As Bill Clinton said so eloquently at the convention, during Vietnam there was a chance to serve; there was a chance not to serve.
Mark Shields

Character is destiny and character is important to American campaigns.
Mark Shields

Everybody who served in John Kerry's boat under his command, save one, has stood with him.
Mark Shields

George Bush is trying to play it both ways.
Mark Shields

George Bush says what John Kerry did was noble. Yet he sees him being savaged by his own supporters.
Mark Shields

I didn't realize the president was such an historian.
Mark Shields

I think any advocate who is effective has fully acquainted himself or herself with the legislator they are going to meet. Know what committees they are on, what issues they are interested in, all in an effort to build a bridge for communicating with them.
Mark Shields

If I were John Bolton, I'd take great consolation in the words of my principal supporter on the committee, who gave a ringing endorsement, which was, There is no evidence that he has broken any laws.
Mark Shields

In the 2004 presidential election, we saw a wonderful example of citizens making contributions. In fact, individual giving to both the Kerry and Bush campaigns was the highest in our nation's history.
Mark Shields

Iraq is in a civil war. There is no road in that country that is safe.
Mark Shields


John Kerry's biography was central to his campaign.
Mark Shields

John McCain has become the de facto running mate of George W. Bush.
Mark Shields

John McCain was victimized in the South Carolina primary.
Mark Shields

Let's not pretend that all of a sudden, this is some new system.
Mark Shields

Since the election, since the formation of a government, the death in Iraq has increased. The United States stands by, helpless to do anything about it. That's the reality, not George Bush's revisionist history!
Mark Shields

The advantage that hospitals have over other institutions is that hospitals are community-based. You can't outsource your work; you can't move your emergency department to Pakistan.
Mark Shields

The important thing to understand about legislators is that there are dozens of competing interests and issues that occupy them. They are stretched thin.
Mark Shields

The problem with smear campaigns is that too often they work.
Mark Shields

There is always strength in numbers. The more individuals or organizations that you can rally to your cause, the better.
Mark Shields

There's no question that Stalin broke the agreements made at Yalta completely about elections that were supposed to be held immediately in Poland, and Eastern Europe was plunged into slavery as a consequence.
Mark Shields