John C. Danforth Quotes

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

I think the American people should express their preferences, and we'll accept their choice.

The members of Congress are very, very good about sensing what people are upset about.

We think that when the American people make a decision together that they want something, politicians have to listen to them, and that's the process we believe in.

If I'm elected president, I'll make people's voice the foundation of policymaking.

The voice of the people must be heeded.

I speak for the people I represent, so yes, my voice is heard. One reason they elected me is that their own individual voices may not be heard.

I trust the American people. They almost always get it right …

It's up to us [pro-choice activists] to mobilize public opinion in such a way that these politicians know their jobs are at stake.

The President does indeed hold the rudder of the Ship of State; he guides, but it is American public opinion which makes the vessel move.

In this country the government responds to the people, not the other way around.

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

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.

Parliamentarians would prefer to follow the path of least resistance and vote for the myths that the public opinion polls show their constituents believe in, instead of taking the trouble to educate themselves and their constituents.

Today's public opinion, though it may appear as light as air, may be tomorrow's legislation-for better or for worse.

The problem for a politician of listening to the people, is that they don’t always agree.

We politicians are no great shakes, but you voters are no day at the beach.

The voices of a billion Indians … are telling us that the course of their lives cannot be decided by a handful of people behind closed doors who are not fully accountable to them. They are telling us that India’s governmental system … robs people of their voice, a system that disempowers rather than empowering.

Politicians around the world are very different, but they all have one thing in common: The first thing they respond to is public opinion.

Public opinion must be heard.

Politicians in Washington and Madison aren't hearing, aren't listening to their constituents and prioritizing getting people back to work and growing our economy.

I do not want the voice of the people shut out.

There's a tremendous gap between public opinion and public policy.

Canadians want to elect good people to be their voice in Ottawa.

El Salvador is a democracy so it's not surprising that there are many voices to be heard here. Yet in my conversations with Salvadorans... I have heard a single voice.