This period recalls the early 1970s between Congress and Nixon and the war in Vietnam. The president pushed presidential war powers as far as he could take it, and Congress is now trying to reassert...

He’s evidence that by stepping down early, you don’t necessarily kill the issue.

In the wiretapping, despite all the momentum for a more assertive Congress, you’re seeing Congress backing down, because there are many Republicans and even Democrats who are afraid of being seen as preventing the president...

This is very much an on-the-spot performance, and that makes it very dynamic. Things come up as the questions are being asked, as the news is really focusing in on him and how he appears...

to trigger some kind of response by Roberts that feeds into the fears that a lot of liberal groups have, and that could create a more volatile dynamic for him in the next few weeks.

One thing that clearly gets people back into public life is personal contact. Old-fashioned knocking on doors is still one of the best ways to get people to vote. You need people who can explain…why...

He was one of the most important Republicans since the 1970s. When a person goes down like this, this is usually how the history books will remember him. It will be the scandal.

Every question to Roberts is obviously a question to the next nominee. They are sending a signal to Bush about where Democrats will engage in a strong fight and where they will be willing to...

There are many Democrats who want the Senate to serve its historic function as being the arena where controversies can be discussed and investigated, such as Watergate and Iran-Contra,

It doesn’t have to be a Robert Bork someone who is going to go in front of the Senate and say polarizing things.

Many of the questions Democrats asked by the second day [of the hearings] were signals for the next candidate, … By Wednesday afternoon, the Democrats and [interest] groups were beginning to refocus, to save energy....

It’s kind of a low-cost appeal to conservatives outside of Massachusetts. He’s looking for things he can do to say to conservatives — especially Christian evangelical activists — ‘Hey I’m with you,’.

On all these levels, this guy’s ready to go. He’s done everything a candidate is expected to do.

Despite all the problems with the old committee-era Congress, one of the virtues was that chairs were not only centers of power, but they held vast knowledge about public policy and the … rules of...

It’s one of those areas of politics where people have become accustomed to something that was once radical. It’s just normative at this point.

It has clearly been a pattern in the past few months of Congress intensifying its efforts of looking into how the executive branch has handled executive authority, and this will only intensify. During the 1970s,...

I don’t think his resignation actually ends the story at all. And I think it now offers the Democrats more concrete proof that there is something wrong in Washington.