Everything I do in my political life is colored by my military service. It was the defining moment in my life and helped me develop the leadership skills that I still utilize.
To me, leadership has always been about doing what's right. Because when you've had to write your blood type on your boots, you aren't afraid to make the right calls.
We were at a kibbutz, and we were at a Shabbat service, and I opened up the prayer book, and on the first page, it said that the prayer book was in thanks to the sponsorship of this family in a temple in Kansas City. For me, it was a moment when I really kind of connected in a real serious way with my personal identity as a Jew.
Voter suppression anywhere hurts our democracy everywhere.
If we all work together, then we can save the American Dream from the nightmare that is Donald Trump.
I believe there should be political consequences for politicians who commit voter suppression.
I'm proud to be a Democrat, and I feel pretty strongly that the country would be better off with Democrats in charge.
Voter suppression is at the very core of the Trump re-election strategy.
I've stood in rooms in urban, rural, and suburban parts of my state and asked a room of middle class voters to raise their hands if the college debt of someone in their family is affecting their financial situation. Without exception, at least three quarters of the room will raise their hand.
Whether it's intentional or not, Trump regularly makes news for unprecedented and nonpresidential behavior.
Voters aren't asking to be pandered to and aren't asking to be tricked.
To me, serving wasn't uncommon, and my service paled in comparison to so many of my friends who had done so much more. In my world - as a citizen soldier - I was surrounded by other soldiers just doing their jobs.
Democrats fell in love with the idea that winning elections was a matter of talking to voters about the one issue we think impacts them, instead of our plan to move the country forward as a whole.
We have got to zero in on the fact that all of us, no matter where you live, want our kids' lives to be an upgrade over our own, and we would really like it if our kids could come back and live where we raised them.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been an adviser to Trump, although he still very publicly couldn't land a job in the president's Cabinet, despite providing that counsel. And Kobach has a long history of making up facts to help him pass unfair voter suppression laws and push extreme anti-immigrant proposals.
Voting in our country has never been easy, and unfortunately, it has never been guaranteed for everyone. But through the work of brave civil rights leaders, some of whom died for the cause, by the early 2000s we were at a point where most, but still not all, people who wanted to vote could do so.
You can protect the integrity of elections without stopping anyone from voting.
There are states with photo ID requirements that don't disenfranchise eligible voters.
I don't judge anybody who chose not to serve during Vietnam, at all. It's a different time, and I don't judge anybody for the decision they made.
I'm a Democrat because I want every American to have a fair shot at the American Dream. That's what ties it all together for me, and in my experience, that means recognizing that no one is dealing with life one 'issue' at a time.
