Quotes by Ron Brownstein

“If Dean wins the Democratic nomination next year, the explanation may be as simple as this: He opposed a president most Democrats detest when that president launched a war most Democrats loathe.”

“One of the clearest tests of leadership for a president is to, on occasion, go against his party. No one wants to do it,”

“I think the overwhelming likelihood is that in the next Congress, youll see even smaller majorities than we have now. And we werent really able to get anything done in the last few years,”

“So hes got an environment in which you dont really have a bonfire burning, a grassroots demand for tax cuts, ... Hes going to have to go out and make that case because otherwise Democrats are going to be able to go out and say, Look, this will endanger programs that you care about.”

“You have two things going on right now. You have doubts about the course that President Bush has set in Iraq, and you have what seems to be even larger doubts about whether John Kerry can do better.”

“Nothing he has done throughout his presidency has drawn more fire from conservatives,”

“Ive never seen anything quite like this.”

“One of the clearest tests of leadership for a president is to, on occasion, go against his party. No one wants to do it. So I think the test for the president will be if he wants this bill and he cant work out a deal... will he ask them for an up or down vote on it?”

“They believe that they can make him the symbol of what Democrats, in particular, and perhaps swing voters dont like about the Bush administration, ... Whether its the questions about the intelligence before the war, the relationship with Halliburton -- in a whole series of ways, I think they do see Dick Cheney as a target.”

“Here is a case where on this core issue where he is instead polarizing again and widening,”