"Leaders do not sway with the polls. Instead, they sway the polls through their own words and actions"
About this Quote
It is a politician's rebuke disguised as a pep talk: stop chasing applause and start manufacturing it. Ehrlich frames leadership as an act of forceful authorship, not reactive customer service. The line draws a hard moral boundary between governing by conviction and governing by data feed, turning "polls" into a symbol of cowardice, short-termism, and the kind of hollow flexibility voters say they hate but incentives reward.
The intent is defensive and aspirational at once. Defensive, because any elected official who claims not to "sway with the polls" is preemptively insulating themselves from the standard charge of flip-flopping or pandering. Aspirational, because it offers a flattering model to both leaders and followers: the strong leader speaks, acts, and the public comes around. It's the American romance of persuasion, updated for the age of tracking surveys and focus groups.
The subtext is also a little transactional. Ehrlich isn't dismissing public opinion so much as repositioning it: polls aren't a compass; they're a scoreboard. In this worldview, leadership is measured not by listening but by converting, by moving numbers through narrative discipline and symbolic action. That carries a quiet warning: if you govern by polling, you concede the frame to your opponents and to the day's panic.
Contextually, the quote sits in the late-20th/early-21st century anxiety about poll-driven politics and the professionalization of message control. It's less a timeless aphorism than a strategic doctrine: conviction isn't just virtue; it's a communications tactic designed to look like courage.
The intent is defensive and aspirational at once. Defensive, because any elected official who claims not to "sway with the polls" is preemptively insulating themselves from the standard charge of flip-flopping or pandering. Aspirational, because it offers a flattering model to both leaders and followers: the strong leader speaks, acts, and the public comes around. It's the American romance of persuasion, updated for the age of tracking surveys and focus groups.
The subtext is also a little transactional. Ehrlich isn't dismissing public opinion so much as repositioning it: polls aren't a compass; they're a scoreboard. In this worldview, leadership is measured not by listening but by converting, by moving numbers through narrative discipline and symbolic action. That carries a quiet warning: if you govern by polling, you concede the frame to your opponents and to the day's panic.
Contextually, the quote sits in the late-20th/early-21st century anxiety about poll-driven politics and the professionalization of message control. It's less a timeless aphorism than a strategic doctrine: conviction isn't just virtue; it's a communications tactic designed to look like courage.
Quote Details
| Topic | Leadership |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by L. Ehrlich
Add to List
