Politics & Power Quote by Muriel Humphrey

The bravery here isn’t in the ideology; it’s in the act of naming it out loud. Muriel Humphrey frames the statement like a pent-up confession - “for a long time” - which tells you the real antagonist isn’t conservatism so much as the social cost of being publicly liberal in a country where “liberal” cycles between badge and slur. The rhythm is plainspoken, almost domestic, the way you’d talk at a kitchen table before you talk at a microphone. That’s the point: she makes politics sound personal, and in doing so, makes it harder to dismiss as mere partisan branding.

The sly pivot is the line about Hubert: “probably a little more liberal than Hubert was.” Hubert Humphrey, the Great Society stalwart and 1968 Democratic nominee, carried “liberal” as both legacy and lightning rod. By claiming she’s even more liberal, Muriel refuses the usual supportive-spouse script - the one where the partner exists to soften the politician. Instead she tweaks the public mythology around him, suggesting that even in a marriage to a famous liberal, a woman’s politics can be sharper, less stage-managed, less triangulated.

The final fragment - “I just wanted to say that” - lands like a mic drop disguised as modesty. It signals how little she expects permission, how overdue the declaration feels. Contextually, it’s a snapshot of an era when Democrats were learning that the word “liberal” could lose elections, and she’s choosing pride over strategy. It’s not policy; it’s identity politics before the term became a punchline, delivered with a smile that knows exactly what it’s poking.