I raised my right hand and placed my left on the Quran, which was being held by my wife and mom. Suddenly, I was blinded by a cascade of camera flashes. Keith Ellison More Quotes by Keith Ellison More Quotes From Keith Ellison Here's the real thing. Democrats got to understand that the first line in the Republican playbook is going to be smear, you know? And there's nobody who's going to be able to avoid it. Keith Ellison lines able real Now [in 2016] I have the highest turnout in the state of Minnesota. And Minnesota is the highest turnout state in the country. Keith Ellison minnesota states country I love the donors and we thank them, but it has to be that the guys in the barber shop, the lady at the diner, the folks who are worried about whether that plant is going to close, they've got to be our focus. They've got to be a laser-beam focus on everything we do, and everything we do should animate and empower them at the grassroots level for working people across this country. That's how we come back. Keith Ellison guy country people San Bernardino involved two killers were actually radicalized before they started courting or dating each other online, and online as late as - as early as the end of 2013, they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged and then married and lived together in the United States. Keith Ellison dating talking two Worked hard on [our message of strengthening the middle class, working people], but it didn't come through in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania.It really should have, because people are struggling. And the Democratic message and the Democratic platform would help them, but somehow it didn't come up the way it should have. But it will. Keith Ellison struggle should-have class If you put everything, your heart and soul into a campaign, it might take you a while to come around to the realization that, you know, another person has won. Keith Ellison campaigns soul heart The most important criteria for a DNC chair is going to be vision. Keith Ellison chairs vision important You take for example the environmental movement is a big deal in my district. You know, you might say, yeah, more African Americans are suffering from asthma and air pollution-related illnesses, but there`s a lot of white folks, a lot of white kids with inhalers. So, you just got to talk to the reality of everyone, not exclude anyone. And make sure that people know that you care about them too. I think if you do that, we can get there. Keith Ellison kids reality thinking After I win the job and even in the course of seeking it, we're going to be building bridges. And we're going to be meeting people and addressing the concerns that they have. Keith Ellison bridges winning jobs The conversation should've been about middle class people. The conversation should've been about how to raise the minimum wage and strengthen Social Security. But then we started talking about this whole email stuff again. And now the outcome is that, you know, Donald Trump has somebody who he's looking at to put on his Cabinet who's a lobbyist to privatize Social Security. Keith Ellison class talking people Environmental spending creates jobs in engineering, manufacturing, construction, materials, operations and maintenance. Keith Ellison engineering environmental jobs Trump himself stands to benefit dramatically from the tax cuts. One of the things they're cutting is the alternative minimum tax. Last time we have tax returns for him was in 2005, where he paid about $31 million because of the alternative minimum tax. He won't have to pay that, if this tax bill goes through. So, not only is he reordering our constitutional democracy, he is personally enriching himself - which is not new, because, of course, he's done it ever since he swore an oath to become president of the United States. Keith Ellison democracy cutting president I know that everybody who supported Bernie Sanders supported him because they believe that college debt is too high. They believe that the minimum wage needs to be increased. They believe that we have to take on climate action. Keith Ellison climate-action college believe These folks are telling Donald Trump that if he tries to move out on his plan to have a deportation squad, to harm Americans, and if he does - and if he has - he tries to do that, we're going to be there to stand and say no. We don't - we oppose his misogyny. We oppose his picking on people of different ethnic and religious groups. Keith Ellison squad religious moving We need young people to be involved, and we have to expect that young people are going to be impatient, they don't want to wait, and they've got new ideas and new ways of looking at problems. Keith Ellison waiting people ideas This is essential that we have a resurgence in democratic participation. And I don't mean big-D Democrat, I mean small-D democrat. I mean getting involved in your neighborhood, your community. This is no time to say, "I'm not into politics." This is a time to go headlong into the welfare of this nation. Keith Ellison welfare community mean Over the course of the last quarter century I've learned a lot. And the main thing I've learned is that we're better together and that our society needs inclusion - right? - not exclusion. Keith Ellison our-society together needs I'm particularly good at turnout. So in my district, I had the lowest voter turnout in 2006. And now I have the highest turnout in the state of Minnesota. And Minnesota is the highest turnout state in the country. Keith Ellison voter-turnout minnesota country If you ignore somebody's record and only focus on something that happened 25 years ago when all they were doing even then was trying to stand up for a minority group that felt excluded and discriminated against, then I don't - I think that is a distortion of a person's record. I mean, a person's record is full, not just the parts that you want to use against them. Keith Ellison mean years thinking Trump is trying to tell all of us Americans that we are our own problem, not him. And that's not true. He's the problem. Keith Ellison problem trying
