Dem Rep. Quigley on Criticisms of Merits of Harris’ Economic Plans: ‘Campaigns Are Poetry, Governing Is Prose’

During an interview with NewsNation on Thursday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) responded to criticism of 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic plans on housing and “price gouging” by stating that “campaigns are poetry, governing is prose.”

Host Leland Vittert asked, “[Y]ou have no problem with the policy rollout on Thursday, about the $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, that will raise the price of houses by $25,000? I went to Northwestern. That’s what I learned in economics class. And the issue — we’ve talked to even Democratic economists, The Washington Post says that price gouging is not the reason we’re having inflation.”

Quigley responded, “Look, as you know, campaigns are poetry, governing is prose. … [A]nd they said the same thing about President Obama when he was a candidate, you say you’re going to have this dramatic change in health care, where are the exact details? Hey, we passed Obamacare. They talked about Biden the same way about rebuilding the country, we passed the largest infrastructure bill in our country’s history. Campaigns don’t always hit all the minutiae in a 30-second soundbite.”

Vittert then said, “Fair enough. You’re, a little bit, sounding like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), though, when she said we had to pass the bill to figure out what’s inside it.”

Quigley responded, “Not quite. But I will say this, Nancy Pelosi survived all those years, maybe the best politician I ever witnessed, and the Republicans chewed through three speakers.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett