--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have been a practitioner of tough…" description: "\"I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. There is little that amazes me and even less that shocks me.\" — Ed Rollins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a3/ed-rollins-34176_decades_i-have-been-a-practitioner-of-tough-poli_916367.png" --- # I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many… ![“I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. There is little that amazes me and even less that shocks me.” quote by Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a3/ed-rollins-34176_decades_i-have-been-a-practitioner-of-tough-poli_916367.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a3/ed-rollins-34176_decades_i-have-been-a-practitioner-of-tough-poli_916367.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a3/ed-rollins-34176_decades_i-have-been-a-practitioner-of-tough-poli_916367.png) > “I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. There is little that amazes me and even less that shocks me.” [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A seasoned political operative expresses jaded view of politics, noting few surprises remain after long experience. **In simple terms:** A veteran sees politics as predictable and unsurprising. Key Takeaway Stay realistic about political cynicism. Themes politics experience cynicism Mood skeptical reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - campaign strategy - policy analysis - public speaking Key Concepts power dynamics disillusionment Questions to Reflect On - What keeps you engaged despite cynicism? - Can change still happen? A Different Perspective Overlooks potential for genuine reform. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Shock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shock/) ## Related quotes > [Because I've worked in politics for decades, voting has always been on the forefront of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karine-jean-pierre/because-i-ve-worked-in-politics-for-decades-voting-has-always-been-on/) [Karine Jean-Pierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karine-jean-pierre/) > [It's a tough one for me, politics. I grew up in a house where my father is a Christian book salesman and a Tory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-corden/it-s-a-tough-one-for-me-politics-i-grew-up-in-a-house-where-my-father/) [James Corden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-corden/) > [Today one can dare anything, and, furthermore, nobody is surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/today-one-can-dare-anything-and-furthermore-nobody-is-surprised/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Being ill like this combines shock - this time I will die - with a pain and agony that are unfamiliar, that wrench me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-brodkey/being-ill-like-this-combines-shock-this-time-i-will-die-with-a-pain/) [Harold Brodkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-brodkey/) > [I call on the Iranian people: it is not too late to replace the corrupt regime and return to your glorious Persian heritage, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/i-call-on-the-iranian-people-it-is-not-too-late-to-replace-the/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Future shock is the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-toffler/future-shock-is-the-shattering-stress-and-disorientation-that-we/) [Alvin Toffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-toffler/) > [“It's the shock of the thing, is what I'm saying, and my new and somewhat untested theory is that when something is shocking it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystelle-bamford/it-s-the-shock-of-the-thing-is-what-i-m-saying-and-my-new-and/) Krystelle Bamford > [The human heart is not yet so corroded that it can read off the extinction of these two men without a shock to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-human-heart-is-not-yet-so-corroded-that-it-can-read-off-the/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-see-no-good-reasons-why-the-views-given-in-this-volume-should-shock/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Some friends said they weren't surprised to find out Napoleon and I were related, but it came as quite a shock to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-conti/some-friends-said-they-weren-t-surprised-to-find-out-napoleon-and-i/) [Tom Conti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-conti/) > [ Beneath everything else, North and West, there ran a profound, unvoiced, almost subconscious conviction that the \[American\] nation was going to go on growing-in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/beneath-everything-else-north-and-west-there-ran-a-profound-unvoiced/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [When my name started popping up I was quite irritated and a little bit in shock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-snow/when-my-name-started-popping-up-i-was-quite-irritated-and-a-little/) [Michael Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-snow/) > [Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/observation-and-theory-get-on-best-when-they-are-mixed-together-both/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/music-is-the-third-rail-of-life-you-grabbed-it-to-shock-yourself-out/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [I always believed that photography was subjective, interpretive and certainly did not represent the truth, but I did think that its status as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ritchin/i-always-believed-that-photography-was-subjective-interpretive-and/) [Fred Ritchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ritchin/) ## More by Ed Rollins > [One of the reasons a strategist never sits in a stadium and gets caught up in the crowds - and never sits watching a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/one-of-the-reasons-a-strategist-never-sits-in-a-stadium-and-gets/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [The Republican Party, which John McCain led as our nominee in 2008, is going to become irrelevant if we become the party of intolerance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/the-republican-party-which-john-mccain-led-as-our-nominee-in-2008-is/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [I believe in sometimes getting mad and always getting even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/i-believe-in-sometimes-getting-mad-and-always-getting-even/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [By the time you get to year six, there's never a break . . . and you get tired. There's always a crisis. