I was well into adulthood before I was prepared to acknowledge the sim — Pete Buttigieg

"Politics is in my bones. I grew up hearing my parents hollering at the TV."

"The economic equivalent of a tornado did go through town. And its not just in a symbolic way. Its in a physical way. You look at some of these buildings, and it literally looks like a bomb went off or like a natural disaster happened. So, you know, getting past that legacy - and if I dont Ill be in trouble - getting past that legacy is not going to be easy, and its not going to be obvious."

"The real challenge for the Democratic Party, and its presidential candidates in particular, is to figure out how to reverse the Right’s stranglehold on our political vocabulary, without adopting the kind of lock-step dogmatic monolithism that empowered the likes of Gingrich. I don’t have a quick solution handy, but I’m pretty sure that if the Dems don’t act fast to reclaim our language, they risk losing the word battle before they realize they’re fighting it."

"On one hand, the right wing is replete with personalities who undermine everything they profess to stand for. Across the aisle, members of a Democratic party, aghast at the hypocrisy of their counterparts’ personalities, seem themselves reluctant to demonstrate any personality at all."

"I am a Democrat because I believe in protecting freedom, fairness, families, and the future."

"A new attitude has swept American politics. Candidates have discovered that is easier to be elected by not offending anyone rather than by impressing the voters. Politicians are rushing for the center, careful not to stick their necks out on issues. Most Democrats shy away from the word “liberal” like a horrid accusation."