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.

I think it’s a smart thing to do.

This is a red state, he came in on Election Eve and he had no discernible effect. If anything, he may have cost Kilgore some votes.

It was really Katrina that triggered this because there was genuine outrage. It opened the floodgates. [The media] saw that the American public was finally willing to listen to criticism of the administration.

He was frustrated. I don’t know whether he remembers or not, but he was very frustrated for a long while. He really wanted to be a success, and nothing was coming together for him. [People...

Every time we have a new videotape of bin Laden, it reminds people of the administration’s argument that (Iraq) is connected to the war on terror, whether it really is or isn’t.

I don’t think they have the ability to work it all out together, because there are too many other key players in the legislature, much less the executive branch.

They’re watching, … Warner has the responsibility as party leader to come up with someone who can give Allen a run for his money so Allen has to spend down the millions he’s accumulating for...

He doesn’t instinctively know what he should do in these circumstances.

Usually this happens after the mid-term election of the second term — during the start of the seventh year of an eight-year presidency.

In another state, this could be devastating and could mean instant defeat. In New Jersey, it will take more than this.

Rarely do you have a governor who’s already been U.N. ambassador and energy secretary as well as congressman. I mean he really does have a very rich resume. This just underlines it for Democratic primary...

The people running for governor or senator or president have been among society’s winners. To get to that point, they always believe they can beat the odds because they’ve done that before.

Every American is going to be reminded in these hearings that every vote on the Supreme Court matters enormously. They tend to disagree with one another, they tend to factionalize, so each new justice has...

It’s awfully tough to attack someone who’s served and sacrificed as much as she has.

Democrats certainly have no intention of backing him, and the Republicans at least many of the Republicans sense that he is walking wounded or walking dead.

He?s facing a potentially divisive primary, and most of the criticism he?s taking is from Democrats. He?s sided with Bush as much as he can. Iraq is enough. And he?s got to go out of...

In order to be nominated and elected, she has to try to demonstrate that she actually does have appeal in red states, and that she’s more moderate than people think.

I can guarantee you that the parties are going to absolutely flood that district with money.

It is a constant struggle for most public officials between representing average constituents and taking care of the interest groups and wealthy individuals who fund the campaigns.

Since Vietnam, the Democratic Party has been viewed as the weaker on national security issues. Who better to make the case than veterans of the war? It’s hard to accuse them of a lack of...

It’s almost been contempt of Congress — not legal contempt of Congress, but contempt of Congress by baseball, … They’re going to find out what real power is, and it has nothing to do with...

Rendell is not just another governor. He’s already been a national figure. He has been (Democratic National Committee) chairman, and he knows the movers and shakers and donors in all 50 states.

He’s radiating confidence; it may even be bravado, … He was thinking ahead. This could have been a very damaging photo. Instead I think most people will look at this and chuckle.

Very few of them have that much energy. He had his hand in everything. He was interested in everything. That’s a governor making the most out of a term.

Since 9-11, Bush’s consistent political advantage has been the public’s confidence in him to handle the terrorist threat. The Iraq war has weakened Bush’s edge, and now the Dubai ports misstep may destroy it. This...

It won’t do any harm because no one will remember by November, but it will raise money,… and that’s the key.

If the people of Louisiana are lucky, both the governor and the mayor will appoint personal representatives who will work with one another, … In other words, they can get the bad blood out of...

This is Kaine’s debate. It’s Kaine’s audience. It’s probably Kaine’s region, … one of the most one-sided debates I’ve ever seen.

Is he running purely because of personal ambition, or is he the head of a movement? … We remember the heads of movements.

The amazing thing is that they have permitted their consultants to run a vicious and nasty race,

[Republicans are] probably looking at the ’06 elections and saying, ‘How can we respond to the tsunami that’s coming?’ … Without an energized base, they’re sunk.

McCain has been playing a double high-wire act.

At this point, nothing President Bush says is going to have much impact. The only thing that is going to change public opinion is an improvement in the situation on the ground in Iraq.

This is both a substantive and a stylistic problem for Bush. Stylistically, he needs to convince people that he is in charge now and he gets it now .

Absolutely, … The Republican campaign in Virginia will tell you that, at least privately. The president chose to nationalize that election by showing up on election eve. You don’t want to do that unless you...

But his greatest problem is that it is hard to see him as offering voters anything other than George W. Bush’s third term. And even Bush Republicans realize that the American people don’t want that.

It does cause problems for successors. Then the next person feels obligated to do the same thing.