Daniel R. Coates Quotes

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

We represent people, and any good congressperson wants to know how their people at home feel about issues. I can tell you for sure in our office that is taken into account, and that is true for any congresspersons I know.

The reality of going before the voters and seeking election should force Congressmen to behave.

A voting record is your work product. It tells people where you stand on issues, and for better or worse it implies you're there doing what you're elected to do. It's the only litmus test available.

We did not send them [Senators] here to vote their conscience; we sent them here to vote the will of their constituents.

Members of Congress will pay attention to members of their own districts.

A typical member of Congress devotes several hours a day to asking for contributions and several more to worrying about how her donors will feel about her votes on the floor.

It's about grass-roots campaigning, meeting voters face-to-face, and above all, listening to what they have to say.

I enjoyed my stay in the Congress. Most people do not. And too many people who have been elected really don't understand the nature of government.

Professional politicians are busy looking out for their jobs. Send me to Congress so I can look out for your job.

Modern candidates seem to have to live with political matters all the time. In my father's time, a politician's home was still his castle.

I think if more members of Congress would talk about what they see and what they want to do and what they want to accomplish, rather than talking about their opponent, we would begin to shape and reshape American public opinion on what the political world looks like.

Most members of Congress are politicians. They're bores.

People aren't necessarily as concerned with how you vote as long as they feel they have a voice. If you can cross that basic threshold - that is, when a voter knows you're willing to listen to them and that you care about their lives - then that's most of what you need to get their vote. It's not your voting record.

You know, you look at term limits, you poll term limits, 70, 80 percent of Republicans or Democrats are for it.

If you're a politician and all you care about is staying in office, you're worried about a small group of voters in your district who vote in the primary. If you're a corporation, you need to be much more in synch with public opinion, because you're appealing to people across the spectrum. Ironically, a lot of corporations have to be far more democratic than democratically elected officials.

Voters do not decide issues. They decide who will decide issues.

Congressmen are the only group in America who every two years have to go out and beg for their jobs.

A man ain't got not right to be a public man, unless he meets the public views.

Many Senators are scared to death that the people back home are going to find out what they’ve been doing in Washington.

It is a duty of those entrusted with the administration of their affairs to conform themselves to the decided choice of their constituents.

Politicians must let voters know what they think about issues before the election. Judges should not.

If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me. While acting as their representative I shall be governed by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is.

I don’t attend rallies and I don’t participate in presidential elections. In fact, I don’t participate in any election. I don’t participate in the governor’s race, I don’t participate in the mayor’s race. I participate in one election every two years. Then I’m strong for Hebert. That is the only election I take part in.

Congress is afraid of the voters, and the voters are looking for leadership.