Chris Matthews Thinking Quotations

And on the war, I think my numbers would be a lot higher if I were out there beating the drum for this war. In fact, I don't think it, I know it. But I can't be for the war.

I think, like Ronald Reagan, in another way, in a secular way, John Paul II was a great communicator, but he was also a man of deep conviction.

I think, internally, we Catholics have known this for a long time. I think we're just thrilled and grateful that the rest of the world now is sharing in the esteem and gratitude that we've had for Pope John Paul II for 26 and a half years.

Pope John Paul II was fascinated by the United States. And I think he was initially surprised at the vigor of the Catholic Church in the United States. Maybe some of the press that we had gotten he found wasn't true. No, I think he suspected the church in the United States. Did he challenge us to some things? Sure, he did. But, no, I always - I think there was a good alliance. There was a good gel there.

I think Bernie`s [Sanders] setting a direction in the way that [Barry] Goldwater when he lost - I`m not saying he`s going to lose. We don`t know what is going to happen. It`s early. But I think he`s already set a lot of themes.

I don't sense an [Barack] Obama party. I think politics is transactional for him.

[John F.Kennedy] liked fresh company, new people to come visit and then leave. ... I think he liked the protection of numbers too.

While I have questions about the language used in describing the two economic systems, I think people have fairly good gut sense of the difference between socialism and capitalism.

Jean [Kennedy Smith, JFK's sister] told me she thinks the whole sports angle has been overplayed, that politics was central to him. This nonsense that he only went into politics because his older brother Joe was killed is not true. He was determined he was going to be in politics, but he would have waited his turn.

The fact is he [John F.Kennedy] always had to have somebody around besides Jackie [Kennedy]. Whatever their relationship, he wanted company. I think it gets back to all those years in a hospital bed.

I think the Clintons are going to make their decision based on the merits. And their focus, like mine, is on middle class jobs. We`re in a different world than 1994. The China we dealt with in 1994 is a lot different than the China today in 2015.

Hillary Clinton does very well in Pennsylvania generally. I think she connects with the working white people and all kinds of people that normally would have a problem with the modern Democratic Party.

I think in places like Pennsylvania, there`s folks who want our next president to talk like a hawk, but fly like a dove.

I think also people in states like Pennsylvania know that a lot of money and effort and time needs to be spent on knitting America back together, on the bridges and the roads and the infrastructure and the education.

People do have a - people, unlike politicians, are allowed to change their minds. People are allowed to look back and say, you know what, all things considered, I don't think that was the smart move.

I do still think there is a big disconnect between Republicans in Washington, D.C., and Republicans everywhere I go. When you start talking about, you know, foreign entanglements, they just don`t want any part of it.

I think that the candidates who are doing it [not debating] are doing a great disservice to the party. It`s a sign of an unhealthy institution.

I think, any politician, you have to hold them to their word. And conservatives run on fiscal conservatism. .

I think we all [americans] think we're a special country. But the question is, what - what call does that give us?

The whole reason we organize grassroots is, we think any politician that gets elected needs to be held accountable 365 days a year.

I never know what all of these guys are thinking, but Marco Rubio sounded desperate, like, We`ve got a leak in the dike, we got to stop this thing.

I think a lot it was the theology, that the road to Jerusalem runs through Baghdad, that somehow if we broke apart the rejectionist states, like Iraq, then the whole Middle East would reconfigure itself into a more favorable environment for democracy and Israel and us.

If you think what you see on TV is prejudiced, it is. Follow your instincts.

I still think a reasonable question is, would we be better off with [Muamar] Gadhafi and Bashar al-Assad still in there and Mubarak still there and Saddam [Hussein] there than the crap we have got looking at us now?

I`m center left, but I think - most things, left on some, center on some, right on very few.

I do think that Hillary Clinton risks looking like she`s imitating Elizabeth Warren when she starts doing it. She`ll look like Elizabeth the Second. And nobody is electing anybody a second of anything.