Thomas Mann Political Quotations

No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.

Separation would likely do more harm than good for congressional Republicans. They need to try to rehabilitate the president's political standing, which will have a large bearing on the size of their seat loss in 2006.

If those train wrecks and if that gamesmanship is being driven by broad political forces, narrow margins in the House and the Senate, divided party government, difficult decisions that have to be made, genuine differences that exist, mobilization of interest groups if all of those things are true, you are going to find vehicles to have those fights, whether you have a two-year budget cycle or not.

Republicans who had doubts about elements of the president's tax and spending programs were willing to play ball in the interests of advancing the Republican cause. Now that the president is in serious political trouble, they're more inclined to make some independent judgments.

Whether this has any long-term impact depends on whether a party or presidential candidate seizes the opportunity to elevate political reform as a campaign and governing issue.