Obama Q+A at the 2010 House Republican retreat: on Principles & Values


Barack Obama: Loyal opposition is not just valuable, but a necessity

I very much am appreciative of your invitation. You know what they say, "Keep your friends close, but visit the Republican Caucus every few months." Part of the reason I accepted your invitation to come here was because I wanted to speak with all of you, and not just to all of you. And I hope that we can continue our dialogue in the days ahead. It's important to me that we do so. It's important to you, I think, that we do so. But most importantly, it's important to the American people that we do so.

I'm a big believer not just in the value of a loyal opposition, but in its necessity. Having differences of opinion, having a real debate about matters of domestic policy and national security--and that's not something that's only good for our country, it's absolutely essential. It's only through the process of disagreement and debate that bad ideas get tossed out and good ideas get refined and made better. And that kind of vigorous back and forth is at the heart of our democracy.

Source: Obama Q&A at 2010 House Republican retreat in Baltimore Jan 29, 2010

  • The above quotations are from Obama Q+A at the 2010 House Republican retreat.
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