He's evidence that by stepping down early, you don't necessarily kill the issue.

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.

It's one of those areas of politics where people have become accustomed to something that was once radical. It's just normative at this point.

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,'.

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 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.

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.

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 doesn't have to be a Robert Bork someone who is going to go in front of the Senate and say polarizing things.

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.