# Favorite Words That a Politician Lived to Regret? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694 "2006-11-16T16:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/21 "2006-11-16T20:38:51Z")
“Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” Gary Hart, during the 1988 campaign, a few days before the newspapers published a photo of Donna Rice sitting on his lap aboard the Monkey Business. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/22 "2006-11-16T20:54:14Z")
“I have a black, I have a woman, two Jews and a cripple.” - James Watt, on what an all-round inclusive sort of guy he was. He never recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/23 "2006-11-16T20:58:33Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] “They won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” [/QUOTE] Why would Nixon have regretted saying this? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/24 "2006-11-16T21:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Why would Nixon have regretted saying this? [/QUOTE] I guess he wouldn’t have, but it certainly proved ironic - he returned, and he took an unprecedented kicking. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/25 "2006-11-16T21:17:17Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Why would Nixon have regretted saying this? [/QUOTE] Considering he said it right after losing to Kennedy in 1960, it must have been bitterly ironic to him later in life. ---
**Author:** ![M.Meursault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@M.Meursault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/M.Meursault)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/26 "2006-11-16T21:31:41Z")
[QUOTE=Draelin] Yeah, but that doesn’t stop it from amusing me. [/QUOTE] Ah, true, true. I wonder what he did do on that day. I imagine it takes a lot for royalty to say nothing interesting happened. Maybe he could have slapped around a jester for awhile or something. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/27 "2006-11-16T21:33:59Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Why would Nixon have regretted saying this? [/QUOTE] Well because didn’t he say it back in the 50s? And then had a huge political come back… And then a huge scandal.. and got kicked around again. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/28 "2006-11-16T21:35:17Z")
Two crooked British politicians. **Jonathan Aitkin** :- \*If it has fallen to my destiny to start a fight to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play, so be it. I am ready for the fight. \* **Jeffrey Archer** :- (to a TV reporter when he didn’t realise the microphone was still on) _You wait till I’m Mayor. You’ll find out how tough I am._ Both ended up in prison for perjury. This was after they had sued newspapers which had run stories about their dishonest activities. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/29 "2006-11-16T21:55:35Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Considering he said it right after losing to Kennedy in 1960, it must have been bitterly ironic to him later in life. [/QUOTE] No, he said it after losing the gubernatorial race to Pat Brown in 1962. > [@Push You Down](#): > > Well because didn’t he say it back in the 50s? And then had a huge political come back… And then a huge scandal.. and got kicked around again. That just shows that he was wrong when he said it in 1962. It doesn’t show my why he would have wished he had not said it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/30 "2006-11-16T22:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=Draelin] [King George III](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom), in his diary on July 4, 1776: “Nothing important happened today.” Antiquated, yet still political. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Similarily, Louis XVI would have written in his diary on July 14 1789 (Bastille day) : “Today : nothing” Actually, both quotes are so similar (and allegedly written down in similar circumstances during roughly the same period) that I can’t help doubting they’re authentic, or at least that both are. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/31 "2006-11-16T22:54:28Z")
OK… Sorry for posting without reading the whole thread (well…not so sorry that I won’t do it again, in all likehood) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/32 "2006-11-16T23:53:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” Gary Hart, during the 1988 campaign, a few days before the newspapers published a photo of Donna Rice sitting on his lap aboard the Monkey Business. [/QUOTE] That \*was \*a good one. It was even better when \*\*Guinastasia \*\*cited it up there in post #9. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/33 "2006-11-17T00:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” -George W. Bush, Sept. 2, 2005 I made this comparison once before, but I think that statement is the modern-day, real-life equivalent of “Let them eat cake.” [/QUOTE] You could probably fill an entire book with malaprops from the Bush Administration, especially given the proliferation of recording devices and electronic archives these days. My choice? “[M]y fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” – just because it perfectly encapsulates the deceptive, manipulative, and ultimately erroneous leadership for George’s Big Iraq Misadventure. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/34 "2006-11-17T00:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Considering he said it right after losing to Kennedy in 1960, it must have been bitterly ironic to him later in life. [/QUOTE] No. He said it right after losing to Pat Brown for California governor in 1962. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/35 "2006-11-17T00:25:01Z")
The echos in this thread are _amazing_! ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/36 "2006-11-17T00:34:41Z")
“I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.” -J. Danforth Quayle. This of course prompted a rather memorable retort from one Senator Lloyd Benson. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@The\_Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/37 "2006-11-17T00:36:16Z")
amazing ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/38 "2006-11-17T00:43:51Z")
“Niggardly.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/39 "2006-11-17T01:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] That \*was \*a good one. It was even better when \*\*Guinastasia \*\*cited it up there in post #9. [/QUOTE] Yes, but I added the _context_. Actually, I didn’t read carefully enough. ---
**Author:** ![Fredescu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/73ab20/32.png) [@Fredescu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredescu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694/40 "2006-11-17T02:10:33Z")
One of my favourite Australian political advertisements was a clip of then Prime Minister Paul Keating telling a group of protesting university students to “Go and get a job!” followed by a clip of him in an interview saying “I didn’t say go and get a job.” The two clips were then repeated back to back a few times. Beautiful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-words-that-a-politician-lived-to-regret/380694.md?page=3)