Donna Brazile Quotes

I think people involved in politics make good actors. Acting and politics both involve fooling people. People like being fooled by actors. When you get right down to it, they probably like being fooled by politicians even more. A skillful actor will make you think, but a skillful politician will make you never have to think.

- Donna Brazile

For some Republicans, 2016 is 1992: Hating Hillary Clinton is chic again. Only more so, since the former secretary of state is also the partner of and potential successor to the last two Democratic presidents - Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

- Donna Brazile

I'm not the geek in the family: I'm the organizer. But what I do know is that we have a very terrific team of consultants, former federal cybersecurity experts who are working with us to make sure we have a very safe system.

- Donna Brazile

Under Pope Francis, we have seen a change at the Vatican that is reflective of the church I know and love. He approaches controversial doctrine or past wrongdoing with humility, understanding, and faith in the goodness of mankind. He has served as a voice for the voiceless and has been working to re-establish the church as a home for the homeless.

- Donna Brazile

It was at the Children's Defense Fund that I met Hillary. I was 21, feisty, and ready to fight. And I remember thinking immediately, 'Here is a woman who doesn't mess around.' Steel in her spine, Hillary didn't want to talk about anything other than how to make children's lives better.

- Donna Brazile

Why not add benefits for making healthy food choices, provide a transition bonus for getting off food stamps, or increase job training opportunities and income - raising minimum wage?

- Donna Brazile

Food stamps are an investment in our future.

- Donna Brazile

Being on food stamps can be demeaning. Cashiers know the difference between the new plastic SNAP cards and a credit card. Some food stamp recipients say some cashiers have made them feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.

- Donna Brazile

Helping the poor doesn't mean redistributing the wealth. It means removing the breaks that give the wealthy an advantage so huge that big chunks of the nation's income are automatically removed from individual economic competition.

- Donna Brazile

I think that five, 10, 50 years down the road, we'll be honoring President Barack Obama for ending two wars, stopping the economic hemorrhage and, yes, reducing the number of uninsured. And the polls won't matter.

- Donna Brazile

Until there are no more hate crimes, no more vicious bullying and ugly slurs, whenever a person comes out - whether that person is a celebrity or a 'nobody' - it should be celebrated like the triumph of courage it is.

- Donna Brazile

If I could have gotten my way at an early age, I would have entered the priesthood, but my mother informed me that I could not become a priest because I was a girl. It really was the biggest blow to my ego, because it was my calling. When she told me I'd have to be a nun, I looked at her and said, 'I'm not following anyone.'

- Donna Brazile

I may not be a trained actor, but I've paid my dues. And I mean that literally. I am a fully dues-paid member of SAG/AFTRA. As a political figure, I've been called a 'card carrying' member of numerous groups that I'm not a member of - and now I'm being called a non-actor when I am literally a card-carrying member of the union for actors.

- Donna Brazile

In order for President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden to be moderates, they just have to present themselves between the extremes of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's isolationism and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's hawkishness - the difference between living in a cave or conducting ourselves so that we're in need of one.

- Donna Brazile

Our public portrayal of fathers has shifted during my life. TV fathers have 'evolved' from real people like Sheriff Andy Taylor, Beaver's dad Ward Cleaver and Heathcliff 'Cliff' Huxtable, to cartoon dads like Homer Simpson and Seth MacFarlane's caricatures in 'American Dad!' and 'Family Guy.'

- Donna Brazile

At the same time that Donald Trump was facing a federal discrimination lawsuit for refusing to rent to minority families, Hillary Clinton risked her own safety to seek out the truth, to comfort the afflicted, and to make a home for justice where there was none. It was at the Children's Defense Fund that I met Hillary.

- Donna Brazile

Every member of my family was displaced by Katrina.

- Donna Brazile

Low turnout in off-year races is always a challenge for Democrats. Many of our voters require information and must be contacted way ahead of Election Day - and reminded of what's at stake.

- Donna Brazile

Voter turnout comes down to organizing, educating, activating.

