Charlie Norwood Quotes

I really got to a point where I thought maybe I would want to be involved politically.

I send messages to the White House continuously.

During the 2008 election, I made clear to the Obama campaign that I don't think it's wise for me to force my personal political agenda on anyone.

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.

Whenever anybody gets involved in politics, its always exciting for me because we take for granted our freedoms and our abilities to effect change through political activism.

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

I'm not running for state Senate because I wanted to become a politician. I'm running because I wanted to serve.

Politics are close to me, but there are different ways of participating in politics.

Crucially, I'd like to thank Labour party members up and down the country for sticking with us. For their active citizenship, their willingness to engage in our democracy, and for being there at the cutting edge of making our democracy work.

Sometimes it's important to vote - you know, to make a statement, to make a point; certainly, many of us who were involved in the Nader campaign in 2000 felt that way.

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.

We've had Town Hall meetings, we've witnessed election after election, in which the American people have taken a position on the President's health care bill. And the bottom line is the people don't like this bill. They don't want it.

The best way you make policy in Washington is by doing it yourself.

You'll never find a candidate that you can identify 100 percent with unless you become one yourself.

I hold the opinion that it is lawful [for a Muslim] to participate in elections [in non-Islamic countries], as this may reduce suffering, and it is a way to choose the better among the available candidates. I believe participating in elections will, in any event, contribute to the reduction of evil and be a forum for countering bad policies and exposing their deficiencies, as well as being an opportunity to present proposals of a different kind that may help people.

We will send a petition to Washington with boots on.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

If somebody asks me where I stand, I tell them. And that's not a way to get elected, generally. Nobody's going to elect me president of the United States. What I'd like to do is to be able to influence the dialogue. I'm a citizen

Be it bumper stickers on your car, yard signs on your lawn, a letter to your local newspaper or member of Congress, the Internet or a voluntary contribution of your own hard earned money to candidates or party of your choosing, these are all constitutionally protected means of participation in our democracy.

Everybody is looking for an election where they can do something and participate.

We have to remain vigilant and loud and stay consistently engaged with our representatives and the political process every single day, on both a macro and micro level.

I want to be the kind of elected official who not only pays attention but who acts on behalf of people - just average people. Fancy lobbyists get to tell their story, but the average person doesn't.

Much as I respect Russell Brand's point of view, I'm in the opposite camp to him about voting. I think it's enormously important to engage with the electoral process.

What I don't like is when people don't like the establishment, they don't like the current government, they combat that by saying 'I don't like politics.' Go out, have your say, vote against the government. It's the most important thing.