Chuck Todd
I'm an avid University of Miami Hurricanes fan. I hope to come to the day where I can still do some stuff for NBC and somehow integrate it with an RV tour of the South for college football. Luckily, my wife, she's a Florida State alum, so I wouldn't have to talk her into it. I think our kids would think we're weird.Collection: Hope
Presidential money is almost like the housing bubble. It's growing at such an astronomical rate, you think it can't get any bigger.
The big post-election story if Obama wins the presidency will be in the hands of the ethically embattled Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He's not very popular, and has a chance to use his power to appoint an Obama replacement as a step in the direction of political rehabilitation.
Forget the historic nature of his election having to do with skin color - Obama has an opportunity offered to few presidents: the chance to set the course of the nation for decades, if not generations, to come. Who knows: perhaps in the near future, our grandchildren will spend money with Obama's face on it.
Voters definitely believe Washington is corrupt - but most think it's bipartisan.
McCain needs Hillary to run because that's what keeps the Republican coalition together. She helps unite the Republican base.
There's no worse crime in journalism these days than simply deciding something's a story because Drudge links to it.
Every election matters. Anyone that tells you otherwise doesn't understand politics. That said, not every election sends sweeping messages that are easy to discern, but every election provides lessons worth learning.
One must remember that in the '70s, Democrats still grasping for Camelot were desperately pinning their hopes on Teddy while Republicans were doing everything they could politically to turn him into a punch line post-Chappaquiddick. And the idea of Ted Kennedy - rather than the actual man - dominated his political legacy through the early '90s.
It is the '94 race which in many ways allowed Ted Kennedy to become his own man rather than the 'third brother.' He had to reach down and win it on his own.
In the end, Ted Kennedy was a politician, plain and simple. Yet he embodied how politics and public service can be successfully intertwined. You can't be a good public servant without being a good politician. Kennedy was both.
One could argue the GOP made no progress on limiting government in their four years of total control from 2002 to 2006. If anything, government expanded like never before.
From the Medicare prescription drug plan to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush presided over a major expansion of the reach of government.
Arlen Specter left the GOP because it is a lot easier to win in Pennsylvania as a Democrat than as a Republican. It is that simple. For folks on the Right to brush this off as some sort of 'good purge' is extremely naive.
The unknown has undone many a president, and no matter the popularity of an Oval Office occupant, any and all presidents are vulnerable. Of course, one thing that seems to set Obama part from his recent predecessors is his ability to keep an inner calm about tough issues.
Obama's ability to use his personality to push folks, whether on Capitol Hill or in Europe, means that he has to stay popular. What happens if he loses that popular mandate?
Some day, the public might actually revolt against the undemocratic system of seniority that allows Congress to keep the old ways of Washington ingrained into the culture of Congress.
We may like to think politics is a battle of ideas and that the best idea wins out. But that's not true in most elections. Most elections are about the worst ideas losing, not the best ideas winning.
If Barack Obama goes on to win the election, there will be plenty of ink and video spent on chronicling the historic nature of the turnout among young voters and African-Americans. But as important as both constituencies have been to Obama - particularly in the primaries - it's Hispanics that could be putting him over the top on Nov. 4.
Barack Obama's official nomination as the Democratic Party's standard-bearer was a very poignant moment for millions of Americans. As the first non-white major party nominee, Obama is carrying a big load on his shoulders. He's holding the hopes and dreams of a lot of folks who thought the presidency was only reserved for white men.
Acceptance speeches can make or break presidential candidacies. It was Al Gore's 2000 acceptance speech that relaunched his candidacy and nearly saved him. John Kerry's speech and overall ineffective convention nearly sank him in 2004 (though he was almost saved by the debates).
The hardest thing to do in politics is campaign as someone you aren't. People can spot an imposter from a mile away.
The most successful politicians are the ones who embrace their best traits while turning their liabilities into loveable attributes. And yet, many a candidate tries to run as something they aren't simply because the strategy dictates it.