- Donna Brazile

Congressional opposition to immigration reform or emergency funds doesn't stem from any philosophical objections or differences of principle. It stems from a calculated, petty, selfish rejection of anything Obama proposes.

- Donna Brazile

I met Hillary Clinton when I was a young lady working as an intern, and I can tell you she's been a progressive fighter all her life. And Bernie Sanders, I got to know him during campaigns on Capitol Hill, campaigns across this country. These are two wonderful, fighting souls.

- Donna Brazile

A campaign is about defining who you are - your vision and your opponent's vision.

- Donna Brazile

If you're not out front defining your vision, your opponent will spend gobs of money to define it for you.

- Donna Brazile

If you're a Supreme Court justice, the American people have elevated you to one of the highest offices in the land out of the goodness of their heart and out of deference to your legal wisdom. You get a lifetime appointment, limitless prestige, a great office, and what I have to assume is a very comfortable chair.

- Donna Brazile

Maya Angelou was the voice of three generations. Her poetry spanned our journey, chronicled our hearts and documented our struggles as we moved from the orations of Martin Luther King to the presidency of Barack Obama.

- Donna Brazile

Obama has a strong record on immigration enforcement, outdoing both Republican and Democratic predecessors. He has deported over 1 million immigrants, focusing on those with criminal records. As documented by many nonpartisan sources, by 2011, Obama had reduced illegal immigration crossings to net zero.

- Donna Brazile

Civic education and civic responsibility should be taught in elementary school.

- Donna Brazile

I've had to step up when I was Al Gore's campaign manager. I had to make significant changes as we moved from Washington, D.C. to Tennessee.

- Donna Brazile

It is easy to fall into despair thinking about all that is wrong with the world. The joys seems so small in comparison. Internet videos of cats riding Roombas just can't compete with a father talking about how his dead 13-year-old son had wanted to be a pilot.

- Donna Brazile

Ask any worker at Starbucks, Cosi, McDonald's or Walmart, 'How many jobs do you have?' and likely he or she will tell you: 'Two.' I know colleagues who've had breakfast at one store, and gone to lunch in another, only to find the same person waiting on them.

- Donna Brazile

A government of, by, and for the people requires that people talk to people, that we can agree to disagree but do so in civility. If we let the politicians and those who report dictate our discourse, then our course will be dictated.

- Donna Brazile

We march on toward the realization of the American Dream. We are not diverted by those who would deny opportunity based on what we look like or where we came from or who would deny equality based on who we love.

- Donna Brazile

The grand jury system - not just in Ferguson, but nationwide - needs a hard look. Millions feel that officers who are trigger-happy are handed a license to shoot - based not on facts, but on stereotypes the officers carry.

- Donna Brazile

I have a simple rule: when I'm on TV, I'm not talking to just my anchor or my colleague on my right. I'm talking to America. I look into the lens, and in my head, I'm talking to somebody in Nebraska. Why Nebraska? Why the Cornhusker State? I have no idea. But it feels like it's a good place to talk to people.

- Donna Brazile

In Pope Francis, I see a leader who lives every day in the image of Jesus. Under his guidance, the church is focused once again on providing comfort, compassion and salvation for sinners, the poor, and those who seek peace in an increasingly complex world. That's my Catholicism.

- Donna Brazile

We all know that an angry electorate is a voting electorate.

- Donna Brazile

In modern politics, polls often serve as the canary in the mine - an early warning signal of danger or trends. But polls can also be used to wag the dog - diverting attention from something significant.

- Donna Brazile

If you're a girl, you're always Daddy's little girl. You're vulnerable, no matter how worldly or sophisticated or strong you'd become along the way. My dad Lionel let me know how proud he was, even as he kept me from being too big for my britches.

- Donna Brazile

After Katrina, no one was the same. People, relatives, they were dying one after another.

- Donna Brazile

George W. Bush was good as his word. He visited the Gulf states 17 times; went 13 times to New Orleans. Laura Bush made 24 trips. Bush saw that $126 billion in aid was sent to the Gulf's residents, as some members of his own party in Congress balked.

- Donna Brazile

I talked to the general counsel of the DNC, and he assures me that every step along the way, when we were notified of these issues, that we changed systems, changed procedures, but these hackers are so sophisticated that they changed procedures.

- Donna Brazile

Over the years, I've worked for and alongside the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association. That's because I am proud of our public school teachers - including my niece who teaches down in Louisiana - just as I am proud of our nation's education system.

- Donna Brazile

I grew up in the once segregated South. I experienced forced integration during my formative school years. I lived the sacrifices, burdens, and tears. I also lived the moments of understanding, of acknowledgment, of fellowship and success. I saw my parents and grandparents coming home beaten down - and some of my friends beaten up.

- Donna Brazile

We are not post-racial. And in many ways we don't even know how to have a conversation about being post-racial. Until we get out of that old-school way of thinking about race and opportunity and the ability to transcend some of the past of this country, then we're going to be stuck in the 20th-century conversation about race.

- Donna Brazile

It takes but one person, one moment, one conviction, to start a ripple of change.

- Donna Brazile

When Katrina hit, my family lost everything - their homes, jobs, friends - and then it was a ripple effect, as so many others attached to them were affected. I had to come up with $12,000 per month to take care of everyone.

- Donna Brazile

Democratic candidates who run from President Obama in red states where he is unpopular are making a big mistake. Their holding Obama at arm's length deprives voters of a clear choice at the ballot box.

- Donna Brazile

The middle ground in Congress has all but disappeared. The founders intended competing principles and interests to check excesses and create a balance in our politics that would benefit 'we the people.' Gerrymandered districts and a hyped-up fight-night media offer a partial explanation of why we seem to have neither checks nor balances.

- Donna Brazile

Men don't wear high heels, and they don't make allowances for women who do. Tottering down the corridors of power in beautiful but crippling stilettos telegraphs your preference for style over substance.

- Donna Brazile

As Democrats, we believe in giving every eligible citizen the opportunity to vote - whether it's early because they can't take off work on Election Day or absentee because they might have plans to be out of town.

- Donna Brazile

The Voter Expansion Project's mission is clear: Ensure that every eligible citizen can register, every registered voter can vote, and every vote is accurately counted.

- Donna Brazile

Yes, President Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, but a hundred years later, the Republican Party wasn't Lincoln's. Richard Nixon became president by courting Americans upset by integration, intentionally fueling the racial divide.

- Donna Brazile

I put my energy, voice, and spirit into fighting for anybody who wants to speak their voice. I don't care what the right wing, the left wing, or the chicken wing has to say.

- Donna Brazile

Why do we need to support the food stamp program? Because low-income families experience unemployment at a far higher rate than other income groups. Because cutting nutritional assistance programs is immoral and shortsighted, and protecting families from hunger improves their health and educational outcomes.

- Donna Brazile

I shudder to think what Republican presidential contenders will say in a 2016 primary to win over voters who think Eric Cantor isn't conservative enough.

- Donna Brazile

Some of us believe, with good reasons, that the Republicans are 'mad-dogging' Hillary Clinton with the Benghazi hearing to damage not only her presidential prospects, but also to damage President Obama's credibility.

- Donna Brazile

The biggest problem for the Republican Party has never been its primary calendar, its campaign tactics, or a lack of trainings. The party's biggest problem is what it believes, what it says, and how it governs.

- Donna Brazile

I grew up within New Orleans; my greatest concern is rising water. But I think life is a process of moving items from the 'scared of' to the 'not scared of' list.

- Donna Brazile

As a practicing Catholic all my life, my faith and the church are never far from my mind. The lessons I learned in the church have structured the way I've approached my life and my career. They were lessons of grace, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion.

- Donna Brazile

On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic party for the inexcusable remarks made over email. These comments do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process.

- Donna Brazile

As the civil rights struggle progressed, Americans responded to the justice of the cause, shedding layers of the crusty armor that shielded the white majority from contact with its large black minority. There are layers left. It feels so much better to be on good terms with one another.

