Politics & Power Quote by Pete du Pont

Politics punishes the almost. Du Pont is arguing that in an election, being "80 percent" of your opponent isn’t moderation; it’s indistinguishability. The line has the hard, practical logic of a campaign veteran who knows voters don’t reward a paler imitation. If the choice feels like two versions of the same product, the original wins on authenticity, energy, and coalition loyalty.

The phrasing does a lot of work. "You can't say, I'm for what my Democratic opponent is..". mimics the hedging voice of a cautious candidate, then punctures it. The unfinished, clunky cadence is the point: that kind of positioning sounds evasive, managerial, apologetic. Du Pont’s admonition is less ideological purity than brand clarity. Elections are comparative, not academic; the ballot is a forced choice, and the median voter isn’t grading policy nuance so much as reading cues about conviction.

Subtext: party competition is partly psychological warfare. A candidate who trims to match the other side signals uncertainty about their own case. Du Pont, a prominent moderate Republican in an era when the GOP was wrestling with identity (post-Watergate, then the Reagan realignment), is warning fellow Republicans not to chase Democratic terrain by conceding the premises and arguing only about dosage. If you accept your opponent’s framing and offer a discounted version, you’ve already granted the argument; you’re just negotiating the price.