America has a love-hate relationship with celebrity. We love to follow celebrities, but we also love to mock them. And secretly, we believe we're better than they are.
Presidents seem to fall into two positive categories: they're one of us, or they're heroes. Both McCain and Obama probably see themselves as potential heroes - presidents who will be looked up to, not presidents everyday people will remark are 'just like me.'
Dick Cheney and Al Gore have redefined the role of the vice president in the minds of the public. It should be a big job, beyond simply checking the health status of the president.
With the likely nominations of Barack Obama by the Democrats and John McCain by the Republicans, one of these two parties is headed for a 2009 crack-up that could prove as messy as any party civil war in recent history.
One of the more bizarre games I played as a kid was something called 'kill the man.' It was a cross between football and rugby, which found the person carrying the ball a target of some hungry tacklers. I still don't know why we enjoyed the game because it was impossible to win.
I played French horn, and I certainly do miss it. I miss it. I wish I had the time to keep up with it. It's like exercising: You have to keep it up, especially the muscles in your lips to deal with the French horn.
There’s nothing like music to teach you that eventually if you work hard enough, it does get better. You see the results.Collection: Hard Work
Media bias is one thing. Rejection of reality is anotherCollection: Reality
In the end, Ted Kennedy was a politician, plain and simple. Yet he embodied how politics and public service can be successfully intertwined. You cant be a good public servant without being a good politician. Kennedy was both.Collection: Simple
A lot of Democrats ask and a lot of people ask, "Why is it necessary for people in this country, who are not in law enforcement, to have assault weapons?"Collection: Country
The idea now that we're going to fight terrorism through gun control I think is just utterly fatuous.Collection: Fighting
Trump's inability to control his own emotions is standing between himself and the presidency.Collection: Inability
We do know that they are foreign missions today that are using Trump Towers, they say, why wouldn`t we want to show favor to the president of the United States? It would be offensive if we stayed at his competitor`s hotel.Collection: President
It's hard not to get down on the government when you see dysfunction play out on our TVs every day. Frankly, sometimes at every level of government.Collection: Government
The democrats are a coastal party.Collection: Party
We know broadly from research is that religiosity does not correlate with sympathy for terrorism. It's actually quite the opposite. The more religious someone is, the more often they go to the mosque, the more likely they are to actually reject attacks on civilians.Collection: Religious
This deep insecurity has been going on for a while. I mean I picked it up in 2014 sitting in focus groups of women who were feeling terrified, not just about that ISIS was coming, but terrified that their children couldn't be safe at school, terrified about what was happening in Ferguson and other places.Collection: Children
We`ll go here on [Donald] Trump`s temperament. Trump`s reckless approach could lead to war. That really resonated with Democratic swing voters.Collection: War
We're all living under the threat of violence and terror these days.Collection: Violence
Donald Trump does not stick to Republican orthodoxy, which, you know, and this is always supposed to have been his downfall. Maybe it's his strength.Collection: Doe
Every president since George Washington has respected this clause in the Constitution. We want to avoid that Constitutional potential crisis. And the way to do it is for Donald Trump - it`s not about him.Collection: President
The fastest growing political party is no party.Collection: Party
Voters definitely believe Washington is corrupt - but most think its bipartisan.Collection: Believe
Since 1900, only three other [than Donald Trump ] presidents have won the White House with a smaller percentage of the popular vote. Woodrow Wilson in 1912, Richard Nixon in 1968, and Bill Clinton in 1992.Collection: White
[Donald Trump] has got his own controversies to deal with. The business conflicts are a big one. But he`s creating new ones. There`s no precedent for it.Collection: Creating
The first thing [Donald Trump] does on January 20th is take an oath to defend and adhere to the Constitution of the United States.Collection: United States
We [americans] have earned the moral authority, at least compared to anybody else in the world.Collection: World