- Donna Brazile

By definition, conservatives struggle with change.

- Donna Brazile

We can be thankful President Barack Obama is taking aim at one of the prime causes of climate change and extreme weather: air pollution. The EPA's carbon pollution standards are the most significant step forward our country has ever taken to protect our health by addressing climate change.

- Donna Brazile

This apology is not just to Bernie Sanders. It is to donors. It is to anyone and everyone that clearly we offended. And the e-mails that were revealed that were hacked.

- Donna Brazile

No one remembers how the American people responded day-to-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month about the decisions that Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower made during the most dangerous decades in American and world history. But we know now that they did what was right, and we honor them for it.

- Donna Brazile

Students of color who attended integrated schools in the decades immediately following Brown were more likely to graduate high school, go to college, earn higher wages, live healthier lifestyles, and not have a criminal record than their peers in segregated schools.

- Donna Brazile

I thought acknowledging praise meant you were arrogant, but I've learned that knowing your strengths enables you to make use of them.

- Donna Brazile

The law is only our best approximation of justice, and the law needs constant revision.

- Donna Brazile

Hurricane Katrina was the storm of the 21st century. It devastated an area the size of Great Britain. More than 1,800 Americans died. Three hundred thousand homes were destroyed. There was $96 billion in property damage. I served on the Louisiana Recovery Authority. I saw Congress write one big check and then skip town.

- Donna Brazile

As a child, I sat in the back of the bus. I was told, time and time again, that God's potential didn't exist in people like me. I've spent my life fighting to change that. And, from the first day when I met Hillary Clinton, I've known that she's someone who cares just as much and fights just as hard.

- Donna Brazile

I was told, time and time again, that God's potential didn't exist in people like me. I've spent my life fighting to change that. And, from the first day when I met Hillary Clinton, I've known that she's someone who cares just as much and fights just as hard.

- Donna Brazile

Voting shouldn't be a challenge. It should be as easy and accessible as possible. We shouldn't require forms of ID that folks don't have. We shouldn't restrict days or hours that allow working people a chance to both do their job and exercise their democratic right, and we damn well shouldn't be throwing up new obstacles midstream.

- Donna Brazile

When I was growing up, our nation was partitioned: Blacks were segregated by law in the South and largely by custom in the North, though it, too, had segregation laws. Our best universities had quota systems. Many white communities had real estate covenants to keep nonwhites out.

- Donna Brazile

Sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education, it's time for us to take a hard look at the separate and unequal conditions that still exist in our schools and our communities and rededicate ourselves to fulfilling the promise of equal opportunity for all.

- Donna Brazile

Placing limits on carbon pollution from power plants is about ensuring that we have clean air to breathe and communities that are safe to live in. Carbon pollution limits are about defending families who have borne the heaviest burden of the main pollutant that is driving climate change.

- Donna Brazile

Events like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy were unlike any weather disasters before. They showed the world who suffers the most from the impacts of extreme weather: low-income families and communities of color.

- Donna Brazile

I keep telling these millennials it's all about them to get into politics and start making things happen. They don't care about whether or not someone is gay. They don't care to see contraception taken away or want to even discuss it. They're going forward, not backward.

- Donna Brazile

I'm obsessed with the thought of making things happen... Ultimately, I do it because I'm scared. I don't ever, ever, ever want to be poor again.

- Donna Brazile

Gay comes in all shapes, sizes, strengths, and personalities. Just like straight does. It shouldn't be news that- guess what - some gay people don't fit your stereotype.

- Donna Brazile

Women in Washington - and in positions of power anywhere - should be subjected to the same criticisms and held to the same standards as men. That does not include the assumption that any successful woman has attained her position through flattery, feminine wiles, or her ability to provide maternal comfort to a more powerful man.

- Donna Brazile

I denounce Donald Trump for not denouncing the kind of vitriol, the kind of violence that he has perpetrated with his angry rhetoric, and he knows exactly what he is doing.

- Donna Brazile

Our focus is on electing Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and Democrats across the country, thanks to Democratic Party that is strong, unified, and poised for victory in November.

