It was a very easy way to have a group of friends on a very large campus - a sense of identity. It was a great place to learn how to navigate a variety of personalities, which you kind of have to do in life. You've got the shy woman and you've got the obnoxious woman and you've got the brainiac and you've got the social climber and you've got the introvert and the extrovert, and you're all living together. I think it gave me valuable experience in learning how to live with people that are different than you are. And that's an important lesson. You can bet it comes in very handy in the Senate.

I think I'm the last Democrat left in the Senate after Russ Feingold was defeated that won't take earmarks.

If you are passed out drunk or if there is a gun to your head, it is the same crime. It is a crime where there is not consent. It is a felony. And we need to start making sure victims understand that, so they don't do the self blame.

Somehow in the public sector, if you start in the mailroom and spend your life getting promoted, it's unseemly.

No commander in chief would ever say, "I'm not going to listen to the guys on the ground."

The political system loves the extremes, it doesnt so much show a lot love for the moderates.

There's nothing that irritates Americans more than the fact that some members of Congress think they are entitled to their own set of rules. And it's true - too many people in Washington live in an alternate reality.