Julian Zelizer Quotes (14 Quotes)

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's kind of a low-cost appeal to conservatives outside of Massachusetts. He's looking for things he can do to say to conservatives -- especially Christian evangelical activists -- 'Hey I'm with you,'.

I don't think his resignation actually ends the story at all. And I think it now offers the Democrats more concrete proof that there is something wrong in Washington.

He was one of the most important Republicans since the 1970s. When a person goes down like this, this is usually how the history books will remember him. It will be the scandal.

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 can't always appear in the public eye as just an aggressor.

Despite all the problems with the old committee-era Congress, one of the virtues was that chairs were not only centers of power, but they held vast knowledge about public policy and the ... rules of the House. Chairmen could be counted on to find ways to move legislation forward and to improve - or reform - programs, based on a deep knowledge of their history. Today ... chairmen do not have that kind of memory.

On all these levels, this guy's ready to go. He's done everything a candidate is expected to do.

In the wiretapping, despite all the momentum for a more assertive Congress, you're seeing Congress backing down, because there are many Republicans and even Democrats who are afraid of being seen as preventing the president from protecting the nation.

One thing that clearly gets people back into public life is personal contact. Old-fashioned knocking on doors is still one of the best ways to get people to vote. You need people who can explain...why these issues matter.

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.

We've constantly had leaders going down in the last 20 years for related issues. Those who are successful, there's a high chance they've pushed the boundaries of money in politics as far as they can go.