Quotes by Gwen Ifill

“Picture perfect. Part Spider-Man, part Tom Cruise, part Ronald Reagan. The President seized the moment on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.”

“At public broadcasting, we call commercial broadcasting the dark side. We have the luxury of time, of not having those ever- looming commercial interruptions. We take ourselves pretty seriously. Some people say thats not a good thing. I think its great.”

“It gets tiresome after a while.”

“Im happy to break down barriers and be a role model, but I dont want that to be the only thing people talk about. At some point, you have to move past it... . I try not to play into it. Ive had this job for a while.”

“Nobody does commercial TV out of the goodness of their heart. There has to be a market-driven financial incentive, an economic imperative. Katie was wildly successful for so long, she created a market incentive. It made economic sense for CBS.”

If it were the Clinton people, theyd be sitting around figuring out how to pull themselves out. Instead the president is continuing to go around the country and peddling Social Security, which the needle is not moving on.

Ive been fortunate enough to write a book and travel the country to sign and sell it, so I can safely say that a five-second burst of conversation while youre scribbling your name, over and over, is not the most reliable way to bond with Americans.

Simply as an exercise in efficient politics, Obama 08 rewrote the textbook. His accomplishment was historic and one that transformed how race and politics intersect in our society. Obama is the leading edge of this change, but his success is merely the ripple in a pond that grows deeper every day.

Authentic apology is a tricky thing to pull off in politics, which is why it so seldom occurs. Plausible deniability must be preserved. True contrition has to be displayed. Traitors to the cause must be immediately be jettisoned. Most of all, the goal is to stop the bleeding.