Brian Schatz Quotes

You put these politicians in office, but then you've got to tell them what you want them to do. And it's intimidating to most people. I was intimidated by it. I mean, calling my senator or writing my senator? I'm like, what do I say? What do I do? But we're showing people that the political process is actually less intimidating than we think.

I want the Congress that really is going to listen to the people. I really don't care what party it is anymore.

We need to find a way to empower citizens to make governments take notice.

In a new democracy, the most important election is the second election.

Rock the Vote

Most men, being the ruled, not the rulers, want good government. If, without constraint, they choose bad government, it is by mistake

The lack of political attention to candidates and issues, history has shown us, is a sure-fire way to end up left out of the policy debates altogether. We need to continue to educate our elected officials and candidates for office on who we are, what we need and why they should stand in solidarity with us.

If people don't like me, I insist they can vote for someone else. The only stupid thing we can do is to stay at home. I don't know a single election in the world that was changed by staying at home.

Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.

We know that greater participation in our democracy will make our government more responsible and make elected officials more representative of the people we serve. Making that participation easier while improving the integrity and security of our elections is something we should all be able to support.

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

I want people to feel like they have access to Congress, that they have access to government.

The electorate is bored of talking about the past. They are much more interested in the future.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

We... are not really free if we can't control our own government and its policies. And we will never do that if we remain ignorant.

We've got activists all across the country like the members of the Million Mom March organization, some of their leaders are here tonight. We're phone banking congressional offices and pursuing editorial boards.

When you become active in the system and communicate to your representatives, and they don't vote in accordance with your values, your responsibility is to support candidates who will.

It's a long time until the next election, but it starts now. And if you truly want to see things change in the direction that our country is headed, you have to stay involved. You cannot quit now.

All the blood is drained out of democracy - it dies - when only half the population votes.

The way to get people civically engaged, not just during the election but throughout the year, is to tap into Facebook and let them do it with their friends.

It's important right now to continue to have your patients contact their senators and their congresspeople to say we have a problem. We want you to help solve it, we want you to be involved.

Simply, I believe the United States should lower the voting age to 17.

Being out and about talking to residents and representing their views is, in my view, as important to politics as the grandstanding that takes place in Westminster.

I have always been an independent voice for the folks in my district.

The only way back toward a democracy and economy that work for the majority is for most of us to get politically active once again, becoming organized and mobilized.