Dave's favorite philosopher is Archy the Cockroach. He was a character invented in the 1920s by a writer named Don Marquis.

Archy was supposedly a poet who had died and came back to life in the body of a cockroach. He lived in a newspaperman's office. He would crawl out of the woodwork each night, jump from the top of the typewriter onto the keys, thereby leaving his little messages which were faithfully reprinted in the newspaper the next day.

Today, Archy would be typing on the computer keyboard instead of a typewriter, but I think a lot of things that Archy said are still perfect commentary on some of the actions taken by Congress today. I often quote Archy to make a point on the Floor in debate.

Dave also often quotes his old friend, Harvey Dueholm, a retired farmer whom Dave served with in the Wisconsin Legislature, who often made down-to-earth points similar to Archy's.