Political Quotes

“Mr. Chief Justice and colleagues, in his award-winning book ``The Making of the President, 1960,'' Theodore H. White refers to an American Presidential election as ``the most awesome transfer of power in the world.'' He notes that: No people has succeeded at it better or over a longer period of time than the Americans. Yet as the transfer of this power takes place, there is nothing to be seen except an occasional line outside a church or school or file of people fidgeting in the rain, waiting to enter the voting booths. No bands play on election day, no troops march, no guns are readied, no conspirators gather in secret headquarters. And later in that opening chapter White observes: Good or bad, whatever the decision, America will accept the decision and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes. The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood. I begin with those quotes to underscore the critical significance of a Presidential election in the structure of our national politics.”