Zephyr Teachout Quotes

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Zephyr Teachout

Profession : Lawyer

Birth : October 24, 1971

I joke about it being a millstone, but it never hurts to have a name that sticks out.

Zephyr Teachout

The attorney general of New York state has a special authority and responsibility to preserve the integrity of businesses and nonprofits in New York under the state's own laws as well as under the U.S. Constitution.

Zephyr Teachout

If the publicly passed campaign finance laws had not been struck down by the Supreme Court, Club for Growth Action would be illegal, and Heritage Action wouldn't have the SuperPAC threat to back up its small ad purchases.

Zephyr Teachout

When I was in college in the late 80s-early 90s, there was a sense that history was on a straight path toward democracy everywhere. Well, that's not true. It was also not true that there's a single era of oligarchy, because we showed we could do something about it.

Zephyr Teachout

Most of the corruption in Albany is legal corruption, not illegal bribery. It comes from campaigns being funded by millionaires and corporations.

Zephyr Teachout

The public should have access to unfettered communication and commerce, and the Internet is increasingly the medium where that takes place.

Zephyr Teachout

New York state's Donnelly Act gives power at least as great - many think greater - than that of the Sherman Act. We have strong consumer protection laws that can be used to protect against scams and frauds by corporate monopolists.

Zephyr Teachout

At their best, new media are chaotic. The new technologies disrupt political pomp and glamour and engage people in an unpolished and unpredictable give-and-take. They also give citizens access to a surprising depth of raw information.

Zephyr Teachout

So paid media is when you buy an ad - typically in a presidential campaign that will be in Iowa, New Hampshire, the early states. It costs some money to make the ad, but the greatest cost is in actually placing the ad on TV.

Zephyr Teachout

You build massive databases, you learn everything you can about the people in those databases, you figure out exactly how they can be useful to your campaign, and you ask them to donate money, door-knock, the virtual equivalent of being a sort of army of stamp lickers.

Zephyr Teachout

And increasingly, as people live online, we are used to making really snap judgments about somebody's character based on their Facebook page or the way their blog feels or look.

Zephyr Teachout

Parties are fun, but they don't create community.

Zephyr Teachout

There's this myth out there that self-perpetuates that candidates believe that although the populace cares about corruption, they're not going to vote on it.

Zephyr Teachout

So one of the things I want to focus on is how we can show how taking on private financing is taking on this fundamental democratic threat.

Zephyr Teachout

A lot of organizations have pointed out that under public financing systems, you see a lot more candidates of color and a lot more women. But you also see the power base behind these candidates is more representative and far less exclusively wealthy.

Zephyr Teachout

Talking to Republicans who aren't leaders - that's not very difficult both on anti-trust and on campaign finance reform. I think it's a lot more complicated when you talk to highly funded leaders - that's the innate, deeply problematic part of our politics.

Zephyr Teachout

I see the job of attorney general as the single most important legal office in the country when you can't trust the federal government.

Zephyr Teachout

I mean this is a revolution in how campaigns work - more money was spent by super PACs than by either myself or John Faso. So what that means is that if you're a voter in this district you are more likely to have heard from a super PAC than from me or my opponent.

Zephyr Teachout

I'm an FDR Democrat, and I really believe that the most important thing is the institutions of political parties, and engaging in those institutions, and, where you disagree with them, speaking up and sharing your disagreement.

Zephyr Teachout

Every district is going to be different, but if you wanted me to give advice to those candidates: Run your own campaign, the DCCC does not run your campaign. Figure out ways to raise money from small-dollar donors, and put some real energy into that because that will give you freedom to say no to big donors.

Zephyr Teachout