Leadership Quote by Paul Tsongas

In eight words, Tsongas manages to roast the entire genre of political communication while still sounding like a human being. "That's a good question" is the ritual compliment candidates deploy to buy time and signal respect. Then he yanks the curtain back: "Let me try to evade you". The joke lands because it names the thing everyone in the room already knows is happening. Voters ask for clarity; politicians answer with weather reports.

Tsongas's intent is not just to be funny. It's a preemptive confession that reframes evasiveness as candor. By admitting the dodge, he tries to convert a weakness into a kind of integrity: I won't insult you by pretending I'm not spinning. That move also puts the questioner in a bind. If you press him, you look humorless; if you laugh along, you tacitly accept the evasion. The line is a little trap disguised as self-deprecation.

The subtext is a critique of the incentives: in campaigns, specificity is punishable. A clean answer creates attack-ad fodder; ambiguity keeps coalitions intact. Tsongas, a policy-minded Democrat in an era when television and sound bites were tightening the screws, understood that earnestness alone doesn't survive the format. So he weaponizes wit as both shield and signal - acknowledging the transactional, performative nature of the exchange while still asking to be trusted inside it. It's cynical, yes, but it also reads as oddly respectful: he assumes the audience is smart enough to recognize the game.