Mark Mellman Quotations

There are polls out there that have us even. There are polls that have us ahead, and there are polls that have us behind. And the two things that all the polls agree on are that John Kerry is ahead in battleground states -- and that people who have yet to make a decision are very negative about the president and very negative about the current direction of the country.

Kerry had an opportunity in the debates to show the American people his strength and conviction and to lay out his plans, and people have responded very positively to that. So we see trends nationally moving in our direction and trends in battleground states moving towards us as well.

People look at two oil men in the White House, and gasoline prices through the roof, and they likely assume that the president and the vice president are on the side of oil companies, not on the side of ordinary people.

It is different when you face a foreign enemy on the one hand versus a domestic failure on the other.

There is a clear view that families that are here, that are working, paying taxes and contributing to society, ought to be able to get regularized status. On the other hand, there is a view about not rewarding illegal behavior.

It would be incredibly naive to say that it was Bill Clinton who brought partisanship to Washington.

People don't look at the economy in absolute terms; they compare how they're doing this year to last. There's no question we're growing slower. If the election was held last year, Al Gore would be doing a lot better.

Normally, the last couple of weeks is essentially a victory lap for one candidate and an exercise in self-delusion for the other. For the first time in a long time, these last two weeks really count.

This is an issue that should be raised often because it is a central preoccupation of very large numbers of Americans and because people now look at the Republican program, the Bush program, as being a disaster.

The issue of corruption is likely to play a very big role in the elections upcoming.