There's a tendency, especially among academics, to see politics as deeply dirty and deeply egotistical.

Oftentimes people get it wrong when they say we need to educate voters first and then give them power. I tend to favor giving them power first.

There is a long American tradition of suspicion of concentrated economic power because of its tendency to corrupt government and turn it from a democracy into a plutocracy.

It's a lot harder to push forward things, like energy policy. There's a big dream out there about wind and solar power.

This is what's so hard about our current politics: things poll well, but people don't believe that politicians are telling the truth.

Having more candidates come with a creative and artistic sensibility would actually bring more people out to vote.

I feel much more comfortable in politics than I did in book writing. Book writing is so hard. Politics felt easy compared to that.