- Donna Brazile

If you don't know about the 'black male code,' you should. It's something black boys learn early, even before adolescence. It goes, in part, like this: Even though you're not a criminal, some people assume you are, especially if you're wearing certain clothes. Never argue with the police, but protect your dignity and take pride in humility.

- Donna Brazile

I think it's important to remember that civil rights and economic rights are mutually dependent.

- Donna Brazile

The 2000 election exposed some ugly history in our country.

- Donna Brazile

School integration did not come to be the day after the Brown ruling was issued. Progress took years, and it took passion, strength, and courage from a large group of committed individuals.

- Donna Brazile

Today's fathers are having a rough go being kindly portrayed in the media. Thank God, we do we have President Barack Obama for a national model. He both dotes on and takes a firm loving hand to our first-family daughters.

- Donna Brazile

My mother wasn't a very patient woman. If I complained about being lonely or bored, she'd tell me to go help someone, anyone. To this day, when I start feeling sorry for myself, I look for a good deed to do.

- Donna Brazile

Fear is one of the worst, and most limiting, emotions in life.

- Donna Brazile

I've organized everything for my family since I was little. I know how to delegate and budget. I solve people's problems.

- Donna Brazile

It's not anti-Catholic to question, nor is it anti-Catholic to be honest about the previous shortcomings of the church, because that is the only way we can ensure its strength and dignity moving forward. It is, however, very Catholic to forgive each other and to never stop loving each other.

- Donna Brazile

Let me say this as your incoming chair of the Democratic national committee: I promise you, my friends, I commit to all Americans, that we will have a party that you can be proud of. We will elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

- Donna Brazile

America is inundated with polls. We need a term for being swamped with polls. I would say 'poll-arized,' but that's already in use to describe our political divisions.

- Donna Brazile

If you rely on the media for your information, to educate yourself about the candidates and what issues are facing the country, then you get just part of the equation. I think it's important that we as citizens of this democracy take the responsibility to get as much information as possible before we go into the voting booth.

- Donna Brazile

The walk from Selma to Montgomery that turned into Bloody Sunday leaves us with a strong reminder of how much those before us gave for basic human rights.

- Donna Brazile

Remember, Obama was elected by a bigger margin than George W. Bush. He deserves to have his appointees, and he deserves to have votes on the issues, to have the government function, and to fight for the policies on which he was elected.

- Donna Brazile

The untold secret driving the obstruction to Obama's economic equality agenda is this: The opposition isn't really battling Big Government. The opposition is protecting an economic system that's putting more and more of the earned income out of reach for those aspiring to better themselves.

- Donna Brazile

As a longtime political operative, I know firsthand how a vote here or a vote there can make a huge difference in a close election.

- Donna Brazile

Democrats believe that when more people vote, it's not just good for our party; it's good for democracy.

- Donna Brazile

If you want your checkbook to follow your heart, make a donation to those doing work you support.

- Donna Brazile

We're like a Third World country when it comes to some of our election practices.

- Donna Brazile

My mama told me it's not what they call you - it's what you answer to.

- Donna Brazile

As a grown woman, I saw the first black president reach down a hand and touch the face of a child like I once was, lifting his eyes toward a better future. But I have never, ever, in all my years seen a leader so committed to delivering that better future to America's children as Hillary Clinton.

- Donna Brazile

Hillary Clinton, because she's the Democrats' presumptive 2016 front-runner, has become the target du jour. Frankly, I don't know how public figures get through it.

- Donna Brazile

A white-boy attitude is 'I must exclude, denigrate, and leave behind.' They don't see it or think about it. It's a culture.

- Donna Brazile

Due process policies such as tenure are put in place to protect good teachers from being fired without cause. They aren't there to protect 'bad' teachers.

- Donna Brazile

Maybe Drudge is more entertainer than reporter. I imagine he enjoys baiting the mainstream media, then watching it look foolish when his story is debunked.

- Donna Brazile

As a child, I lived through and survived the segregated South. I sat at the back of the bus at a time when America wasn't yet as great as it could be.

