Hardball by Chris Matthews: Quotes

Hardball by Chris Matthews is an interpretation of what many know as “hard-politics”. The book describes the skill of playing the game in Washington and how to be successful at it. The book is a guide that teaches a series of maxims that would be in favor of politicians to learn in order to be successful. The different tactics provided in the book hold a lot of knowledge that would make the life of anyone following these strategies much easier when trying to get ahead in life. Matthews describes a countless number of examples of successful politicians that rose to the top. Those politicians are the ones who learned how to play hardball in Washington. Matthews provides many of his observations over …show more content…

"Newt's Tantrum: He closed down the government because Clinton made him sit at the back of the plane." I find this quote to be the funniest of the rest of the quotes. It clearly demonstrates the fallout of trying to get even with someone. It doesn’t work so ignore the revenge part and surpass your expectations. The political maxim “don’t get mad, don’t get even; get ahead,” means to maintain calm and concentrate all your power on progressing and becoming a success. Newt Gingrich didn’t apply the political maxim to his career which resulted in the quote above. His ego allowed a government shutdown to occur and the pressed slammed him in all newspapers. Gingrich forgot to concentrate on moving past the government shutdown, but instead played a game and lost the political game. My favorite political maxim in the book is “Leave no shot unanswered.” The following quote corresponds with the political maxim as it states, “The purpose of the war room was not just to respond to Republican attacks ... It was to respond to them fast, even before they were broadcasted or published, when the lead of the story was still rolling around in the reporter's mind...” Bill Clinton knew of that certain political maxim and he knew it well. Attacks to a candidate are harmful if left alone. They stick to you and become a reality if they are not