Stephen Hess
Stephen Hess
Stephen H. Hessis a senior fellow emeritus in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He studies media, the U.S. presidency, political dynasties and the U.S. government. He first joined Brookings in 1972 and was distinguished research professor of media and public affairs at the George Washington University. He served on Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon's White House staff and as an adviser to Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter...
chips education major mean nearly office policy primarily shall six talking thrown
I mean this is primarily about Iraq. There is no sense talking about his education policy or something like that. I mean he has been in office now for nearly six years. He has got one major policy in which he has thrown all the chips into the game. Is it going to work? We shall see.
advantage attention cindy created glorious moment movement peace shining took
Cindy Sheehan had one glorious shining moment and she took advantage of it and the peace movement took advantage of her as it created the attention that the movement hadn't had previously.
favors issue main reason resonates simple strange street taking thinks
In a strange way, the issue is not as salient, as important or resonates on Main Street as much as politicians or legislators think it does. The reason is simple ? Main Street already thinks politicians are taking favors from lobbyists.
gone home remembered
If she had just gone home I think she would have been remembered importantly, but she didn't just go home.
bowing breeze drifts gather great races
I gather that there are drifts in different races. I don't see any great breeze bowing all the races in any one direction.
difficult either gets gone politics range reach religion true
By never having used a veto, either everything has gone his way--which is never true in this world--or he's been able to reach an agreement. When politics gets into this range of right and wrong, religion and morality, it is increasingly difficult to compromise.
caught leaking
But it's embarrassing when they're caught at it. This time, we caught them leaking from the top.
call effect profound shows
I don't want to call it only cosmetic, because these things do have an effect, but how profound the effect is, that I would question. Much of this is not about policy, it's about motion. It shows that they are responding; that they are moving.
past terms
I don't think they're necessarily better than some past administrations in terms of the spin. What they have done which distinguishes them ... is how close-mouthed they are.
cost historic people room run state talk union wiggle
I don't think this is going to be one of those historic State of the Union messages. When people talk about new initiatives, they cost money. He's run out of wiggle room there.
hope local national politics
How much is this going to be a national election? Clearly, the Republicans will hope it's not. ?All politics is local will be their mantra.
congress houses last loses presidency
If he loses two houses of Congress, or even one, the last two years of his presidency are toast.
congress forget party
Do not forget that it is a Congress in which the president's party has the majority.
year
That is not an unsubstantial year for the president.