- Donna Brazile

As a child, I lived through and survived the segregated South. I sat at the back of the bus at a time when America wasn't yet as great as it could be. As a grown woman, I saw the first black president reach down a hand and touch the face of a child like I once was, lifting his eyes toward a better future.

- Donna Brazile

Our democracy relies on participation, and we've never done better by excluding folks.

- Donna Brazile

Hunger has no ideology. It does not respond to party or to rant. Hunger, in short, is not a red state/blue state problem.

- Donna Brazile

Generally, Senate races are not a referendum on the president or on any one issue but a choice between the two candidates on the ballot.

- Donna Brazile

We have become bound by a political straitjacket that frames every debate: Too much federal government. Yet our forefathers forged this system for us. The federal government can accomplish what the states, acting alone or even in concert, cannot.

- Donna Brazile

Poverty is a national issue and needs a federal response. After all, U.S. federal government policies helped produce massive income inequality by lopsided breaks for the super wealthy.

- Donna Brazile

It's true you never know the full depth of a parent's touch in your life until they're gone. Even if you cared for them in their old age, there's never a way to prepare yourself for the death of a parent.

- Donna Brazile

I've appeared three times on 'The Good Wife.' I'm proud of being associated with the show. 'Time' magazine called it 'the best thing on TV outside cable.' Did I mention that I also appear on cable?

- Donna Brazile

When a campaign doesn't go my way, I always take a step back, look at the facts, and try to figure out what we could learn from that experience.

- Donna Brazile

Integrated schools help students achieve academic success in the present and personal success in the future.

- Donna Brazile

Since Bush has been in office, African-American women have fallen behind in terms of income and wages.

- Donna Brazile

We march on because all lives matter, not to be judged by the color of their skin.

- Donna Brazile

Hunger in America is an American problem. The hunger of one should be the concern of all. Especially the hunger of children - our children.

- Donna Brazile

Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor. And perhaps they should understand the role of a community organizer is to help people in distress.

- Donna Brazile

We have done a poor job educating people about education. Only when we have clarified that can we talk about how best to achieve it.

- Donna Brazile

Politics is a rough and tumble business. It's not for the faint-hearted. I've got bruises and cuts from being in the political arena. But by and large, I understand how to navigate the process.

- Donna Brazile

People don't trust government, they don't trust Wall Street, they don't trust the church, they don't trust the media.

- Donna Brazile

Look, Congress has allocated more money to finance the upcoming Iraqi elections than it has for the American elections. There's something wrong with that.

- Donna Brazile

I think it's important in a democracy such as ours that we have multiple sources to get news and information and utilize the media only if we want to get a different opinion.

- Donna Brazile

TV likes you to talk about the superficial.

- Donna Brazile

On every show that I have been on, I have played myself.

- Donna Brazile

Before Hillary-bashing became its own thing, she was subjected to the standard-issue woman-bashing used on every powerful woman in Washington.

- Donna Brazile

While the law cannot force a person to be moral or tolerant, through the law we can demand respect and expect equality.

- Donna Brazile

Watching 'Scandal' is a fun and exciting guilty pleasure, which is how I imagine most real scandals start out.

- Donna Brazile

I enjoy politics, but if I had a third career - and I've had multiple careers - my third act would be acting.

- Donna Brazile

I was motivated to be different in part because I was different.

- Donna Brazile

Failure. It doesn't exist. 'Failure' is just what happens when we lose perspective.

- Donna Brazile

If a critic doesn't think I can act, it's because I'm not acting. That's me - and that's the way I act.

- Donna Brazile

Democrats have pushed for equal pay for women because we know that when women succeed, America succeeds.

- Donna Brazile

I am ashamed of some of Democrats in my own party.

- Donna Brazile

No voters will be left behind.

- Donna Brazile

Because of my faith and my imagination, I was able to enjoy my childhood, even though it was tough.

- Donna Brazile

As Americans, we are proud that we are a country that people run to, not from.

- Donna Brazile