It’s a good thing for Richardson. What other presidential candidate in the Democratic Party would be called upon by an administration in a nonpartisan way to represent American interests in a dangerous place?

This wasn’t close, I mean, I can’t imagine anyone here thinks it was close.

I think they have to do something prior to November 2006, to show they understand they have overspent and are determined to do something about it,

Bush is a drag, even in Virginia.

The legislation might have passed if he had waited, but it would have been on Page 8 of the nation’s newspapers.

This is red meat for Democratic activists. Many Democrats wonder if she can be elected in November 2008, so she has to keep the activist Democrats onboard. They’re the ones who vote in the Iowa...

People can see all around him what he’s produced for West Virginia. It’s hard to travel through West Virginia without seeing the ‘Byrd’ this and the ‘Byrd’ that.

I’ll bet no one in New Jersey begrudges him that salary. Public officers ought to have set salaries that are sufficient for an average person to serve.

He has diplomacy written all over him.

Virginians, like the British, did ceremonies very well. No one ever did anything inappropriate.

looks greedy.

He has a great deal at risk. He is coming up for re-election in 2007. This is his last, best chance to recover.

I’ve probably seen 200-plus state polls over the past six months, and McCain is leading almost everywhere, and where he doesn’t lead, Rudy Giuliani is ahead. All the other candidates are just footnotes.

Personal friendships are difficult to sustain in circumstances like this. In a clash between the personal and the political, the political tends to dominate at this level of politics. My guess is, they’re probably cordial,...

It’s been a very successful term. It’s hard to describe it any other way. He came in at a tough time. There was no money. The Republicans had just taken a landslide in the legislature....

Sure, they will be more independent. But my point is that as a Republican Congress, they will still be more supportive than not.

To have a chance, Lucas must both demonstrate he still has the fire in the belly to serve in Congress and succeed in making this race as much of a personal popularity contest as it...

He needs to restore his Republican base and this is the way to do it,

The Republicans I’ve been talking to have said, ‘Oh, the public is cynical about indictments, they happen so often.’ Well, that’s whistling past the graveyard because the average voter is only going to remember that...

It is really freezing a governor’s administration. It’s very damaging. These scandals always are.

I’d say 40 per cent of the opposition to Mr Bush is based on rising [petrol] prices. Americans are very unhappy about this. But the other 60 per cent is Iraq. People are very disillusioned.

Off-year races are used for bragging rights by the party that gains a seat or two, but the truth is, they are only sometimes an indicator of the future.

He’s become more prominent because he’s all but announced for president. That feeds into his legislative importance. He’s a sleeper. … Look at the list of who’s running. None of them are purists except for...

This is a big election, about big things — war and peace, the economy and all the rest. Real events over the next few months will have an impact.

It has been about 100 different issues.

This is a middling scandal, but it could go higher.

People don’t react to all these things like they are inside the Beltway.

I’ve had literally dozens of governors, senators and several presidents (talk to classes), and no one, other than the presidents, has gotten a better reception or more sustained ovation from these young people.

If you look at the polls carefully, they show that Americans are disaffected with the Bush administration policy in Iraq, but have very little confidence in the Democrats on that score either.

He bowed out relatively gracefully, and that gave him a ticket to future political life.

Dole could be blamed for any losses, and that is unfair.

The only thing we can be sure of is that the party that wins will exaggerate the results, and the party that loses will downplay the results.

Is it possible that he can come back? Sure. There have been some tremendous and significant rebounds in American history and this would be one of them.

A lot of people are watching that race.

The Senate and the House are at loggerheads, and it would be virtually impossible for the leaders of those two houses to be close friends under those circumstances. It would lead to suspicions from their...

It’s very hard for governors to say they’re on their own. Inevitably, there’s going to be taxpayer funds involved in their social life because they’re being guarded, they don’t drive themselves, there’s someone driving a...

He is very sharp. No one has any questions that he is well-qualified.

If Warner doesn’t find a strong candidate, he’ll be held to account by national Democratic activists who vote in Iowa and New Hampshire.

If the Democrats win it’s one more indication that Bush is a significant drag on Republican candidates.

Kerry’s great advantage, despite what some people say, is that the threshold is low, … People who have decided to vote against Bush are looking for an acceptable candidate, not another Abraham Lincoln or Franklin...

I’m not sure $100 million could elect Katherine Harris. You can spend $100 million marketing dog food, but if the dogs won’t eat, it isn’t going to sell.

This is what has caused Bush and many other politicians to shy away from any tough action on immigration. They fear the ‘r’ label_ the racist label. Almost by definition, it’s tough to accuse Richardson...

While Republicans may have lost the past two elections for governor, they can take comfort from the fact that they currently lead Virginia’s love parade.

Montana and Colorado are the two Western red states that seem to potentially moving back to the Democrats.

He’s going to have to walk a fine line.

There’s no way to spin this than anything other than a major defeat for Republicans and for President Bush.

Yes, Virginia voters will approve the amendment when asked, probably handily. After all, it gives them the right to re-elect a governor they like. They can still send packing a governor they dislike.

She has been in six months, and she has already had more controversies than the average congressperson does in a career. You never bet against an incumbent. But I tell you, in her case I...

Frist has managed to work himself into the worst of both worlds. He has alienated moderates because of his positions on Terri Schiavo. Then he has alienated conservatives on embryonic stem cell research.

People are trying to decide whether the man-made disaster is worse than Mother Nature’s disaster.