colleague Mark Kirk gave me some of the best advice I had ever received. He said: In the end, anything that gets done here that is any good gets done in the middle, through compromise. It begs the question: Are we currently in a position to work well together? Can we effectively govern? The fact is, right now, the occasions when we work together are few and far between. No established democracy in recent history has been as deeply polarized as the United States is now. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that polarization in the U.S. has increased more dramatically since the late 1970s than in any other country they have examined. We are not just uniquely polarized on the world stage. We are also uniquely polarized in the context of our own history. Here is one example. In 1960, 4 percent of Republicans and 4 percent of Democrats said they would be displeased if their son or daughter married someone of the opposite party. In 2019, that number is 45 percent of Democrats said they would be unhappy if their child married a Republican, and 35 percent of Republicans said they would be unhappy if their child married a Democrat. Well, the reasons are manyfold. Americans today read less print than ever before. They can now pick and choose their own news, perspectives, and facts.…”