I'm hearing echoes of Bill Clinton, circa 1996, in President Obama's reelection rhetoric.

At the start of his second term, one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization?

It's a deft trick to turn American exceptionalism into an exceptional political tactic.

According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

Blending hard-bitten realism with long-view optimism, Obama said that every 20 or 30 years brings a new cycle of pessimism in America.

Although we were never pals and occasionally butted heads, my relationship with Clinton and his wife, Hillary, made me a better journalist.

President George W. Bush won reelection in 2004 largely because he was seen as comfortable in his own skin, while rival John Kerry was viewed as a flip-flopping opportunist.

Obama might do well to remember that his fast rise from the Illinois state Senate was due in large part to an uncanny ability to make friends and find mentors.

For a man who has compared himself to Theodore Roosevelt and the nation's challenges to those of the Gilded Age, Obama put forward a tepid agenda.

If acknowledging that racial misgivings and misunderstandings are still a part of politics and life in America, I plead guilty.

Being ninety nine percent sure opens for a possibility that you might be a hundred percent wrong.

Adventures are all very well in their place, but there's a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain.

When people are in trouble they need to talk.

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

I could have easily been too afraid to say 'yes' to Chicago, because it requires so much I haven't done before. If I am a flop at singing and dancing, maybe my love for it will carry me through.

The combat [with ISIS] on the ground must be done by Muslim troops with our support. We must not get involved in perpetual warfare in the Middle East.

I love performing and having people hear my music more that anything.

When your mouth drops open, click the shutter.

If you are only an underling, don't dress too fine.

There are some bad people on the rise; they're saving their own skins by ruining people's lives.