I would say that this is a political calamity that the Republicans own completely. . . . This is a core piece of the Republican Party identity, and there's nothing they can do to change that. |
I would say that this is a political calamity that the Republicans own completely. The public understands very well that Bush and (Vice President Dick) Cheney made fortunes in the industry, that oil company lobbyists wrote our energy policy and they see George Bush holding hands and trading kisses with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. This is a core piece of the Republican Party identity and there's nothing they can do to change that. |
I've heard from physicians just out and about that they have a real reluctance to deal with the whole Medicare program unless it's fixed. |
In a sense these are two guys who have never stopped running — they have never gotten out of campaign mode. |
In politics, tone and modulation matter. |
It was driven by a petulance and frustration, and it had the tone of a president with an approval rating of 35 percent. He's sounding less statesmanlike when he needs to seem more. |
It's a pretty predictable move from a politically crippled president. Toss out a judicial extremist to pacify his base and provoke a fight that he hopes changes the subject away from indictments and Iraq and Katrina and a soft economy. |
It's difficult to go from all-run to being balanced. We're taking the shots, and Al's got the arm and the vision. The O-line played great, too. |
Like every campaign, we'll be adjusting our campaign schedule on an as-appropriate basis. We're certainly not suspending all of our activities, but we will, of course, be sensitive to tone, to taste, to the national mood, and making scheduling decisions accordingly. |
Never once have Democrats benefited from attempts at reasonableness and compromise and accommodation. To the contrary, Bush and his team seem to view political compromise as weakness, and they punish it rather than reward or reciprocate it. |
Paying for hurricane relief on the backs of the poor is not going to be a winning issue for Republicans. It's like they wake up every day determined to reinforce their own negative stereotypes. |
Presidential campaigns have an awful lot to do with a sense of authenticity, and Romney's image seems to be, 'Pay no attention to anything I've previously said in my political life. I was only lying and pandering then.' |
The bad news is he's talking about shooting a man, blaming the victim and covering it up. |
The good news is he's not talking about his indicted chief of staff or ordering the leaking of classified information. |
The political currents were extraordinarily strong for everybody involved. I'm certainly not implying that Democrats had their finger to the wind and didn't make votes of conscience, but it was a piece of the puzzle, clearly. |