Quotes by Julian Zelizer

“There are many Democrats who want the Senate to serve its historic function as being the arena where controversies can be discussed and investigated, such as Watergate and Iran-Contra,”

“This period recalls the early 1970s between Congress and Nixon and the war in Vietnam. The president pushed presidential war powers as far as he could take it, and Congress is now trying to reassert its power in this war.”

“to trigger some kind of response by Roberts that feeds into the fears that a lot of liberal groups have, and that could create a more volatile dynamic for him in the next few weeks.”

“Every question to Roberts is obviously a question to the next nominee. They are sending a signal to Bush about where Democrats will engage in a strong fight and where they will be willing to allow the next candidate to flow through.”

“Weve constantly had leaders going down in the last 20 years for related issues. Those who are successful, theres a high chance theyve pushed the boundaries of money in politics as far as they can go.”

“Its one of those areas of politics where people have become accustomed to something that was once radical. Its just normative at this point.”

“On all these levels, this guys ready to go. Hes done everything a candidate is expected to do.”

“It has clearly been a pattern in the past few months of Congress intensifying its efforts of looking into how the executive branch has handled executive authority, and this will only intensify. During the 1970s, Congress was also under scrutiny for how it operated; at the same time, it increased its scrutiny of how the White House conducted the war in Vietnam and intelligence. The two go together.”

“Many of the questions Democrats asked by the second day [of the hearings] were signals for the next candidate, ... By Wednesday afternoon, the Democrats and [interest] groups were beginning to refocus, to save energy. You cant always appear in the public eye as just an aggressor.”

“This is very much an on-the-spot performance, and that makes it very dynamic, ... Things come up as the questions are being asked, as the news is really focusing in on him and how he appears on television, how he responds, how he interacts with the legislators.”