Quotes & Sayings About Popular Vote

When one looks at the all-prevailing schizophrenia of democratic societies, the lies that have to be told for vote-catching purposes, the silence about major issues, the distortions of the press, it is tempting to believe that in totalitarian countries there is less humbug, more facing of the facts. There, at least, the ruling groups are not dependent on popular favour and can utter the truth crudely and brutally. Goering could say 'Guns before butter', while his democratic opposite numbers had to wrap the same sentiment up in hundreds of hypocritical words. — George Orwell

George W. Bush broke a mold four years ago: Even though he lost the popular vote, he governed as if he had won by acclamation. — Tony Snow

It's very much in our interest to unite [with Bernie Sanders] as quickly as possible to begin the campaign against Donald Trump. And I think the facts really speak for themselves. I have a won a big majority of the popular vote of the states, of pledged delegates, and we want to go forward in a positive and unified way. — Hillary Clinton

You may not be aware of a recent survey that showed that if the First Amendment were put to a popular vote today, it would fail by a 60% to 40% vote. — James E. Rogers

Today we see social evil, terrorism, and gross immorality throughout the world. Someone has said, "A wrong deed is right if the majority of people declare it not to be wrong."
By this principle we can see our standards shifting
from year to year according to the popular vote!
This new permissiveness is condoned by intelligent men and women,
many of whom are found in the churches. — Billy Graham

The writers are pretty political and they want to get as big an audience as they can - they want the popular vote. — Bill Pullman

Soon after George W. Bush took over the White House after losing the "popular vote" - which in other countries is called the "election" - — Carl Safina

Some of George W. Bush's friends say that Bush believes God called him to be president during these times of trial. But God told me that He/She/It had actually chosen Al Gore by making sure that Gore won the popular vote and, God thought, the Electoral College. 'That worked for everyone else,' God said. — Al Franken

The political terms 'will' and 'popular will' have a long track record in Western history going back to Rousseau. That record is profoundly anti-democratic, essentially inviting elites to interpret what the common people believe and want. In litigious modern America, that would be a judicial elite telling us how we meant to vote or should have voted. — John Leo

Where a government has come into power through some form of popular vote, fraudulent or not, and maintains at least an appearance of constitutional legality, the guerrilla outbreak cannot be promoted, since the possibilities of peaceful struggle have not yet been exhausted. — Che Guevara

Electing Barack Obama president was a glorious Jackie Robinson moment for the United States of America. Obama didn't just win; he became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to win a popular-vote majority. — Timothy Noah

Side note, I was Prom Prince. My friend and I campaigned to be Prom King and Queen, and we got the rest of the non-popular people in the school to vote for us. We didn't win, but we got Prince and Princess. — Tom Lenk

I promise that as a president elected in a direct popular vote, I will try to be the voice of all citizens. — Milos Zeman

Within the coming decade alone, three signal amendments would be added to the Constitution: the Sixteenth, giving the national government the power to levy a progressive income tax, without which many of the New Deal's social programs might not have been possible; the Seventeenth, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators; and the Nineteenth, finally granting American women the right to vote. — Doris Kearns Goodwin

Al Gore won the popular vote and didn't get elected president, so I'm not going to sit here and kill myself over not winning Defensive Player of the Year. — Draymond Green

Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery. — Frank Chodorov

I am always suspicious of the formulation that "politics" has prevented a great idea from being enacted by government. Politics IS government, in a democratic society. It's a challenge for school reformers, like reformers in any realm, to build a popular constituency for their work. If the people it's supposed to benefit vote against it, that tells me that the person pushing reform lacks political skill. And political skill is a good thing. — Nicholas Lemann

We've always believed that popular culture and populist politics go hand in hand. It's an honor to be working with so many respected and influential artists, and we're indebted to them for having the courage to speak out at a time when our country so desperately needs change. For our 2.5 million members and far beyond, the Vote for Change tour will have a seismic cultural impact. — Eli Pariser

People don't like to vote against something that's so incredibly popular. — Rand Paul

