Steve Hilton Quotes

There's people coming in who've never done any politics at all, who've never been in a trade union, they've never been in a political party, they've never done anything, but they do feel a kind of urgency.

Without the political parties and the volunteering work of their members day in, day out, we would have a very different sort of politics and society.

So few people vote these days, and I think it's partly because they don't feel like the institution really means anything to them. If you want them to vote, give them opportunities to do something else other than vote, to help.

On the show, we are not trying to get people to eat their vegetables; we are not trying to get people to become Democrats. We are basically trying to encourage people to get involved with public life so that politics isn't left to the wealthy and privileged.

People are even more wary of politicians and they are realizing that democracy isn't just about putting a cross on a ballot every four years, it's about deciding what you want and fighting for it.

I think what's fascinating is how many people are playing in politics who maybe haven't played before.

The Pulse of Democracy

Politics has become the great spectator sport of the United States.

Progressives think the way to win is mobilizing and convince people to vote for something.

I think you'll see a lot more people in the Valley get more involved in politics.

The only way change happens is when people become more significantly involved in the political process.

We can't wait until elections to fight for what we care about. We can't hope for a benevolent leader who may choose to listen to us. We need a network that lets the best ideas and leaders rise to the top through an open, inclusive democratic process.

The vote is the important thing. Just go and vote.

The only time we create any kind of substantive change is when we reach out to a disaffected electorate and inspire and motivate them to vote.

I'm in no way suggesting that my opinion matters more than anyone else's, of course, but the only thing that bothers me is apathy. People that sit out of the process and complain about it, or pretend that politics isn't a part of their everyday lives.

Until we actually have people going out and voting, don't ever count anybody out.

You can't assume anything in politics. That's why every Saturday I walk around my district. I talk to the longshoremen in Charlestown. I listen to the people in East Boston and their concern on the airport noise. I walk down to the Star Market in Porter Square, and people tell me about meat prices.

What's sad is that we can have a reality-television performer for president without incorporating the other aspects of reality television - like voting and voter engagement.

I used to be of the opinion that it didn't matter who you voted for. The world balanced itself out and kept on truckin'. Which is true, but politics are still important.

The work that Rock The Vote does is incredible. So it's cool to collab with such an iconic organization.

The only thing about politics I do discuss is, be into them: Read what's online. Read what the candidates are talking about. Try to understand why people are fighting over what the candidates are standing for.

I've spoken about politics a lot over the years and my main issue that I championed was just general engagement in politics.

I think it's very important of course that you're politically aware of what you do.

It's important and good to email the Federal Communications Commission, and it's important and good to educate your friends via social media about what's happening. But in a representative democracy, the way to get policy changes is through elections.

Honestly, I'm not a big activism or politic guy. I wouldn't say I'm super educated in that stuff, and I feel like I shouldn't speak on things that I don't understand too much.