Quotable governors

If you saw the rerun of the 1987 movie "Predator" over the weekend on television, you saw a bit of film history. "Predator" is the only Hollywood action movie to star two future governors: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura. Some years ago, as part of the preparation that I made to teach state and local government at Hollins University, I interviewed several sitting American governors. Most of the interviews were conducted by telephone, and the topics included welfare reform, Medicaid reform, dealing with Washington, and the inevitable, “what it is like to be governor?”

Contrasting this experience with the days that I spent in Washington, where I had close and frequent contact with U.S. senators, I discovered an essential and important truth about American politics: Governors are 10 times as interesting as senators, 10 times as impressive, 10 times as candid. (Although, on the other side of the coin, I should add that of the six governors whom I interviewed, all six claimed that their administration was the first to implement welfare reform. Two of the governors were from the same state.)

Governors tend to be more candid about their successes and failures because they have to be. Unlike senators, who can hind behind complicated rules, endless amendments and, of course, other senators, governors are solely responsible for the successes and failures of their administrations. I had one governor admit to me, “Yeah, we really [messed] up on that issue.” (He actually used a much harsher sounding verb.) Imagine hearing that sort of admission from a U.S. senator. For that matter, imagine two senators, any two senators, starring in a Hollywood action movie!

It is ironic that so many governors aspire to become senators, but not surprising that so few of them like the Senate once they get there. John Ashcroft, who made this transition, once said, “Anyone who tells you that being a senator is as much fun as being governor will lie to you about other things, too.”

The National Governors’ Association once sponsored a private gathering of former governors and newly-elected governors to share ideas and experiences. Two academic specialists who attended the gathering compiled a list of quotes and paraphrases that demonstrate the candid and open speech of most governors. Some of the quotations:

“There’s no such thing as a new idea. Be willing to copy, borrow, and freshen up the old ideas.”

“Good press relations cannot save a poor administration, but poor press relations can destroy a good one.”

“Never screw up on a slow news day.”

“When you hold a press conference and are going to face the lions, have some red meat to throw them or they’ll chew on you. It should be something of substance, as long as the governor isn’t the Christian.”

“Do get out to disasters. Don’t go to a prison disaster.”

“It’s too easy to dismiss one or two legislators because there are so many. You do so at your own peril.”

While these came from ex-governors speaking off the record, there are thousands of memorable and revealing quotations from governors who knew the press and their constituents were listening:

“On my way here tonight, I passed some demonstrators who were waving signs that said, ‘Make love, not war.’ Most of the sign-wavers looked like they couldn’t do either.” (Ronald Reagan, Calif.)

“Some days being governor is like hanging from a helicopter over a pit of alligators, with a cheering crowd of onlookers.” (Lamar Alexander, Tenn. When I told Frank Keating of Oklahoma this description of being governor, he said he agreed with it, but might differ over “which body part you’re hanging from.”)

“My mamma taught me never to think I was better than anybody, else, never to brag and never to ask for money. So you get into politics, and what do you do? Tell people you’re better than someone else, brag about your accomplishments and ask for money.” (Mike Easley, N.C.)

“When you’re a Democrat in Montana, the only kind of gun control you support is this one: you control your gun and I’ll control mine.” (Brian Schweitzer)

After his upset victory as an independent candidate in Minnesota, former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura said he would not be surprised if his governorship brought more tourists to Minnesota. “If you see people waking around and they’re staring at you, they’re not doing it to be rude. They want to see who it was who elected me.”

Moments after a U.S. senator from New Jersey died suddenly, Gov. Woodrow Wilson took a call from a man asking to take the senator’s place. Repelled by the applicant’s haste, Wilson said, “Well, you may quote me as saying that’s perfectly agreeable to me if it’s agreeable to the undertaker.”

And perhaps the most infamous gubernatorial quotation of them all: “I will not raise taxes. I will not raise taxes. I will not raise taxes.” (Mark Warner, Va.)