Princeton University recently did a study revealing what those of us paying attention already know all too well: The United States is, in scientifically proven fact, not a democracy. They concluded that the U.S. is controlled by economic elites. This is a prominent idea that is becoming popular. The structural reason that voting is redundant is that through the funding of political parties, lobbying, and cronyism, corporations are able to ensure that their interests are prioritized above the needs of the electorate and that ideas that contravene their agenda don't even make it into the sphere of public debate. Whoever you vote for, you'll be voting for a party that represents a big-business agenda, not the will of the people. — Russell Brand

It took a course from me for the Democratic leadership to realize we have an electoral college. 'But we got the popular vote!' Well you can take the MTA from Dorchester to Brookline. That's how far it'll get you. — Ira Carmen

How can you put human rights to a popular vote and call it democracy? How many times do you need to redefine or haggle about the meaning of the word EQUALITY? — Christina Engela

The lesser of two evils is still evil. — Solomon

Y'know, I realize that George W. Bush is an asshole, but don't judge all us yankees by the actions of our government. Remember, he didn't win the popular vote so it's not entirely our fault! — Chris Shiflett

If we go by the National Popular Vote, we'll get more people voting. — Tom Golisano

Twenty-one years ago today Saddam Hussein was first elected president of Iraq and he has been re-elected ever since. Apparently they have the same electoral process we do, you don't need the popular vote to win. — Jay Leno

Even before winning its majority, Harper's Republican-styl e Conservative party - well to the right Canada's traditional Progressive Conservative Party - managed to win minority governments with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote. — Linda McQuaig

When you put a tiny and despised minority up for a popular vote, the minority usually loses. — Andrew Sullivan

I was voted valedictorian, and at my school it wasn't based on grades; that was the popular vote. — Thomas Middleditch

Wilkie got a bigger popular vote than FDR did, which of course meant nothing but it scared FDR. Hell, — Harry Homewood

And California, long a bellwether for national trends in the United States, has tilted the balance further in favor of voter over party preferences: it agreed by popular referendum in 2011 to have all primary candidates appear on a single ballot, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the general election regardless of party. — Moises Naim

Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically, by popular vote. — William L. Shirer

The National Popular Vote is about getting states to convert from the winner-take-all rule. The states that pass the legislation will assign all their electoral votes to the candidate that got the most votes in the country, not just in the state. — Tom Golisano

What is true, just, and beautiful is not determined by popular vote. The masses everywhere are ignorant, short-sighted, motivated by envy, and easy to fool. Democratic politicians must appeal to these masses in order to be elected. Whoever is the best demagogue will win. Almost by necessity, then, democracy will lead to the perversion of truth, justice and beauty. — Hans-Hermann Hoppe

On the contrary, the inflation itself is partly a response to the reaction. As it has become politically less attractive to vote higher taxes to pay for higher spending, legislators have resorted to financing spending through inflation, a hidden tax that can be imposed without having been voted, taxation without representation. That is no more popular in the twentieth century than it was in the eighteenth. — Milton Friedman

If there was special interests affecting police work, I believe that would be called corruption. So, if it has do with donating money versus a popular vote, I think we have a bigger problem in this country and somebody's gotta wake up to that. — Garry McCarthy

Democratic Socialism is simply Totalitarianism that allows you the illusion of a voice in the matter. — A.E. Samaan

Presidents are elected not by direct popular vote but by 538 members of the Electoral College. — Thomas E. Mann

You know he's [George W. Bush] there illegally. You know he was not elected either by the popular vote or by the vote in Florida. — Michael Moore

A popular vote to ascertain the will of the sovereign. — Ambrose Bierce

We should be similarly wary of accepting common opinions; we should judge them by the ways of reason not by popular vote. — Michel De Montaigne

Bush won the largest popular vote in history with a 3.5 million margin. Indeed, simply by getting a majority of the country to vote for him - the left's most hated politician since Richard Nixon - Bush did something rock star Bill Clinton never did. Bush maintained or increased his vote in every state but Vermont. — Ann Coulter

'Bush v. Gore' gave us a president who lost the popular vote, eventually appointed two more justices, and led us into a war of choice while failing to regulate a financial system dependent on toxic mortgage-backed derivatives. — Marvin Ammori

REFERENDUM, n. A law for submission of proposed legislation to a popular vote to learn the nonsensus of public opinion. — Ambrose Bierce