Political Quotes

On the recordFebruary 5, 2009
I wish we could outlaw polls. I think they are one of the things that hurt the body politic. I don't believe in them. I don't watch what they say. I don't care about them. But I can read them. We were all present at a meeting yesterday where in-depth polling has been done on this. The polling for President Obama's package, as of yesterday, was approved by nearly 70 percent of the American people. Everybody forget about the polls. Forget about them. Do what we think is good for the American people based on what we are hearing from constituents, constituents rich and poor, big businesses and small businesses. If we listen to them, we have to come forward with a robust package in keeping with the needs of the country. I hope we will not be determining what we do based on a poll.
Said by
Harry Reid
Democratic · Nevada

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the impact of polling on legislative decision-making.

Share

More from Harry Reid

Dec 28, 2021

Get rid of the filibuster, is nothing that as Brock Obama said, at John Lewis` funeral, it’s part of the leftovers from the days of the slave owners. You got to get rid of it. It’s very, very bad.

msnbc.com
Sep 3, 2018

With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong.

congress.gov
Mar 7, 2017

it is unclear what . . . duty [third-party set-top box providers] would have to protect programming content or otherwise comply with the licensing agreements

congress.gov
Jan 27, 2021

The filibuster is nondemocratic. It has been used to the disarray of the Congress. And, certainly, it hasn’t been anything that has helped -- been helpful to the American people. It’s got to go.

msnbc.com

Other voices in this conversation