--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yet in 2012, he returned. Plenty of the…" description: "\"“Yet in 2012, he returned. Plenty of the speechwriters were livid. The club was the embodiment of everything we had promised to change. Was it really n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg" --- # Yet in 2012, he returned. Plenty of the speechwriters were… ![“Yet in 2012, he returned. Plenty of the speechwriters were livid. The club was the embodiment of everything we had promised to change. Was it really necessary to flatter these people, just because they were powerful and rich? In a word, yes. In fact, thanks to the Supreme Court, the rich were more…” quote by David Litt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg) > ““Yet in 2012, he returned. Plenty of the speechwriters were livid. The club was the embodiment of everything we had promised to change. Was it really necessary to flatter these people, just because they were powerful and rich? In a word, yes. In fact, thanks to the Supreme Court, the rich were more powerful than ever. In 2010, the court’s five conservative justices gutted America’s campaign finance laws in the decision known as Citizens United. With no more limits to the number of attack ads they could purchase, campaigns had become another hobby for the ultrawealthy. Tired of breeding racehorses or bidding on rare wines at auction? Buy a candidate instead! I should make it clear that no one explicitly laid out a strategy regarding the dinner. I never asked point-blank if we hoped to charm billionaires into spending their billions on something other than Mitt Romney’s campaign. That said, I knew it couldn’t hurt. Hoping to mollify the one-percenters in the audience, I kept the script embarrassingly tame. I’ve got about forty-five more minutes on the State of the Union that I’d like to deliver tonight. I am eager to work with members of Congress to be entertaining tonight. But if Congress is unwilling to cooperate, I will be funny without them. Even for a politician, this was weak. But it apparently struck the right tone. POTUS barely edited the speech. A few days later, as a reward for a job well done, Favs invited me to tag along to a speechwriting-team meeting with the president. I had not set foot in the Oval Office since my performance of the Golden Girls theme song. On that occasion, President Obama remained behind his desk. For larger gatherings like this one, however, he crossed the room to a brown leather armchair, and the rest of us filled the two beige sofas on either side. Between the sofas was a coffee table. On the coffee table sat a bowl, which under George W. Bush had contained candy but under Obama was full of apples instead. Hence the ultimate Oval Office power move: grab an apple at the end of a meeting, polish it on your suit, and take a casual chomp on your way out the door. I would have sooner stuck my finger in an electrical socket. Desperate not to call attention to myself, I took the seat farthest away and kept my eyes glued to my laptop. I allowed myself just one indulgence: a quick peek at the Emancipation Proclamation. That’s right, buddy. Look who’s still here. It was only at the very end of the meeting, as we rose from the surprisingly comfy couches, that Favs brought up the Alfalfa dinner. The right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham had been in the audience, and she was struck by the president’s poise. “She was talking about it this morning,” Favs told POTUS. “She said, ‘I don’t know if Mitt Romney can beat him.”” [David Litt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-litt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes how political fundraising and influence have become dominated by the ultra‑wealthy, especially after Citizens United, and how even a president may soften language to appease them. **In simple terms:** Money and power shape politics; wealthy donors get outsized influence. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist elite influence in politics. Themes politics money influence ethics campaign finance Mood cynical reflective critical Type observational analytical When to use this quote - campaign fundraising - policy advocacy - public speaking - legislative negotiations Key Concepts democracy elite capture political persuasion Questions to Reflect On - How does money affect political decisions? - What can citizens do to counterbalance elite influence? A Different Perspective The anecdote may overgeneralize elite motivations and ignore grassroots activism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Campaign finance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/campaign-finance/) [Citizens united](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizens-united/) [Emancipation proclamation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation-proclamation/) [Golden girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golden-girls/) [Job well done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-well-done/) [Team Meeting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/team-meeting/) ## Related quotes > [Sir, money, money, the most charming of all things; money, which will say more in one moment than the most elegant lover can in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/sir-money-money-the-most-charming-of-all-things-money-which-will-say/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [For me, being an innovator doesn't mean being more intelligent, more rich, it's not a word, it's an action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ornette-coleman/for-me-being-an-innovator-doesn-t-mean-being-more-intelligent-more/) [Ornette Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ornette-coleman/) > [“Rich is my word for someone who can afford to make choices, who has enough resources to do more than merely survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/rich-is-my-word-for-someone-who-can-afford-to-make-choices-who-has/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The price you pay for being powerful and being rich is to be hated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-price-you-pay-for-being-powerful-and-being-rich-is-to-be-hated/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“The idea that the commodification and suffering and forced labor of African Americans is what made the United States powerful and rich is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-e-baptist/the-idea-that-the-commodification-and-suffering-and-forced-labor-of/) [Edward E. 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Plenty of the speechwriters were livid. The club was the embodiment of everything we had promised to change. Was it really necessary to flatter these people, just because they were powerful and rich? In a word, yes. In fact, thanks to the Supreme Court, the rich were more powerful than ever. In 2010, the court’s five conservative justices gutted America’s campaign finance laws in the decision known as Citizens United. With no more limits to the number of attack ads they could purchase, campaigns had become another hobby for the ultrawealthy. Tired of breeding racehorses or bidding on rare wines at auction? Buy a candidate instead! I should make it clear that no one explicitly laid out a strategy regarding the dinner. I never asked point-blank if we hoped to charm billionaires into spending their billions on something other than Mitt Romney’s campaign. That said, I knew it couldn’t hurt. Hoping to mollify the one-percenters in the audience, I kept the script embarrassingly tame. I’ve got about forty-five more minutes on the State of the Union that I’d like to deliver tonight. I am eager to work with members of Congress to be entertaining tonight. But if Congress is unwilling to cooperate, I will be funny without them. Even for a politician, this was weak. But it apparently struck the right tone. POTUS barely edited the speech. A few days later, as a reward for a job well done, Favs invited me to tag along to a speechwriting-team meeting with the president. I had not set foot in the Oval Office since my performance of the Golden Girls theme song. On that occasion, President Obama remained behind his desk. For larger gatherings like this one, however, he crossed the room to a brown leather armchair, and the rest of us filled the two beige sofas on either side. Between the sofas was a coffee table. On the coffee table sat a bowl, which under George W. Bush had contained candy but under Obama was full of apples instead. Hence the ultimate Oval Office power move: grab an apple at the end of a meeting, polish it on your suit, and take a casual chomp on your way out the door. I would have sooner stuck my finger in an electrical socket. Desperate not to call attention to myself, I took the seat farthest away and kept my eyes glued to my laptop. I allowed myself just one indulgence: a quick peek at the Emancipation Proclamation. That’s right, buddy. Look who’s still here. It was only at the very end of the meeting, as we rose from the surprisingly comfy couches, that Favs brought up the Alfalfa dinner. The right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham had been in the audience, and she was struck by the president’s poise. “She was talking about it this morning,” Favs told POTUS. “She said, ‘I don’t know if Mitt Romney can beat him.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Litt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-litt/yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-speechwriters-were-livid-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Campaign finance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-litt/yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-speechwriters-were-livid-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/david-litt-23158_campaign-finance_yet-in-2012-he-returned-plenty-of-the-sp_2192270.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Yet in 2012, he returned. 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