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/by-the-time-you-get-to-year-six-there-s-never-a-break-and-you-get/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [I think to a certain extent, Clinton may have expected as the senior president that Obama would've reached out to him and asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/i-think-to-a-certain-extent-clinton-may-have-expected-as-the-senior/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [I am not predicting here that Obama will fail like Jimmy Carter. What I am predicting is the Republican Party is not extinct and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/i-am-not-predicting-here-that-obama-will-fail-like-jimmy-carter-what/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [What we won't become is a 'Democratic Party lite!' We are a party that wants smaller government and lower taxes. Obama and the Democrats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/what-we-won-t-become-is-a-democratic-party-lite-we-are-a-party-that/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [I became a Republican in the summer of 1972. I was involved in running President Nixon's re-election campaign in California and became part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/i-became-a-republican-in-the-summer-of-1972-i-was-involved-in-running/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [The American economy is driven by small business. And there's nothing basically to create incentives for small businesses. We've done no tax reform. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/the-american-economy-is-driven-by-small-business-and-there-s-nothing/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [When the Republicans controlled the House from 1994 -2006, Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Henry Waxman Charlie Rangel, John Conyers and Rahm Emanuel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/when-the-republicans-controlled-the-house-from-1994-2006-democrats/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [There's no smarter politician out there than Bill Clinton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/there-s-no-smarter-politician-out-there-than-bill-clinton/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [Television is such a staple of modern society that for most voters, it's not real unless it's on the tube.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/television-is-such-a-staple-of-modern-society-that-for-most-voters-it/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [Everybody in this race is against Obama, okay? So saying you're against Obama, against Obamacare, all the rest, it's all fine, well and good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/everybody-in-this-race-is-against-obama-okay-so-saying-you-re-against/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) [Explore all 14 Ed Rollins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) ## More Decades quotes > [Nature will eventually do what nature has always done. It will respond in a self-stabilizing manner over the long term with moderate variability over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-sununu/nature-will-eventually-do-what-nature-has-always-done-it-will-respond/) John H. Sununu > [Music's free and music's for everyone to enjoy and express and interpret. It transcends countries and times and decades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/music-s-free-and-music-s-for-everyone-to-enjoy-and-express-and/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [I should have liked to get married, but over many decades I have lived essentially alone. I go to sleep when I'm tired, get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-should-have-liked-to-get-married-but-over-many-decades-i-have-lived/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [In a couple of decades you have half of the wells that are drilled right now, and you're talking about numbers in the millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/in-a-couple-of-decades-you-have-half-of-the-wells-that-are-drilled/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [We're focused on providing innovations in software, driving the continuous improvement for a much better experience, and there's a lot going on here that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/we-re-focused-on-providing-innovations-in-software-driving-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [It's funny, I used to say on 'That 70's Show', you could really put us in any decade, and it was about the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-prepon/it-s-funny-i-used-to-say-on-that-70-s-show-you-could-really-put-us-in/) [Laura Prepon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-prepon/) > [So a truthful assessment of how America is doing in the war on terror as a result of President Bush's war on Iraq is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-olver/so-a-truthful-assessment-of-how-america-is-doing-in-the-war-on-terror/) [John Olver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-olver/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/many-folks-take-them-seriously-because-they-just-know-that-evolution/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Nothing evades our attention as persistently as that which we take for granted... the decades roll on without even a suggestion that perhaps the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-brady/nothing-evades-our-attention-as-persistently-as-that-which-we-take/) Marion Brady > [My dad was a bartender. My mom was a cashier, a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart. They never made it big. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/my-dad-was-a-bartender-my-mom-was-a-cashier-a-maid-and-a-stock-clerk/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [This bill would allow an employee to bring a claim against an employer decades after the alleged initial act of discrimination occurred. Trial lawyers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-mckeon/this-bill-would-allow-an-employee-to-bring-a-claim-against-an/) Buck McKeon > [The greatest problem in Japanese politics over the last two decades is that we put off what needed to be done. We have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoshihiko-noda/the-greatest-problem-in-japanese-politics-over-the-last-two-decades/) [Yoshihiko Noda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoshihiko-noda/) Browse all 1,717 Decades quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. 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