We must renew democracy itself. We have to fight cynicism and inertia and restore faith in the advancement of our country.

I'm short, I'm Jewish and I'm a liberal

The American polity is infected with a serious imbalance of power between elites and masses, a power which is the principal threat to our democracy.

Above and beyond the question of how to grow the economy there is a legitimate concern about how to grow the quality of our lives.

We need a new kind of citizenship, so that we can see citizens as themselves earning the rank of patriot because of their involvement in their community affairs....We as a society need to be encouraging people to focus not just on individual wants but on serving the larger community.

It is the belief that extremes and excesses of inequality must be reduced so that each person is free to fully develop his or her full potential. This is why we take precious time out of our lives and give it to politics.

Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.