Top 55 Michael Capuano Quotes

Anybody who puts himself on a ballot has to have a big ego, we have to have it.

The times have changed and people do need to change with them and I believe I have done that.

No politician wants to be challenged. They all say they want to be, but we all want to be anointed.

I tell people in Washington that I’m not the most progressive person in my district and they are shocked.

I can’t remember the last time, if ever, I voted for a Republican, you know.

All government is a mess. Democracy is always messy. It’s meant to be messy because smooth, thoughtful, precise, effective government leads to dictatorship. Don’t get me wrong, dictatorship is fine – as long as I’m the dictator. But if you’re not the dictator, not so good.

Ted Kennedy was not terribly effective when he first became a senator.

Ted Kennedy was in the Senate for 40 years. Tip O’Neill for 35 years. John Kerry in the Senate for 30 some odd years. It does take time to become effective.

Why do the people in Massachusetts need to have a superdelegate speak on their behalf when they’ve already voted?

I think during a campaign it’s perfectly OK to do what you need to do. But then the idea, I would argue is for former presidents to fall in line and do the best they can to support the current president, whoever that might be.

Everybody wants to fall in love with the perfect candidate.

Every time I’ve ever run, I’ve been outspent – every single time.

Politicians try to see the world through other people’s lenses and try to bring people together so that we can have a mutual view of the world – and how do we work together, not from the individual views that we all have.

I’ve never been called shy by anybody.

Most of my friends are not multi-millionaires.

The whole purpose of me seeking public office is to make the world a better place. When I put my name on the ballot, I obviously think that I’m the best candidate to do that.

I think it’s right, to have many voices at the table before you send somebody else’s child to war.

It’s great to want to go from point A to point B, sometimes you just can’t make that and I just think Bernie will not be able to implement most of what he says he wants to do.

I don’t believe in open borders, I don’t think that would work. I think economically they’re a disaster. Therefore there’s nothing wrong with strong borders.

Ted Kennedy was a fighter, and I think the people of Massachusetts want and deserve a fighter.

I don’t try to be something I’m not, I don’t try to pretend that I’m something I’m not, I don’t try to present myself as something I’m not.

I wasn’t going to say things just to get votes.

In communities all over the country, commuters put up with heavy traffic and aging transit systems because they don’t really have a choice. People need to get to work, bring their children to day care or school, care for an aging parent or simply attend to a few errands.

You can go on for days naming former elected officials who are now in the private sector getting paid lots of money for speeches.

I don’t judge people on one vote.

I don’t believe in purity tests.

I’m very proud of my record and I know that it’s controversial to some, but I have as high a score as you can get from groups like the National Organization for Women, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters and on and on and on.

The one thing about America is you have the freedom to think what you want and do what you want without the government interfering.

Perfection is our enemy… not because we don’t want perfect candidates, but because perfect candidates don’t exist.

Who doesn’t like the Olympics? Everyone does, but who is going to pay for it?

I think there is an obligation – not just a right, but an obligation – to vote.

The policies being enforced are more important than the agency enforcing them.

I will not deny health care to any single American.

Democrats should be welcoming to anyone who shares our general values.

Whether it was expanding healthcare, stimulating the local economy and job growth, innovating in the schools, or protecting our precious environmental resources, Deval focused every day on moving Massachusetts forward.

I don’t measure people by whether they agree with me or not. I measure them by their sincerity. Sincerity, with as much reality as you can get. Sincerity with toughness, experience, and understanding of the issue – real understanding, not just academic and intellectual understanding. That takes some courage.

When you start new programs there’s always things you can’t anticipate.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to say everybody pays $10 and if you go to vote you get your $10 back. And if you don’t vote that money goes to support the election process.

I think the average voter wants somebody who has the right philosophy and can combine that with the ability to get something done in Washington.

When I was growing up, the harbor was a place to dump things.

I like working in those dark, smoke-filled rooms in the back. That’s what I’m good at.

If voters think Donald Trump is rough around the edges, wait until they really start hearing from Chris Christie.

I’m happy and very proud that I voted against the Iraq war.

I think it’s awfully difficult on the most important issues of the day… to remain silent, particularly when you’ve won a statewide election.

I’ve never been good at raising money.

Ayanna Pressley and I would probably vote the exact same way on pretty much every vote we’d have on the floor of the House.

I am as pro-immigrant as you can get, I believe America needs immigrants. But I also believe in strong borders.

You can disagree with somebody and still think they’re qualified.

There’s nothing wrong with new blood, but it has to be balanced as well with people that have been around that know the history of what’s happened, know the internal relationships between people, know what you can do and what you can’t do.

If we open the borders tomorrow there would be 50 million people who came here, all good people, mostly good people. But they’d all want jobs. They’d drive wages down. Not because they intend to, that’s not what they’re coming for, but that would be the result.

Money is important, but money doesn’t buy you elections.

I like and respect the idea of people sticking with their friends.

There is one funding suggestion that should be part of any transportation discussion, but most people don’t want to talk about it – raising the gas tax.

For me foreign policy is critically important.

I just don’t think there are that many people who will vote for me because I’m a white male or vote against me because I’m a white male.