DeLeo said “They are tough, they are knowledgeable, and they are respectful. They’re great.”

Adrian Walker in the Globe: Saturday July 21    “Bob DeLeo has served in the Legislature for a long time, and he isn’t easily ­impressed by a group of lobbyists. But the House speaker grows rapturous when he talks about a group of teenagers from Lowell who have stalked him and his House members all summer, lobbying for a chance to vote. “They could teach a lesson — and not just to young people — on how to lobby for a bill,” DeLeo said yesterday. “They are tough, they are knowledgeable, and they are respectful. They’re great.”

The young people he was referring to have practically set up a summer camp at the State House. They are members of the United Teen Equality Center in Lowell and have spent the past couple of years pushing for their right to vote in city elections.