37 Quotes by Norman Ornstein

Government is inevitably going to play a very significant role in infrastructure, and in a country with a federal system where vibrancy and economic health depend on interstate commerce, it's not going to be private enterprise or state governments that will give you things like an interstate highway system.

Radicals don't care about the institutions. They are looking for an ideological crusade. Traditions don't matter.

The best way to get your audience larger and more consistent is to be more divisive and more radical and criticize those who cater to or kowtow to other forces.

Conservatives want smaller government. They want to focus on market-based solutions wherever one can. They want to have as little regulation as possible. But in general, they recognize that government must play an important role for a society to operate.

What they've done, at least, is to give themselves a little breathing room from what was going to be a really ugly confrontation, and one that was a complete lose-lose for Republicans, no matter what.

Lots of members have been appalled at the kind of Gilded Age mentality of the party. Others felt like they had to take one for the team.

Let's face it. When you're the governor of New York and even mentioned as a presidential candidate, you're going to be under an enormous microscope.

My understanding is that now, after taking soundings, he's thinking about running for leader.

But, after the terrible lapses that occurred here, they are going to be on the defensive, and the ability to push other things onto the agenda will be limited.