A biography for Steve Kornackihasn’t been written yet.
“There's no evidence that coaches with a conservative bent are better coaches or more likely to get jobs.”
“American politics are rich with characters and stereotypes - Joe the Plumber, Harry and Louise, Nascar dads and hockey moms, to name a few. But one persistent type hasn't gotten much attention: the Republican football coach.”
“Patriots' Day is the essence of Boston, a Massachusetts-only holiday that seems like it was invented to celebrate Boston.”
“Trump showed you can get elected by voters who think very poorly of you.”
“What I really love is modern political history. I love the research process, whether it's digging through old newspaper stories, artifacts from election campaigns or TV stories and being able to recreate moments in history that - when you look back at them now - you can get to that question of how did we get here.”
“Following college sports as a kid, I'd be like: Clemson. Where the hell is Clemson? By learning sports rivalries, you learn the regions and the culture of a state.”
“The Paul name has been a divisive one at Obama-era CPAC gatherings, with rabid supporters of Ron Paul invading the hall to cheer on their man, jeer his Republican enemies, and in 2010 and 2011 delivering straw poll victories to him.”
“I think I'm statistically literate and numbers-oriented. But I'm nowhere near as sophisticated as a lot of other folks I see. Maybe that helps me not get too jargony and communicate this stuff in a way that's somewhat accessible.”
“Race has clearly played a role in Kentucky's Obama-phobia, as it has in other swaths of Appalachia. The Obama administration's supposed 'war on coal' is a big factor too.”
“Richard Nixon built his presidency on his notorious 'Southern strategy.'”
“Romney and CPAC were never a particularly good match.”
“In the old days, there were a couple of TV channels and that was it, so every channel tried to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible. Newt Gingrich recognized a way to bypass this and he did so through CSPAN.”
“With writing, obviously you can really take the time to crack what you're going to say and build to a big point.”
“The early favorite for the GOP nomination and 'natural' heir to Reagan was Vice President George H.W. Bush. But Bush was an imperfect fit for the party's base.”
“The Tea Party was really a two-front war - one against Obama, the other against any Republican politician who reeked of insiderdom or insufficient purity.”
“Whereas his father would deliver rambling lectures that were heavy on gold and often disconnected from the political news of the moment, Rand Paul communicates a desire to make himself relevant to the GOP conversation.”
“There's always been deep divisions in this country - we had a civil war - and there've been regional and cultural and demographic. They've always been there.”
“I've been a football fan pretty much my whole life.”
“New Jersey's governorship is the most powerful in the nation.”
“I was the All-American kid, or so I told myself - good grades, never in trouble, bright future, well-respected by my peers. My favorite comedian was Bob Newhart.”