Paul Light Public Quotations

These scandals don't have very much impact on public opinion because opinion couldn't be much worse. They just reinforce what the public already believes.

The basic question is, will the public listen to the government in the future, and that's a critically important question. It is entirely possible this could have a significant impact on the public's willingness to listen to their government, police, fire and charity officials in the event of another catastrophe in another city.

If you were a Democrat, you'd probably get hammered for it. There's an irony there. You've got a Republican president overseeing the creation of a large, new department. But I don't think he'll get criticized for it.

He's become such a lightning rod. Much of the public blames him for everything that's gone wrong in the Bush administration.