Ross Baker
Ross Baker
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There is an unspoken but enormously wide gap between the views of Democrats in Washington and Democrats in the country on Iraq.
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While the subject matter doesn't have an impact on the daily concerns of people in Ewing Township, chairmanships give you bargaining power with members of other committees. There is a prestige factor involved. You become a part of a select group of House leaders.
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You can have a scintillating personality, a great resume; unless you're sitting on a very healthy treasury, they are going to look elsewhere. It is of critical importance. You can never do it too early. It marks you as a competitor.
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The president may have to do with the State of the Union address something that rarely gets done with State of the Union addresses - and that is to be inspirational.
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It created a sense of irresoluteness on the part of the administration.
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So long as he is a free man, still a member of the House and participating in the conference, his influence is going to remain considerable.
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She's the original stealth candidate. It was a shrewd choice for Bush. If you can't ram somebody through who's got a higher profile, you do an end run around the opposition.
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One of the things that members strive to do, and in large measure are successful, is to achieve a situation that voters do in fact look at them as people who do good things for the district.
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He has the nimbleness and fancy footwork of a prima ballerina.
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He enjoys very strong support there. His problem is with swing voters.
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He obviously has to offer some words of reassuring to people on Medicare who've been baffled by the prescription drug program and encourage them to hang in.